Ohio State Football: Denzel Burke’s challenge this weekend

Denzel Burke of the Ohio State football team could have a challenge on his hand on the road in Indiana. He has become the Buckeyes’ best cornerback as a true freshman and will be possibly tasked with guarding Indiana’s talented receiver Ty Frygogle.

Fryfogle was one of college football’s best receivers last season with his 721 receiving yards across eight games. The Hoosier wideout even beat out Ohio State’s Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson for the Big Ten Wide Receiver of the Year, even though this was certainly a debatable decision. Six games into the year, Fryfogle has not sustained the same production with only 337 receiving yards to show for.

The Indiana wideout could be even less of a threat with the Hoosiers starting a true freshman quarterback, Donaven McCulley. Frygogle is still capable of being a threat this weekend, directly challenging the Buckeye secondary.

Denzel Burke could be the corner to erase Fryfogle

Burke could be the corner primarily guarding Fryfogle since he is OSU’s best cover player right now. Now, the Silver Bullets are using far less man coverage with Matt Barnes calling the defense, opting for more zone. Burke is not going to be put out on an island over and over again like past Buckeye corners, such as Jeff Okudah.

Some man coverage will still be present here and there, and Ohio State has even utilized some mixed looks at times. The Bucks have used some man coverage on one side of the field, with a zone look on the opposite side. The opportunity will still be there, at times, for Burke to guard  Fryfogle one-on-one.

At this point in the season, Burke should be fully up to the task, but this will be the best receiver he’s faced up to this point. There is little reason to think the outstanding freshman cannot nearly halt Fryfogle’s production since Burke has been so lights out.

Recently, Pro Football Focus ranked the top freshmen in the country. Burke was put at number five in the country, PFF went on to cite the OSU corner has only allowed 14 catches on 33 targets this season. That is a completion percentage of 42.4%, a very impressive number. Burke has yet to give up one 15+ yard completion halfway into the season.

Watching how Burke performs will be a key area for the Buckeyes simply due to Fryfogle. This national primetime game gives Ohio State football’s Burke the chance to start really making a name for himself across the country.

We’ll see how the freshman does!