Ohio State junior cornerback Davison Igbinosun interrupted a fade in the end zone from the quarterback Will Howard last Thursday during the seventh training camp. The pass was intended for Buckeyes true freshman phenomenon Jeremiah Smith. Igbinosun stole the show from the first-year wide receiver, at least for a moment.
“When he deflected the ball, he said, ‘I’m here,'” Smith said the next day. “I said, ‘OK, I’ll be right back.'”
Later in practice, Smith kept his word. He brought a Howard throw downfield and secured an over-the-shoulder catch on the sideline while Igbinosun was in coverage. The normally quiet Smith had only one thing to say to his teammate.
“I said, ‘I told you I’d be back, didn’t I?'” Smith recalled.
That’s the good-natured back-and-forth between Ohio State’s receivers and defensive backs that’s currently fueling the “iron sharpens iron” mantra at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.
Igbinosun, or “IGB” as he is known at Ohio State, is at the heart of it.
“That’s my mindset,” Igbinosun said. “In training, every day, I want the guys to give everything they have. So on those Saturdays, it’s going to be easy for me and I’ll be prepared.”
Now in his second season with the Buckeyes, Igbinosun is approaching a turning point in his career. He will be draft eligible after this year. Between his 2023 season at Ohio State and his 2022 season at Ole Miss, he has already made 23 career starts.
With an impressive third year, the Union, New Jersey native could make the jump to the pros. He will certainly be under scrutiny this fall. Not only the Buckeyes will have many eyes on him, but also his cornerback colleague Denzel Burke hopes to finish his senior year as the best cornerback in the 2025 draft.
At his best, Burke is a shutdown corner. When teams aren’t shooting at Burke, they’re shooting at Igbinosun. According to Pro Football Focus, Igbinosun was targeted 71 times last season. According to PFF, no other Ohio State defensive player was targeted more than 48 times in 2023.
And only three other Big Ten cornerbacks were targeted more often than Igbinosun last season: Iowa’s Sebastian Castro (72 goals), Rutgers’ Robert Longbeam (77 targets) and Illinois’ Xavier Scott (91 attempts). All three posted higher pass catch rates than Igbinosun. According to PFF, of the league’s six cornerbacks targeted more than 65 times last year, Igbinosun posted the lowest pass catch rate (50.7%, or 36 catches on 71 attempts).
Despite allowing the most touchdown passes and committing the most defensive penalties on the team according to PFF, he more than held his own from the outside last year. With his 6’2″ frame and size, Igbinosun made his presence known and established himself as one of the best cornerbacks in the Big Ten.
The intensity he brings to the games is also evident in training.
“You’re going to feel 1 out there,” Buckeyes second-year wide receiver Carnell Tate he said, referring to Igbinosun’s jersey number. “You’ll hear him and feel him.”
Like Tate, Brandon Inniss played his high school football in South Florida. Tate is a product of IMG Academy in Bradenton. Inniss was the star at American Heritage.
Both played for the same 7-on-7 team, the South Florida Express. But Tate is originally from Chicago, while Inniss – a native of Hollywood, Florida – claims South Florida as his own. Inniss is a trash talker himself and says the transfer is part of that.
That’s why Inniss’ statement on Friday is significant: one would believe Igbinosun is also from South Florida if one didn’t know where he was from.
“IGB and I have probably done this every day of fall camp so far,” Inniss noted.
Igbinosun said he feels more comfortable on defense the second time around with Jim Knowles as coordinator. He has more confidence, both in himself and everyone around him.
That confidence is hard to miss on the practice field. If you don’t see it, you’ll hear it.
“The fact that I am talking nonsense forces me to say it every day because I have to prove it,” Igbinosun said.
