No need to worry about messages from the outside world, just time to concentrate on the task at hand — winning the starting Will linebacker job.
With that in mind, if Hicks wasn’t in the mood to talk to reporters, that would have been understandable.
The Alter High School grad has been under the microscope since arriving in Columbus in January 2022, bearing the tag of top-rated prospect in the state of Ohio and the expectations that come with it.
Two years later, he has not carved out an on-field niche yet with the Buckeyes, but if Hicks was concerned, he hid it well Wednesday morning, the seventh day of preseason camp for Ohio State.
Flashing his 1,000-watt smile, Hicks took questions about his competition with Sonny Styles, his strengths and weaknesses as a player and more all in the same stride he used to track down ballcarriers in a Knights uniform.
“I got my confidence back,” he said. “Started praying more. The Lord blessed me with everything I got. And I’m just going to show that on the field.”
At Alter, he started as a cornerback but ultimately played just about every position on defense — except the one has been learning for the last two-plus years.
That experience has turned out to have its positives and negatives for Hicks.
“I mean, playing all the positions I played in high school has helped and hindered me, but my thing is I’m just for helping the team as much as I can,” he said. “I feel like if I played more linebacker in high school, just mainly linebacker, then I would be a better linebacker than I am here, or was in the past two years, but playing all those positions has helped me become as twitchy as I am.
“Being able to know certain things that I know, and being able to cover slot receivers, and when running backs are running out on the wheel (route), what do I need to do, what I need to look at, things like that.”
Hicks is in a unique position at Ohio State in multiple ways.
While the Buckeyes have many highly-rated recruits, the highest still get the most scrutiny — especially the ones from Ohio.
While many position groups boast lots of talent, Hicks’ competition (Styles) is a guy who actually was viewed in almost the same light coming out of high school.
And they play a position that has been up and down at Ohio State in recent seasons, meaning fans are hungry to see more production and expect younger players to have an easier time finding ways to make that happen.
Though it hasn’t happened yet for Hicks, he did not express any concern it might not.
“I (was) trying to be perfect every set that I can so I could get on the field (in my first two years),” he said. “This year, I don’t care. I just go. If I mess up, I mess up. I talk to (defensive coordinator Jim) Knowles, get back on it. Pull my trigger. That’s the main thing he talks about with the whole defense. Don’t hesitate. That’s what my thing was, because it’s like I was trying to be so perfect.”
James Laurinaitis, who was promoted to full-time linebackers coach last winter but already worked with them extensively last fall, said he is most concerned with consistency all his players.
“Whether it’s C.J. or anybody in our room, you want to be trusted, right?” said Laurinaitis, who starred at linebacker for Ohio State from 2005-08. “It’s not just you’re trying to prove it to me, you’re trying to prove it to your boys next to you. You know what I mean? I remember when I played, I just wanted (safety) Malcolm (Jenkins) to trust that I was going to be where I was supposed to be when I was supposed to be there. That’s it.
“So we preach that to everybody. I think C.J. is doing a nice job so far this fall.”
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