In the not-too-distant past, Matt Barnes sat inside the Woody Hayes Athletic Center and sold those questioning him and listening to him on Ohio State’s strategy at safety. In the then-upcoming 2020 season, he said in October, the Buckeyes would rely primarily on Marcus Hooker as their deep safety and Josh Proctor closer to the line of scrimmage. Hooker was described as an athletic center fielder with “freakish ball skills,” and Proctor was deemed “probably a little more comfortable” covering man-to-man and being “closer to the box.”
That plan, to say the least, didn’t work out the way Barnes and Kerry Coombs hoped.