A 6-foot, 185-pound cornerback, Scott was a 247Sports Composite five-star prospect and the top-ranked prospect in Ohio last year after helping the Wildcats get back to the state championship game for a third straight season.
He might face a long road to playing time this fall with seniors Denzel Burke and Jordan Hancock returning along with junior Davison Igbinosun, but Scott’s presence was noticeable in the spring game.
Burke, who was forced into an early starting role as a true freshman three years ago when the cornerback room was much lighter on experience, likes what he has seen from Scott.
“Yeah, he had a lot of development,” Burke said. “He’s still young. He’s still got that young mentality. Not mature yet, but he will get there.
“Everyone was 18 once, but he’s a great player. He showed flashes of himself in camp, so I’m really excited for what he has in store for his future and his time here at Ohio State.”
With veterans throughout the defense, more of Ohio State’s true freshmen are likely to see time on the offensive side of the ball.
Day confirmed running backs James Peoples and Sam Williams-Dixon are going to be relied on behind senior TreVeyon Henderson and junior Quinshon Judkins, and five-star receiver Jeremiah Smith seems like a lock to play a lot as well.
“Obviously, the two running backs are going to have to play,” Day said. “They’re going to get games and get carries. (Receivers) Mylan (Graham) and Damarion Witten just got there, so when you get there in the summer, you’re a little bit behind, so they’ve get some ground to cover. It’s hard for offensive linemen to make a major impact early on.
“On defense, Eddrick Houston’s probably flashed the most, but we’re pretty deep at defensive end. (Safety) Jaylen McClain has done a nice job, so he’ll see some time this season for sure. (Cornerback) Bryce West was injured, so I haven’t really seen him do a whole bunch, but we’ll kind of see what we got there. Both are young linebackers, we’ll see.”
Nick McLarty, a 6-foot-7, 255-pound freshman from Australia will have a chance to win the punting job, too.
“That’s going to be a battle that goes into probably the third week to see if they can win the job. He’s got three or four guys in there that are going to be in the mix. He’s got a big leg. He’s young, so we’ll kind of see.”
Ohio State is set to begin preseason practice Aug. 1.
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