‘You see him coming along’: Calvin Simpson-Hunt growing in competitive cornerback room
COLUMBUS — Ohio State cornerback Calvin Simpson-Hunt didn’t have the breakout true freshman season his classmate, Jermaine Mathews Jr., enjoyed last year. Mathews enrolled in January 2023 and went on to play more than 100 coverage snaps, complete with a pick-six and and his first career start. Simpson-Hunt arrived on campus in June 2023 and didn’t see the field the first eight games of the season.
But if there’s anyone who can play catch-up, it’s Simpson-Hunt, a former high school track star from Waxahachie, Texas.
“He can run, and he’s strong,” Buckeyes secondary/cornerbacks coach Tim Walton said back in March. “I mean, he’s fast.”
Walton continued: “Very serious about his business. … He’s conscientious, and he’s starting to grow. And he’s starting to get better. So we look for big things for him this spring.”
The Buckeyes got big things from their entire secondary in April’s exhibition game, including from Simpson-Hunt, who made his mark in front of more than 80,000 fans in Ohio Stadium. He tied for second on the team with four solo tackles in the spring game, plus he reeled in one of the day’s four interceptions.
The 6-foot, 204-pound Simpson-Hunt capitalized on an errant throw from second-year quarterback Lincoln Kienholz, who was high and wide of his apparent intended receiver, Kojo Antwi.
Simpson-Hunt, covering running back TC Caffey out of the backfield, had his head on a swivel. He stopped in his tracks and ended up in the right place at the right time to collect the interception.
Second-year Ohio State QB Lincoln Kienholz is picked off by second-year CB Calvin Simpson-Hunt.Kienholz had started to build some momentum, but a bad pass spoils his second drive. pic.twitter.com/2Xo4DuOMhi— Andy Backstrom (@andybackstrom) April 13, 2024
Luckily for the offense, Simpson-Hunt went right down to the turf. But if he gets a chance to run with the ball in his hands, his track speed shows up. He ran a 22.00 200 meter as a sophomore in high school and a 10.65 100 meter as a junior.
As for the gridiron, Simpson-Hunt left Texas as the On3 Industry Ranking’s No. 7 cornerback and No. 58 overall prospect in the 2024 cycle. The one-time Texas Tech commit tallied recorded 25 tackles, three passes defended, two tackles for loss and one fumble recovery as a senior at Waxahachie. The previous season, he logged 29 tackles, five TFLs, one sack and one interception.
Simpson-Hunt ultimately took part in the All-American Bowl in San Antonio alongside a handful of his future Ohio State teammates, except he didn’t join the Buckeyes until the summer.
“He’s growing every day,” Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said after this year’s spring game. “He came in [last] summer, so this is his first full spring. For Lincoln and for [Calvin] and for [defensive tackles] Jason Moore and Kayden McDonald — those guys all came in in the summer, so this is their first full year.
“They still haven’t been on campus for a year. You’d think they’ve been around for a long time, but they haven’t.”
The same week Mathews got his first starting nod — the Buckeyes’ Week 10 road game against Rutgers — Simpson-Hunt heard his number called in-game for the first time. It was the start of an exciting trend for Simpson-Hunt, who got special teams snaps in each of the final five outings of the 2023 campaign.
He’s always looking to be first downfield on kickoff coverage, where he spent 28 of his 55 snaps on teams last season, according to Pro Football Focus.
Special teams snaps are often the precursor of burgeoning Ohio State players making their offensive or defensive debut. That rang true for Simpson-Hunt, who lined up at cornerback Week 11 against Michigan State under the lights of “the Horseshoe.”
He was one of many Buckeyes reserves to see action in the second half of a blowout win against the Spartans. But he was one of a few Ohio State bench options who Day shouted out afterward.
“Just a young guy that flashed to me was Calvin Simpson-Hunt on that screen play,” Day said at the time. “I mean, just, what a great play for him to show up there. Like OK, so now the coaches see that. They say, ‘Wait a minute, now. Maybe we should be looking at this guy.’”
Ohio State cornerback Calvin Simpson-Hunt throws himself in the mix to stop Michigan State tight end Maliq Carr during Week 11 of the 2023 season. (Barbara J. Perenic/The Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK)
The stop Day is talking about came right after Mathews left the field with what looked like a jammed finger. Simpson-Hunt fought off a block and threw himself into the mix to stop Michigan State tight end Maliq Carr short of the sticks.
The play was called back because of a holding call on the Spartans, so Simpson-Hunt didn’t get credited with a tackle, but, from the way Day talked about him postgame, it sounds like he was bound to grade out well.
Simpson-Hunt finished the night with nine defensive snaps to his name. The following week, he got in for 14 additional defensive snaps, per PFF. He gave up one reception for 12 yards on two targets and made two tackles in another lopsided victory, this time over Minnesota.
Flash forward seven months, and Simpson-Hunt is still facing the same climb up the depth chart ladder he started last season. Starting outside corners Denzel Burke and Davison Igbinosun are back, as is starting “nickel” Jordan Hancock. Plus, Mathews is certainly the next up after those three.
That said, with the expanded, 12-team College Football Playoff — and the potential for a season as long as 17 games — Ohio State is emphasizing the importance of depth more than ever.
“There is good depth there,” Day said after spring game, when talking about the Buckeyes’ cornerbacks. “But we’re going to need them all.”
That includes Simpson-Hunt, of course.
“He’s one of those guys that just competes every day, doesn’t say much,” defensive coordinator Jim Knowles said following the April exhibition.
“He’s trying to live up to the standard of the other guys. And you see him coming along. You see him step-by-step coming along. To put him in a competitive atmosphere and see him step up, that’s a great sign.”
The post ‘You see him coming along’: Calvin Simpson-Hunt growing in competitive cornerback room appeared first on On3.
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