Junior cornerback Jordan Hancock speaking to the media after practice No. 7 of fall camp. Photo Credit: Lauryn Luderman | Lantern Sports Editor
A “pro-like” offseason.
Those are the words head coach Ryan Day used to describe cornerback Jordan Hancock’s growth since the game clock hit zero for the final time last season.
The junior had everything going for him upon entering the locker room as the nation’s fourth-ranked cornerback in 2021.
Hancock got a taste of collegiate ball as a freshman playing in six games, notching four tackles and breaking up a pass. His sophomore season was anticipated to be his “breakout year.”
“There was only so much I could do last year coming off my injury. There was only so much I could do. I couldn’t run as fast as I can now,” Hancock said.
Before his sophomore season in 2022, Hancock suffered a hamstring injury and didn’t have a fall camp. He watched from the sidelines, taking in the defensive scheme from a different perspective, while working his way back to 100 percent.
Hancock missed half of last season, respectively, playing in six games and making five tackles.
He made his return against Iowa Oct. 22, 2022, but was not the same “explosive” player he was pre-injury. Hancock was still nursing that hamstring, making sure not to come out too strong and risk re-injuring himself.
“[I couldn’t] explode, that’s really it,” Hancock said. “I had to learn how to beat them in [other] spots.”
Now, a season later, that same anticipation is in the air. Maybe 2023 will be his “breakout year.”
Hancock got first-team reps all spring and that has continued into fall camp. He and fellow third-year cornerback Denzel Burke are leading that room, along with the sophomore transfer from Ole Miss Davison Igbinosun.
This is the healthiest Ohio State’s cornerback group has been in a long time. Between Hancock, Burke, Igbinosun, Jyaire Brown, Ryan Turner and Lorenzo Styles Jr., the Buckeyes are on track to return to what Igbinosun called the “B.I.A,” or “best in America.”
“When you add Jordan to the mix, when you add Davison to the mix, you add Lorenzo to the mix, when you add some of these guys to the mix now it’s very, very competitive,” Day said. “Not only because you have competitive personalities in the room, but you also have more mature guys in the room. And you have depth where there’s competition for the positions.”
Cornerbacks coach Tim Walton said with the depth he’s facing this year and only seven practices in, they’re still in the “evaluating” stage — figuring out who plays best and where. And despite seeing so little out of Hancock in a real-game setting, he is a player Walton is confident in.
He said Hancock is smart, can handle a lot of football and understands the defense so well after watching from the sidelines so much last season.
Plus, having two Biletnikoff Award watchlist players in Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka lining up across from him surely helps prepare him for all of the competition he’ll go against this year.
“We’re going up against pretty good guys in practice every day. I mean, the dudes that we’re going against, 18 [Harrison], two [Egbuka], four [Julian Fleming] and all those guys,” Walton said. “That’s where you get your evaluation from.”
The confidence Walton has in Hancock will be put to the test Sept. 2 in Bloomington, Indiana.
Hancock said he put on good weight this offseason and finally feels physically ready to hit the field. He said he’s enjoying “playing the game that I love.”
