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DB Marcus Hooker (transfer to Youngstown St.)

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Marcus Hooker
Jordan Fuller just finished up a long, successful career as Ohio State’s top safety. Under last year’s defensive scheme, which we are sure to see return this upcoming season despite coaching changes on that side of the ball, Fuller was featured as the team’s lone deep safety. Now that he is one of the newest members of the Los Angeles Rams, the Buckeyes will be searching for the next man up. While many have pegged Josh Proctor as Fuller’s successor, don't sleep on Marcus Hooker — yes, the brother of Malik Hooker.

Hooker came to Columbus as the team’s lowest-rated recruit in the 2018 class — a three-star prospect, and the No. 640 overall player in the cycle. After redshirting his first year on campus, Hooker spent this past season starting all 14 games on special teams. He saw defensive action in seven games, getting more snaps as the year went on as he continued to show improvement. Now, with a starting job open, Hooker will have a chance to prove he deserves to be No. 1 on the depth chart.

Proctor showed some obvious struggles in limited time in 2019. To be fair, the staff was asking a lot of him to step up in some big situations — especially when they tried to run two safety sets against Clemson in the CFP. While both guys are clearly talented athletes, if Hooker can channel even a little bit of his brothers famed ball-hawking ability, he has a real shot to make a big impact in 2020.

Just sayin': His early stint in the "coaches' doghouse" didn't help his cause; however, I do think he's past that now. If you remember Malik has some issues early on at Ohio State too, he wanted to just quit and go home, etc. Let's hope Marcus becomes the equivalent of Malik Hooker 2.0. Considering the overall depth and experience of the "DB room" he has a real chance at significant playing time this year.
 
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S: MARCUS HOOKER

Few players in Ohio State history have ever made such a dramatic leap from unknown young player to national superstar in just one year as Malik Hooker did for the Buckeyes in 2016. Four years later, his younger brother Marcus will try to make a similar breakthrough.

Despite his impressive lineage, Marcus Hooker enters the 2020 season with far less hype than fellow third-year safety Josh Proctor, who’s expected to succeed Jordan Fuller as the Buckeyes’ starting deep safety. That said, Ohio State defensive coordinator Kerry Coombs has named the younger Hooker as a defensive back who he expects to play a significant role this season; it’s unclear what exactly that role will be yet, but Hooker came on strong enough during the latter portion of the 2019 season to believe that’s not just lip service.

Second-year safeties Ronnie Hickman and Bryson Shaw could also be sleepers to emerge as role players in 2020, but at a position where the Buckeyes typically only had one player on the field in 2019, Hooker is the one to watch behind Proctor that could start to make his own name for himself this fall.
 
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Hooker is inexperienced, but so was his brother in 2016 when he burst onto the scene and became a huge boost to the Ohio State defense. Could Marcus Hooker do the same? He has flashed plenty of potential during his two seasons with the Buckeyes.

And this spring, in the limited action the Buckeyes were able to practice, Hooker looked like a physically-changed player who added muscle. That won’t hurt his chances of earning playing time.

If he can work his way into the conversation at safety, he might not have to worry about being compared to his sibling so much. He’ll have his own impact on the Ohio State defense.

The play: Hooker has always been a physical athlete, and he showed it in the second half of the Buckeyes blowout win over Maryland.

hooker.gif


On a third down in the fourth quarter, a swing pass was thrown to the flat. Hooker came downhill, met the back just a yard past the line of scrimmage and made a perfect open-field tackle to end a drive. It’s not anything flashy, and it won’t make a highlight reel. But it showed that he’s not afraid to come up and make plays from the safety spot, something Jordan Fuller was great at during his Buckeyes career.

However Marcus Hooker finds a way onto the field, he’ll take it. His physicality might be his ticket.
 
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Hooker started to turn a corner last season with his practice habits giving him more chances to contribute in meaningful moments, most notably when he was plugged in for key situations in the rivalry win over Michigan last November. But it’s obviously going to take more than 14 appearances, seven tackles and a pass broken up to earn the kind of acclaim his brother earned at Ohio State — although it’s also worth remembering that it took him a couple years before emerging as a star, too.

What can Marcus Hooker bring to Ohio State in the secondary? How can the safety live up to the high standards of the Buckeyes and his famous older brother? Where does Hooker need to improve to take the next step for the program? Former Ohio State captain and Los Angeles Rams draft pick Jordan Fuller broke down some film and answered those questions in the latest episode of BuckIQ.

Roll the tape!

 
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COLIN: MARCUS HOOKER WILL LEAD OHIO STATE IN INTERCEPTIONS
A safety named Hooker will lead Ohio State in interceptions as a redshirt sophomore for the second time in the last decade. I'm talking about Marcus Hooker, Malik's younger brother who has flown under the radar so far in his collegiate career. I fully expect the Buckeyes to implement more two-safety defenses, and even when there's only one safety on the field, I anticipate Hooker playing early and often. He might not be quite a once-in-a-lifetime ball-hawking safety like his brother, but he'll pick off his fair share of passes. Most people have their eyes on Josh Proctor at safety. Hooker will earn his shine in due time.
 
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Marcus Hooker has been waiting for his chance. Like his brother, Marcus starred at New Castle (Pa.) High School. He enrolled at OSU in 2018 and redshirted. Last year, Marcus was a valuable special teams player as Fuller took most of the meaningful snaps at safety. Marcus and junior Josh Proctor seem to be the top candidates at safety – whether OSU goes with a one- or two-safety look – for the 2020 season.

"When I think of Marcus Hooker, I think of a true centerfielder,” OSU safeties coach Matt Barnes said. “I think of a rangy player that’s instinctive and that has, I would go as far as to say, has freakish ball skills. He really tracks the ball well and does a great job of going to get it. Runs the alley real well for us in the run game.”

The 5-11, 200-pound Hooker worked during the pandemic hiatus to position himself for this opportunity.

“I looked at it as a way for me to grow in many ways, academically and physically,” Hooker said. “I can maximize myself the best way I can for myself and my teammates. A lot of people were pushing me during that break and telling me I have a chance to play a big role this year.

“Ever since we found out we were ready to play, we have had that spark and we haven’t stopped working.”

Hooker was asked what his brother told him about his chance to be an impact player at the college level.

“Just to stay focused and not to dwell on things that happen, whether I have a bad day or even a good day,” Hooker said. “He said to look at it as a way for me to improve each and every day.”

Hooker was also asked what he learned from Fuller, who had quickly carved out a niche with the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams this season before suffering a shoulder injury.

“That comes back to being more focused in meetings and being more detailed in watching film,” Hooker said. “Jordan was a tremendous athlete and he was always on top of his film. That’s the bigger step we have to take as upcoming safeties. We have to be more detailed when we’re watching film. That’s what Jordan always told us.

“He was always in there breaking down film and seeing what broke out in each play and figuring out what we needed to do better at.”
 
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“I looked at it as a way for me to grow in many ways, academically and physically, to maximize myself the best way I can for me and my teammates,” Hooker said last week. “A lot of people were pushing me over the break and the time we had off, telling me that I have a chance, not just myself but to me and my team, to play a big role this year. Ever since we found out that we were able to play, we’ve had that spark and we just haven’t stopped working.

“It was just a continuous thing for me to try to grow and develop myself better than I was last year.”

But Hooker has certainly made up ground in the race to the starting spot on Saturday when the Buckeyes host Nebraska in the season opener.

“When it comes to physical talent, I don’t think there’s any shortage of talent for either one,” Buckeyes safety coach Matt Barnes said. “So, it’s just a matter of getting those guys enough reps and showing those guys enough film. Really just kind of Football 101 conversations.”

 
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