Ransom loving Knowles’ new D, dishes on comeback from injury
Safety Lathan Ransom (12) and defensive end Zach Harrison (9) celebrate Ransom's seven-yard second quarter sack on Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford on Oct. 30, 2021. Photo by Sam Fahmi/Columbus Wired.
Lathan Ransom has found a new home this year without having to leave the friendly confines of Columbus. That’s because Ohio State’s first-year defensive coordinator, Jim Knowles, has situated Ransom back to where he feels most comfortable in the new scheme.
“At the end of the day, I came here to play free safety (the high safety) and I wasn’t playing that my first (two) years, I was just doing what was needed for the team.”
The third-year safety said he didn’t mind playing the low safety, or what is commonly known as the strong safety, but it just didn’t feel like the best fit.
“Regardless, whatever the team needs me to do, I’ll do it. But I finally got the opportunity to play one of those high safety roles and that’s just where I feel comfortable.”
Last year, Ransom played the role and filled it well, finishing seventh on the team in tackles (38) and third in pass breakups (5). He also chipped in a seven-yard sack and forced a fumble.
The comfortability in the change back to his natural position - where he was the 2019 AllSportsTucson.com Athlete of the Year out of Salpointe Catholic (Tucson, Ariz.) High School - was evident in this year’s season-opener two weeks ago against Notre Dame. The 6-foot-1, 205-pounder took over for starter Josh Proctor on the Irish’s second offensive drive and immediately made his presence felt by sticking 6-foot-5, 265-pound tight end Michael Mayer dead in his tracks on 3rd-and-7 for a six-yard gain, forcing Notre Dame to punt.
He finished the game second on the team with seven tackles.
Last weekend, he followed up that performance with four tackles against Arkansas State, including one for a three-yard loss.
So far this season, he ranks tied-for second in tackles (11) and also has one of the team’s 18 tackles-for-loss.
Not a bad comeback at all for a dude that suffered a compound fracture to his left leg during the Buckeyes’ 48-45 Rose Bowl win over Utah.
“That’s definitely the most traumatizing and worst thing that’s ever happened to me,” he said a few weeks ago during fall camp. “I knew it was broken immediately. I looked down and saw it broke. Everyone’s thinking the worst at the moment, and I definitely was.”
He said just being able to hit the field against Notre Dame was somewhat surreal.
“I got emotional running onto the field just because … I wasn’t supposed to play in that game.”
After suffering the injury in the Rose Bowl, Ransom said he underwent a grueling process of physical rehabilitation, spending several months with physical therapist and athletic trainer Adam Stewart to get himself back into prime shape. Ransom said he was given a seven month timetable to return but ultimately, the range of when he felt ready to come back was up to him.
“I told Stew that right when I got hurt, when we first started training, that I was gonna be the fastest person that ever came back from this kind of leg injury and Stew was like, ‘show me. You gotta do it.’”
Ransom said Stewart pushed him to live up to his word.
“Stew was going to push me, obviously, to achieve that, which he did and I appreciate him for that.”
Ransom also spent a lot of hours during that down time preparing himself mentally to ensure he could play a significant role in Knowles’ defense.
“I understood that I couldn’t practice in the spring. I tried to sharpen different parts of my game, watching the film and understanding the defense helped me grasp all the positions when things are moving and stuff like that, that’s definitely helped me improve my game a lot.”
It really shouldn’t come as a surprise that Ransom has so-far flourished. Both Knowles and head coach Ryan Day praised Ransom for his development in the offseason and fall camp, which early on Knowles said Ransom was one of the guys they were switching around at all three safety positions, a compliment considering Knowles bases his defense around the safeties.
Day said Ransom’s recovery spoke to the safety’s character and resolve.
“He’s shown up, for sure,” Day said during the first week of fall camp. “And yeah, it says a lot about Lathan’s ability for recovery and the work he put in with Stew and Shaun Barnhouse and everybody in the training room … he’s been able to handle it and says a lot about him.”
It’s that kind of praise as well as everything he’s gone through up to this point in his Ohio State career that keeps him motivated.
“I’ll never forget,” he said. “Every time I step on the field, I’ll remember everything I went through. I remember the injury, I remember all the hard work I put in and I’ll never take it for granted. So, I’ll never forget it, it motivates me. Between school and our families, this is our life. So when you take something like football away from you, man, for a little bit, I was lost. I’ll never forget that feeling.”