How Ohio State's Devin Sanchez went from 'timid' freshman to sophomore breakout candidate
The second-year cornerback is stepping up into a starting for for the Buckeyes this fall.
COLUMBUS — Confidence breeds speed, and Devin Sanchez wasn’t playing fast enough as a true freshman for Ohio State last year. Don’t be confused. Sanchez is plenty fast. His best verified high school track time in the 100 meters is 10.69 seconds. Blazing. But there’s a difference between being fast and playing fast, and Sanchez wasn’t playing fast.
Reflecting on his first season with the Buckeyes on Wednesday, Sanchez used words like “timid” and “nervous.” Two characteristics that can put you on the fast track to the sideline in any competitive environment, let alone playing cornerback, where failure is a baked-in part of the job. The separating factor between elite corners and merely good ones is how quickly they move on from the lows.
Sanchez experienced the lows last year, and they lingered too long.
“I was out there making freshman mistakes, and I didn’t have the margin for error for that,” he said.
The light started to come on toward the end of last season. Sanchez started to figure out some things. The arrow started pointing up. He started playing faster. His last game was his best game. There’s momentum this spring, as the former five-star prospect from Texas, a top-10 national recruit and No. 1 cornerback in the Class of 2025, eyes a starting job this fall.
“It feels a lot different,” Sanchez said. “I feel more confident and comfortable out there. I feel like this is gonna be the year for me.”
You can really see the change in Sanchez if you watch him at two different points in his freshman campaign.
He started a game against Illinois on Oct. 17. Primarily playing the field corner position to the wide side, things started out well. Of course, Illinois attacked Sanchez on the first play. He was in man coverage and did a nice job carrying a deep crossing route across the field and forcing an incompletion. That was the high point of the game for him. He played 67 snaps that day. He was targeted six times, allowing four receptions for 55 yards. He was also penalized for pass interference in the end zone.
There was a sequence in the second quarter, just before the penalty, when Illinois completed three straight passes directed at Sanchez.
Sanchez was playing off coverage in all three instances, but he triggered slowly. He got lost in a high/low situation on the first completion. He had a half-hearted tackle attempt on the third. He looked, to use his word, timid.
Fast-forward a couple of months. Sanchez unexpectedly took on a larger role in Ohio State’s College Football Playoff loss to Miami after nickel safety Lorenzo Styles exited with an injury. That bumped outside corner Jermaine Mathews to the slot, and put Sanchez on an island in the biggest game of the season. The Buckeyes lost, but Sanchez played well.
He logged 43 snaps against the Hurricanes. He was targeted five times, including twice deep. He allowed only three receptions for 23 yards.
When playing off coverage, Sanchez triggered fast and tackled well. When challenged down the field, he battled and didn’t give anything up. He played with a little swagger. He finally looked comfortable, unencumbered by the weight of five-star expectations.
That Miami might have changed everything.
“It was on me a lot to produce, and I feel like I failed myself by not producing,” Sanchez said. “This year, it’s just taking that next step and realizing what I could’ve done last year. After that Miami game, I realized that if I had just done that all season, it could’ve been a whole different outcome. We went into the offseason, and I told (cornerbacks coach Tim Walton) I’m not stepping back this year, I’m coming in with my foot on the gas. It doesn’t matter who’s in front of me, I’m gonna win.”
Walton said that Sanchez had an OK first week of spring practice. Over the last two, he’s seen the young corner take a major step.
There are a few clips floating around on social media of Sanchez holding his own against Ohio State receiver Jeremiah Smith. If he can do that, he can guard anyone on the Buckeyes’ schedule this year.
“He has to become a dominant player for us,” Walton said.
Sanchez probably didn’t know how to do that last year. It’s his driving force now.
The sophomore has repurposed his day-to-day to become the type of player Ohio State needs him to be. How he prepares, how he takes care of his body, how he practices, what he prioritizes are all different.
Sanchez has looked outside of football for inspiration, too. He’s watching Kobe Bryant interviews to tap into the mind of one of sports’ greatest competitors. Sanchez said he’s watched The Mindset Mentor Podcast on YouTube, a channel with nearly a million subscribers that touts being “designed for anyone desiring motivation, direction, and focus in life.” The latest episode is a 15-minute discussion about sleep habits and tips to “rewire your mornings, fix your habits, and create a life that excites you to get up.”
Whatever Sanchez is doing seems to be working.
His confidence is soaring.
“When you’re confident, everything just comes quicker,” he said. “You see the plays faster. You see the big picture. You’re not just focused on your assignment. When you’re confident and you have that ability to believe you can really do it, you see everything. You see routes faster. You see the quarterback. You see where the ball is going. You can process things faster.”
Confidence breeds speed.
Sanchez may have finally caught up.