\n\tDuring his interview session with Ohio State reporters this spring, Sanchez said he was much more confident entering his sophomore season than he was as a freshman and set goals for himself of winning the Jim Thorpe Award and earning All-American honors. On Wednesday at the Memorial Tournament, Sanchez doubled down on that confident expectation-setting.\n<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI feel great. I feel like I can be one of the best corners in the nation. I’m gonna be one of the best corners in the nation,\u201d Sanchez said in an interview with\u00a0Eleven Warriors and cleveland.com. \u201cSo I feel like guys should really watch out for me, because I’m not freshman Devin no more. I feel like I’m back to myself like I was in high school, so it’s a lot that’s coming this year.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n\tSanchez arrived at Ohio State with massive expectations as the No. 1-ranked cornerback<\/a> in the 2025 class. He wasn\u2019t dominant as Ohio State\u2019s No. 3 cornerback as a freshman. But he finished the season strong, allowing just four catches for 33 yards on 51 coverage snaps in Ohio State\u2019s final four games of the year per Pro Football Focus, and he believes the experience he gained as a freshman \u2013 playing 323 snaps in total \u2013 was invaluable in preparing him to be a full-time starter as a sophomore.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI’m probably one of the only freshmen that played however many games we played. So I learned a lot throughout the season, had a lot of ups and downs,\u201d Sanchez said. \u201cBut I like to use the Miami game as an example. I feel like that game I came out of my shell, even though the outcome was not what we wanted. But I learned a lot about myself. I learned that if I slow down in the college game, you know, I can really be an impact (player) on this field.\u201d\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \n\tSanchez is only putting more pressure on himself to perform by stating his expectation to be one of college football\u2019s best cornerbacks in 2026, but Sanchez is no stranger to pressure. As a five-star recruit, Sanchez was always expected to be the best player on the field during his career at Houston\u2019s North Shore High School. In three varsity seasons, he led the Mustangs to two state championship game appearances and another run to the state semifinals. So Sanchez is running toward high expectations rather than shying away from them.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cThat’s what I’m used to. I’m used to being the guy that the defense called on, the team called on when it gets into that fourth quarter and you need that one stop,\u201d Sanchez said. \u201cI’m used to being that guy that your coach goes up to you and tells you like, \u2018Hey, you got to win this play right here.\u2019 It’s going to be 3rd-and-8, you got to win that down right there. So that’s what I’m used to. I feel like I’m back in that role right now.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI’m gonna be one of the best corners in the nation. So I feel like guys should really watch out for me, because I’m not freshman Devin no more.\u201d\u2013 Devin Sanchez on his confidence entering 2026\n<\/p>\n \n\tSanchez said spring practices felt much easier for him this year than they did a year ago. But Sanchez says he\u2019s working just as hard this summer to continue improving over the next three months leading up to the season.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI’m staying competitive,\u201d Sanchez said. \u201cMy thing right now is urgency in the summer. Just pick it up, just go harder and harder. Because I’m not playing 100 snaps this year. I’m going to be in every snap of the game. So it’s just picking up the urgency because they’re going to be coming at me.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\tEven though he\u2019s only a sophomore, Sanchez is also working on stepping up as a leader this year, knowing that other players will look up to him now that he\u2019s a starter.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cObviously the seniors are the leader. They run the team. They’re the voice of the team. But being a sophomore and being a starter, you have to lead at some point. I got to be that leader on the defense,\u201d Sanchez said. \u201cEspecially if my coaches are counting on me to go out here and lock down somebody’s X receiver, I got to be able to lead, I got to have that voice.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cIt could be a quiet voice. It could just be leading on the field with your play. You can lead in so many different ways on this team that everybody has to step up and do it, even the freshmen.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\tSanchez won\u2019t have to lead Ohio State\u2019s cornerback unit on his own. Jermaine Mathews Jr. returns as a starter from last season, and Sanchez says he and Mathews make each other better constantly.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWe\u2019re 6 and 7; you know the meme, 67,\u201d Sanchez said, moving his arms up and down, in reference to his and Mathews\u2019 jersey numbers, \u201cbut we feed a lot off each other. I talk to him every day, a lot of ups and downs, you got to have those hard conversations with guys like that. So if you can have a hard conversation with a guy, that’s how you know you really trust him. So he trusts me, I trust him. He’s the older dude, he’s the vet in the room, but I’m considered a vet now too. So we lean on each other. Like today at workouts, I told him, \u2018We got a lot on our plate this year. Guys are coming to us.\u2019 So, we got a lot of hard games this year, and we’re ready for it.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\tSanchez has also been impressed by what he\u2019s seen from transfer cornerbacks Dominick Kelly and Cam Calhoun, transfer safety\/nickel Earl Little Jr. and freshman cornerback Jay Timmons this offseason.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cDom Kelly\u2019s stepping up a lot. He\u2019s got a big role this year too. Cam Calhoun, Jay Timmons for sure. Even Earl Little. A lot of guys in the secondary right now (are stepping up),\u201d Sanchez said. \u201cBut to get ready for those games where we got to win in the fourth quarter, it starts right now in the summer.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\tSanchez, who was at the Memorial Tournament on Wednesday alongside Mathews and six of his other Ohio State teammates to participate in a clinic with current and former Nationwide Children\u2019s Hospital patients<\/a>, said the Buckeyes are building chemistry both on and off the field this summer as Ohio State\u2019s returning players and newcomers have gotten to know each other.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\tDevin Sanchez, Julian Sayin and several of their Ohio State football teammates hanging out with the Golden Cubs at the Memorial Tournament this morning. pic.twitter.com\/JHwXlXvIBC<\/a>\n\t<\/p>\n