Ohio State got its first transfer portal commitment on Sunday, and his addition will be more than just filling in for Caleb Downs.
The Ohio State Buckeyes finally got their first major headline addition in the transfer portal.
On Sunday afternoon, former Alabama and, most recently, Florida State safety Earl Little Jr. committed to Ohio State.
Little is coming off of a very solid season for the Seminoles, where he finished with 76 tackles, four interceptions, two tackles for loss, and two pass breakups. Little's best game came in the ridiculous loss to the Virginia Cavaliers, where he had 13 tackles.
Over a three-week span, Little had three straight games with an interception against Pitt, Stanford, and Wake Forest. In his three-year career, he has 96 total tackles, four interceptions, three tackles for loss, two pass breakups, and one sack.
Little's role on the team is fairly obvious; he is the solution for the Buckeyes, who are losing their star Caleb Downs.
What Little is going to bring to the Buckeyes is a very similar play style that Downs had, who thrived under the direction of defensive coordinator Matt Patricia. One thing that stands out when watching the tape of Little Jr. is that he is not afraid of contact.
When he arrives at the football, he does so with very bad intentions and brings a pop when he makes a tackle. The play that stood out the most to me was against Wake Forest on a key third down. The Demon Deacons quarterback took off running, converted the first down, and chose not to get down before Little got there. Little crushed him and jarred the football loose, and forced a turnover.
He can play at the line of scrimmage but he can also cover in the post.
Little was asked to be both for the Seminoles last year, and he had a ton of production while doing so. He has great speed and range when covering the deep parts of the field, and three of his four interceptions were contested catches more than 30 yards down the football field.
He has shown that he can have great production defending the deep parts of the field and being that great eraser on the back end of the defense.
The comparisons to Downs are obvious, but they really do have a similar play style. The main difference between the two is that Little brings a bunch more experience to the Buckeyes. Downs transferred in as a true Sophomore, and the Buckeyes got two great seasons out of him.
Little comes to Columbus as a redshirt Junior entering his fourth season. He has played high-level football at both Alabama and Florida State, and he will bring that experience to Ohio State.
The Buckeyes have had an incredibly disappointing transfer portal season, but this is absolutely a bright light as the window is coming to a close on Jan 16th.