Ryan Day provides latest on Lathan Ransom, impressed with return from injury

Ohio State head coach Ryan Day hit the practice podium with some good news on Thursday, providing a positive update on safety Lathan Ransom. Ransom suffered a leg injury that required surgery during the Rose Bowl last winter after what was a breakout season for him.

“He had a very good summer, shown up, for sure,” Day said as the Buckeyes wrapped up week one of fall camp. “Yeah, it says a lot about Lathan’s ability, the recovery that he put in with … everybody in the training room. It’s good to see him. We’re certainly keeping an eye on it. Every day we kind of have a watchlist of guys that we keep a close eye on to make sure that they’re good, but he’s been able to handle it and it says a lot about him.”

Prior to his injury, Ransom had 38 tackles, a sack and a forced fumble in 2021. He finished seventh on the Ohio State defense in tackles.

Coming into Columbus, he was a four-star recruit out of Arizona and a top-150 prospect, according to the On3 Consensus. Ransom played some as a freshman but broke out in 2021 as a sophomore. In the 2020 season, he tallied five tackles for the Buckeyes.

Ohio State will have three safeties on the field for a large percentage of snaps in 2022 under new defensive coordinator Jim Knowles. Although Ransom is still getting back to 100% health, he could play a significant role when there’s a need for a third safety.

Day: ‘We expect a Top-10 defense’

Ryan Day knows that it’s difficult to be successful in college football without a top defense. Just look at Georgia.

The Buckeyes defense has a lot to be excited about heading into 2022, but also plenty of question marks as Jim Knowles enters his first season as defensive coordinator. Still, with all of the returning talent, Day’s expectations are sky-high.

“In terms of expectations, we expect a top 10 defense,” the coach told reporters at Big Ten Media Days. “When we’ve played our best football, it’s because we’ve played really good defense, We’ve been balanced and played complimentary football. We want to obviously stop the run to begin with and go from there, but we expect a top 10 defense.”

Ohio State ranked ninth in the Big Ten in total defense in 2021, and was sixth at stopping the run. The addition of Knowles, who helped Oklahoma State finish first in the country in sacks and fifth in total defense, figures to fix those shortcomings.

On3’s Chandler Vessels contributed to this report.