Ohio State Football: Top 4 Buckeye prospects for 2021 NFL Draft

Is Ohio State football ‘DBU’?

Over the past few seasons, there has been a heated discussion on whether Alabama, LSU, Texas or Ohio State is the program that builds the best NFL defensive backs. The Buckeyes have a chance to build onto on their growing list of NFL-caliber defensive backs with junior cornerback Shaun Wade.

Going back to the 2014 NFL Draft, the Buckeyes have nine cornerbacks selected with seven of them coming from the first round.

Wade played as a slot cornerback while Jeff Okudah and Damon Arnette were the main outside cornerbacks. In 2019, Wade accounted for 26 total tackles, four tackles for loss, two sacks, one interception, seven pass deflections and two forced fumbles in 11 games. In his freshman season in 2018, he recorded 31 total tackles, three interceptions, seven pass deflections and one forced fumble in 13 games.

Wade will be transitioning to the main outside cornerback as he will be the next man up. He has much potential to be a star cornerback in the Big Ten based on his athletic ability alone. He does cause some concern switching from slot cornerback to the main outside corner, though, as he has played a total of 55 snaps on the outside.

The junior cornerback will need to showcase his drops in his coverage schemes this season for Ohio State. He will be competing against some of the most talented coverage corners in the potential 2021 draft class such as Alabama’s Patrick Surtain II.

Wade is ranked as the ninth overall prospect by Sporting News, 10th overall by Athlon Sports, and 11th overall by USA Today for the 2021 NFL Draft class.