Sometimes a subtle change is all that’s needed to tap into another level of potential within an organization. But it requires a special individual to execute that change.
For Ohio State, the special individual to precipitate a subtle but excellent change was Jordan Hancock. The Buckeyes’ defense was elite from the jump in 2024, but it emerged as the best in the country during the College Football Playoff by moving Caleb Downs closer to the line of scrimmage in the middle of formations. But that was only possible because of Hancock’s ability to play deep safety in addition to his usual nickel duties.
"It's definitely helped (our defense) a lot just because me having more reps at safety and stuff like that, it makes it easier for the defense to make me disguise," Hancock said days before Ohio State beat Texas in the Cotton Bowl in January. "Maybe early in the season, I couldn't really disguise because I really didn't know too much (about safety), but now it's easy because I feel like it's a natural position for me to disguise and change different looks for the quarterback."
Hancock, one of the best pass defenders on Ohio State’s defense each of his last two seasons, completed his Buckeye career by excelling in a role pivotal to his defense that relied on his versatility. He’s one of the unsung heroes of the Scarlet and Gray’s title run.
“It's easy. It's Ohio State, it's anything for a national championship,” Hancock said at the NFL Scouting Combine on Feb. 27. “(It’s) what I had to do, I just wanted to win the national championship so bad. So whatever the team needed me to do, that's where I went.”
Hancock lined up at deep safety on a few occasions for a few of former defensive coordinator Jim Knowles’ exotic coverage looks in 2023, the season in which Hancock emerged as a bedrock in the Buckeyes’ secondary at nickel. Per Pro Football Focus, of his 613 snaps that year, he played 48 (7.8%) at free safety compared to 475 either in the slot or in the box.
The first six games of Ohio State’s 2024 season saw Hancock get 10 total snaps at free safety, with 228 of his 249 total defensive snaps during that stretch in the slot or in the box. Then, starting strong safety Lathan Ransom had to miss the Buckeyes’ seventh game against Nebraska for a minor injury.
Rather than using another deep safety like Malik Hartford or Jaylen McClain to replace Ransom directly, Knowles opted to slide Hancock back and rotate Lorenzo Styles Jr. and Jermaine Mathews at nickel in Ohio State’s 4-2-5 base. Hancock put on a fantastic showing in a then-career high 26 of his 56 snaps in free safety alignment, collecting five tackles, forcing a fumble and sealing a defense-driven 21-17 win with an interception.
“It’s just natural. It just comes easy,” Hancock said of his transition to safety in January. “It’s just something I played since I was a little kid, just playing safety, and then corner – I’ll go out there and play football. It’s all the same stuff to me.”
OHIO STATE PICKS OFF RAIOLA
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) October 26, 2024
The @ohiostatefb defense does it again! pic.twitter.com/Su5tQEYDqG
Although he stayed in Tim Walton’s cornerback room for his entire four-year career with the Buckeyes, Hancock did have ambitions of showing what he could do at safety coming out of Suwanee, Georgia’s North Gwinnett High School.
“Why I chose this school was to become versatile,” Hancock said. “That’s why I chose Ohio State over every other school is because I knew I could play different positions. So it’s coming out the way I expected it, for real, playing every position.”
Read more about "The Greatest Run in College Football History," the story of Ohio State's dominant run to the national championship.
When Ohio State hit the postseason, Knowles cranked up his deployment of Hancock at safety. He lined up as a deep safety for 39 snaps in the CFP first round against Tennessee and 40 snaps against Oregon in the Rose Bowl. While keeping his schematics close to his vest with a semifinal game against Texas on the horizon, Knowles confirmed that Hancock had helped adjust how the Buckeyes were using their safeties.
“I can't give away all of that,” said Knowles on Dec. 27. “But you're right, we've grown Jordan a little bit. So we're able to do more things.”
While placing Downs in the best position possible to make plays – often 10 to 12 yards off the ball in the middle of the field – remained at the core of what Ohio State did with Hancock, he more than delivered in the CFP. Hancock played 111 of his 248 defensive snaps at free safety and totaled 16 tackles with two pass breakups across the Buckeyes’ four playoff games. He finished his 2024 campaign with 48 tackles, two tackles for loss, an interception, eight pass breakups and two forced fumbles.
Ohio State's defensive dominance in the CFP helped carry it to a national championship, with each of the Buckeyes' four playoff opponents being held to 23 points or less.
Of course, having Downs at his side didn’t hurt Hancock in 2024 either. Downs wowed him with his football intelligence, especially when it resulted in an interception on Texas’ final drive in the Cotton Bowl. Downs was in a deep zone, came downhill from the vertical routes he was covering to jump an intermediate in-breaking “dig” route.
“Top 1% for sure,” Hancock said of Downs. “I remember the Texas game, we were in kind of a two-deep, invert middle. He dropped one of the routes and robbed the dig. I was like, ‘OK, yeah, this dude's different.’”
With a championship ring in his back pocket, Hancock is off to the NFL, where his versatility can be a major selling point in the league’s ever-evolving pass defenses. He’s currently a projected late-day two or day three pick in the 2025 NFL draft. Teams have spoken with him about playing nickel, corner and safety.
“They viewed me everywhere, so it was kind of just wherever the team wants me at, corner, slot, and safety,” Hancock said at the combine. “I've been having all three meetings on that.”
Perhaps Hancock will continue to play the role of unsung hero in the professional ranks.
