The Ohio State Buckeyes have an extremely deep group in the secondary headed into the 2024-25 season. Not only did Ohio State acquire the most coveted transfer safety in the country with Caleb Downs, but there are numerous returning starters in the final level of the defense. Lathan Ransom, Davison Igbinosun, Jordan Hancock and Denzel Burke are all back for another season with the Buckeyes.
Burke is considered the leader of the cornerback room and managed to make Pro Football Focus’s Top 10 cornerback list prior to the new season. Max Chadwick ranked the veteran corner No. 7 behind several other Big Ten corners.
1. Will Johnson, Michigan
10. Cobee Bryant, Kansas
PFF’s Top 10 Cornerbacks in College Football⬇️https://t.co/3cmJaCPRYo
— PFF College (@PFF_College) July 7, 2024
“The junior dominated when he was left on an island in 2023,” stated Chadwick. “Burke allowed a catch on only 19.1% of his targets in single coverage, the eighth-best rate among FBS cornerbacks. Of those 21 targets in single coverage, Burke made more plays on the ball (six combined interceptions and forced incompletions) than he allowed catches (five).”
Last season, Burke had 24 total tackles, one forced fumble and an interception. With the ability of Burke as the star corner on the outside, it seems like opposing quarterbacks try to avoid going to his side. This might be a good decision considering Burke has the size, speed and ability to go one-on-one.
Sep 2, 2023; Bloomington, Indiana, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes cornerback Denzel Burke (10) lines up during the NCAA football game at Indiana University Memorial Stadium. Ohio State won 23-3. / Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA
Chadwick did happen to rank three other Big Ten corners ahead of Burke including Michigan’s Will Johnson at No. 1, Iowa’s Sebastian Castro at No. 3 and Oregon’s Jabbar Muhammad at No. 6. Wisconsin’s Ricardo Hallman received a shoutout as the honorable mention on the list.
The Big Ten certainly has plenty of good corners headed into this coming season and Burke deserves to be among this list. That being said, it is a bit surprising that Igbinosun and Hancock appear to be underrated and neither managed to make the Top 10.
With Burke, Igninosun, Hancock, Jermaine Matthews Jr. and even Calvin Simpson-Hunt in the cornerback room, the Buckeyes will be just fine in coverage this season.
Source link : https://www.si.com/college/ohiostate/football/ohio-state-buckeyes-denzel-burke-no-7-in-pffs-top-10-cornerbacks
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Publish date : 2024-07-16 14:00:00
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