Cameron Martinez building confidence, seizing nickel spot in Ohio State defense

The summer offseason is in full swing, and Lettermen Row is trying to survive it with our annual Position Week breakdowns. By the time all nine units and coaching staff at Ohio State have been covered, training camp and media days will nearly have arrived, and the return of football in the Horseshoe will be just around the corner. We’re continuing with our eighth positional week with the Buckeyes safeties unit.

COLUMBUS — Ohio State “nickel” safety Cameron Martinez bit on the outside move, and Michigan wide receiver Cornelius Johnson made him look silly.

As soon as Martinez turned outside, Johnson turned inside.

One Mississippi. Two Mississippi. Three Mississippi.

That’s all it took to for Johnson to create five yards of separation. So much separation that, by the time Johnson hauled in another bomb from J.J. McCarthy, Martinez was hardly in the broadcast frame.

There was no catching Johnson, who galloped to the end zone for his second straight catch-and-run touchdown of at least 69 yards, this one good for 75.

Unfortunately for Martinez, that was a defining moment of his injury-riddled 2022 season. It didn’t help that his gaffe was part of a defensive implosion that led to the Buckeyes’ second loss to Michigan in a row. Although costly, the mistake Martinez made comes with playing defensive back — a position the star dual-threat quarterback from Muskegon High School has been playing for only three seasons.

“I think the biggest thing is just kind of snapping out of that,” Martinez said this spring, reflecting on past in-game errors. “The most important play is the next play.

“When you’re on offense, you don’t really think that way. A lot of control was within me because I was the quarterback. But there’s a lot of things you can’t control on defense. It shows up, especially in the back end. That’s where the confidence comes in: Within yourself, knowing that’s not going to happen the next play and just kind of snapping out of it.”

Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles echoed that sentiment. Knowles believes the sky is the limit for Martinez but that it’s “all about confidence and competing” for the senior.

Martinez, who mostly repped as the Buckeyes’ first-team nickel this spring, reminds Knowles of Michael Carter II, a cornerback for the New York Jets Knowles coached while he was the DC at Duke.

Like Carter, Martinez is shorter than 6 feet. Both have quick and dynamic feet, though.

Martinez’s footwork has jumped out to Ohio State cornerbacks and secondary coach Tim Walton, too.

“He has corner cover skills,” Walton said of Martinez in late March. “He has quick feet, he has good change of direction, he has good ball skills at the top of routes, excellent quickness and change of direction.

Walton continued: “That’s the stuff you need playing in the slot. … They move guys around there. That’s dealing with space, and you can work in and out. So the intermediate routes and quick game is where you need guys that can have fluid hips and be able to move there. He does that well.”

Even though Martinez is technically a safety in Knowles’ three-safety, 4-2-5 system, Martinez considers himself an inside corner. He got some experience playing outside corner early in his Ohio State career, and he said that experience has helped at nickel.

“There are sometimes where I will be able to play safety as well and rotate,” Martinez explained. “But my main job is stopping the man in front of me. That’s the first and foremost thing, and that’s how it was on the outside as well.”

Cameron Martinez looks on during the 2023 Ohio State spring game. (Matt Parker/Lettermen Row)

Knowles has changed the way he looks at the nickel spot this offseason. He’s described it as a malleable position that can be played be either a corner or a safety, depending on the matchup. Martinez maintains, however, that he can be a three-down player there.

“I feel like I can play a lot bigger than what people may think,” said Martinez, who stands 5-foot-10, 190 pounds. “I think that’s good, too, because you don’t have to really change anything. You’ll be able to go three downs or go a whole drive without having to switch. If they go bigger personnel, it really doesn’t matter for us. We’re still able to play the same way.”

Martinez suffered an ankle sprain Week 3 against Toledo last season. He said the injury lingered for a few weeks before he eventually re-aggravated it toward the end of the year.

Martinez noted that he never really felt 100% after the initial injury, which he thinks caught up to him down the stretch of the season. Martinez played just 175 defensive snaps in 2022, 22 fewer than he logged as a sophomore, according to Pro Football Focus.

Martinez emphasized the importance of game reps. He wish he got more last season, as his injury setbacks limited his on-field opportunities. Equally important, though, is familiarity with a defensive system. And, for the first time in his Buckeyes career, Martinez will be working with the same defensive system consecutive years.

“To me, that’s where it shows up the most,” Ohio State safeties coach Perry Eliano said of Martinez’s improvement this spring. “Cam knows, and he knew, that he needed to continue to get better. He was injured a few times throughout the season. Just when he felt like he was getting in rhythm, here comes the injury bug. So I told him, ‘Hey, you gotta stay on the field and keep working.’”

That’s what Martinez has done, even when matched up against star Ohio State wideout Marvin Harrison Jr. in the slot.

Martinez said his “training wheels” are off in the Knowles defense. He’s learned from a year under Tanner McCalister, who started at nickel for the Buckeyes last year after coming over with Knowles from Oklahoma State. Plus, Martinez is healthy again.

All those things have helped him stack productive days this offseason.

“When his number’s called, he’s made plays,” Eliano said. “One thing about here is there’s no entitlements. Everybody’s gotta come to work every day. We’ve been competitive in everything we’ve done, whether it be academically, in the offseason, in the weight room, nutrition, in the meeting room, everything. We’re competing in every facet of our players’ lives.

“And, right now, he’s thriving in that environment, and he’s answering the bell. So he’s gotta continue to do that.”

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