New Faces, Same Standard: Inside Ohio State’s Retooled Secondary Under Matt Patricia

Replacing Caleb Downs was never going to be a one-for-one swap. Downs, one of the most versatile defensive backs in the country during his two seasons in Columbus, left for the NFL draft alongside cornerback Davison Igbinosun, taking with him the kind of do-everything skill set that Matt Patricia built entire coverage concepts around during his first season as Ohio State’s defensive coordinator. What Patricia has instead in 2026 is depth, and a secondary he’s betting can be excellent as a group rather than around one singular star.

Jaylen McClain returns as the unit’s most experienced piece, coming off a 2025 season that produced 53 tackles and three pass breakups in a complementary role. He’s joined by two significant portal additions: Earl Little Jr., who earned second-team All-ACC honors at Florida State before transferring to Columbus, and Terry Moore, another portal addition Patricia’s staff targeted specifically for the safety room. All three are expected to rotate through deep coverage and box responsibilities depending on the week, the same positional flexibility that defined how Ohio State deployed Downs a year ago.

At cornerback, Jermaine Mathews Jr. returns with starting experience, and true freshman Jay Timmons, a five-star signee, has already worked into the lineup at nickel back. That’s a significant vote of confidence for a true freshman, but it fits a pattern Patricia has established since arriving in Columbus: reward the players who look ready, regardless of experience level, rather than defaulting to seniority.

Devin Sanchez, the Headliner

The headliner of the group, though, is sophomore Devin Sanchez, who enters 2026 with a clear message for the rest of the league. “I feel like I can be one of the best corners in the nation. I’m gonna be one of the best corners in the nation,” Sanchez said this offseason. Sanchez played extensively as a true freshman in 2025, absorbing a season’s worth of lessons that he says have sharpened his game heading into a starting role. “I’m not freshman Devin no more,” he added, a phrase that has already become something of a rallying cry within the program.

What ties the group together is the same philosophy Patricia has applied across the rest of the defense: flexibility over rigid roles. “I do think we have a lot of flexibility, which is nice, in both groups, which is great,” he said during fall camp, referring to the safety and cornerback rooms together rather than treating them as separate units. His use of Downs as a hybrid safety/linebacker last season showed a willingness to build coverage concepts around what a player does best rather than force him into a traditional position, and early signs suggest McClain, Little and Moore will all see reps in multiple spots depending on the game plan.

The Real Test Comes in Austin

Ohio State’s secondary allowed just 120 passing yards in the season-opening win over Ball State, an encouraging if modest data point against an outmatched opponent. The real test arrives in Austin, where Arch Manning and a talented Texas receiving corps led by Cam Coleman and Ryan Wingo will offer the first legitimate measure of how much this retooled group has absorbed. For Matt Patricia, the answer will say a lot about whether replacing a generational talent like Downs with collective depth was the right bet.

It also puts a spotlight on Timmons in particular. Handing meaningful nickel snaps to a true freshman, even a five-star one, is not something most coaching staffs do lightly in September, let alone in a season that opens with a Playoff-caliber Texas team in Week 2. That Patricia and his staff are comfortable doing it says as much about how they’ve evaluated Timmons in camp as anything written about him as a recruit. If he holds up in Austin, Ohio State’s secondary depth chart gets a lot more interesting for the rest of the season.