It kind of felt like Christmas morning when Shaun Wade decided to opt back into 2020 season after almost losing it to the COVID-19 Big Ten postponement. After Jeff Okudah and Damon Arnette became first-round NFL draft picks, Wade immediately became the “old man” in the secondary.
Many have pegged Wade as the next great corner at Ohio State, but the OSU cornerback hasn’t quite lived up to expectations in 2020… most importantly, his own. During Ohio State’s weekly press conference, Wade was asked about his play and gave some interesting insight.
Wade said at times, he’s been “greedy” going for the interception, but after watching film from the first three games he knows he needs to be content with just breaking up the pass.
Ohio State's Shaun Wade says that he's been "greedy," and needs to focus more on breaking up passes, instead of on trying to snag interceptions.
— Lori Schmidt (@LoriSchmidt) November 10, 2020
Wade was also asked if he’s concerned about how he’s being evaluated game by game.
“No, because I evaluate myself. My coaches evaluate me,” Wade said … “At the end of the day, you just want to win. If I play bad and we win a natty, I’m going to be happy because we won a natty…”
To be fair, Wade is learning to play a new position, moving from the slot corner to the outside. He said that the distance from the ball is a big adjustment, but that he’s going back and studying film of Okudah and Arnette and their technique. Wade said he’s even picking the brain of younger OSU DBs who have played outside more than himself.
Ohio State needs Shaun Wade to keep learning and it sounds like he’s taking the steps to do so. Anytime you have a player of Wade’s caliber who willingly admits he has room for growth, that’s a player you want to go to battle with. With an eagerness to get better each week, we’ve got a sneaky suspicion that Shaun Wade will do just that. And as he improves, so improves the chances of an Ohio State national championship.
This week, Maryland presents what could be the toughest test of the year to this point and a passing attack that may challenge a young Buckeye secondary. Time to see if Wade has taken big enough strides in the right direction.
[vertical-gallery id=40018]
Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes and opinion.
Download the USA TODAY SportsWire app to follow Buckeyes Wire and your other favorite teams in the Apple Store for iPhones and Google Play for Android devices.