COLUMBUS, Ohio — After Ohio State football’s Lathan Ransom defined his 2022 season by making great leaps, he ended it with a single misstep.
An impressively quick recovery from a broken leg — followed by the best stretch of football in his career — made Ransom one of the Buckeyes’ feel-good stories. Then he slipped and fell in the Peach Bowl. Georgia’s Stetson Bennett IV connected with Arian Smith for a 76-yard touchdown pass that was crucial to the Bulldogs’ winning rally.
“It’s funny — people love to give heat, this and that,” Ransom said. “When you’re playing good, you’re at the top of the world. You’re making bad plays, you’re at the bottom of the world.
“I use that as fuel. I use that as fuel to get better every day.”
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Ransom is burning that fuel in familiar places — inside the Woody Hayes Athletic Center, and at the Bandit safety position. It was not assumed that he would put off the NFL for a fourth season as a Buckeye. It did seem like the prudent choice, though, considering the healthy runway he could use to build upon last season’s success.
A year ago at this time, Ransom was three months into his recovery from the broken leg he suffered in the Rose Bowl against Utah. Word also began to trickle out, though, that he might be ahead of schedule. He confirmed that turnaround in preseason camp, then punctuated when he entered on the second defensive snap of the season opener against Notre Dame.
He played his way onto the semifinalist list for the Thorpe Award and became a special teams weapon who blocked punts in consecutive games. All of which made people wonder: What could happen if Ransom were given a full offseason to continue developing?
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“It‘s making a huge difference, because now he has a spring under his belt, where last year he didn’t have a spring,” safeties coach Perry Eliano said. “But the thing is, we don’t make excuses. We don’t say, well, he didn’t have that. If you’re out there for the Buckeyes, the expectation is that you play at an elite level and you go out there and make plays and execute the defense or the assignments that’s asked of you.”
A move to Adjuster to succeed Ronnie Hickman could have made sense for Ransom. Perhaps it still will, after the safety competitions continue into preseason camp.
Recently, though, Ransom has been back at Bandit — which he played all of last season. Josh Proctor, who lost playing time in favor of Ransom last season, has been the first-team Adjuster.
Ohio State asks the Bandit to be both quick enough to match up with opposing slot receivers and physical enough to take on tight ends. In last week’s scrimmage, Ransom reminded Gee Scott Jr. of his ability to do the latter with a big hit at the end of a reception.
Ransom said he actually meant to pull up on that one. But later in the scrimmage he delivered another thumper when he came on a safety blitz in a red zone drill. He said he’s at his heaviest weight ever, around 208-210, after strength coach Mickey Marotti set a plan to make Ransom look like the NFL-bound safeties at the scouting combine.
Ransom was not ready to join them just yet.
“I’m here because I want to improve on things that maybe I didn’t like the way I played at last year,” Ransom said. “All types of things. I’m trying to improve my game all around — try to be the most consistent safety in the country.”
He fell short of that goal last season, but this winter and spring have been about getting back up.
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