Coming off a strong freshman campaign, Ohio State cornerback Devin Sanchez isn’t shying away from the sophomore hype.
The rising sophomore used an appearance at the Memorial Tournament’s Golden Bear Pro-Am to set a high bar for his second season in Columbus, as he expects to be among the best cornerbacks in college football this fall.
“I feel great,” Sanchez said. “I feel like I can be one of the best cornerbacks in the nation. I’m going to be one of the best corners in the nation. I feel like guys should really watch out for me because I’m not freshman Devin anymore.”
After appearing in 13 of Ohio State’s 14 games as a freshman, Sanchez said the experience has helped strengthen his confidence entering the 2026 season.
“I learned a lot throughout the season,” Sanchez said. “I had a lot of ups and downs. I like to use the Miami game as an example. I feel like that game came out of my shell, even though the outcome was not what we wanted. I learned a lot about myself and I learned that if I slow down the college game, I can really have an impact on this field.”
A former top-10 recruit in the class of 2025 out of North Shore in Houston, Sanchez lived up to the high expectations entering the 2025 season and delivered a promising campaign for the Buckeyes.
The 6-2, 198-pound Sanchez racked up 15 tackles, two pass breakups and recovered a fumble as a key rotational piece in Ohio State’s cornerback room.
While Sanchez spent much of his freshman season learning behind veteran starters Davison Igbinosun and Lorenzo Styles Jr., both are now off to the NFL, opening the door for the former five-star recruit to step into a significantly larger role.
Now as he enters his second season, Sanchez is expected to be one of the Buckeyes’ top cornerbacks and a cornerstone of Ohio State’s secondary.
After a year under his belt, Sanchez said he feels prepared to step into that role. Sanchez added that the game has started to slow down for him, and instead of focusing on earning playing time, he is now preparing for the demands of becoming an every-down starter and one of the defense’s leaders.
“It feels a lot different. Like I said, I feel more comfortable. My coaches are trusting me this year because I have a big role,” Sanchez said. “It’s just slowing down for me. It’s becoming real easy. I’m staying competitive. My thing right now is urgency in the summer. Just pick it up. Just go harder and harder because I’m not playing limited snaps this year. I’m playing every snap of the game.”
With an expanded role comes greater leadership expectations, and Sanchez said he is embracing that responsibility as one of Ohio State’s projected starters entering his sophomore season.
“The seniors are leaders, they run the team, voice the team, but being a sophomore and a starter, you have to lead at some point,” Sanchez said. “I have to be that leader in the defense, especially if my coaches are counting on me to go out there and lock down somebody’s X-receiver. I have to be able to lead, I have to have that voice. It can be a voice in just it could be a quiet voice. It could just be leading on the field with your actions, with your play. So you can lead in so many different ways on this team. Everybody has to step up and do it, even the freshmen.”
