The freshmen getting most of the attention at Ohio State this season have been Chris Henry Jr., Brock Boyd, Jay Timmons, and Khary Wilder. That makes sense.
Two of them are dynamic receivers, Wilder is a pass rush monster, and Timmons is already one of the best players on the defense. But there’s another first-year Buckeye who has quietly carved out a real role on this defense, and he’s starting to look like more than just a depth piece.
That’s safety Simeon Caldwell.
Caldwell didn’t arrive in Columbus
with the same hype as some of his classmates. The 6-foot-2, 210-pound safety from The Bolles School in Jacksonville was a four-star prospect. He was ranked No. 208 nationally in the 247Sports Composite and listed as a linebacker, not a safety.
He was a three-year starter in high school, piling up more than 300 career tackles. As a senior, he had 92 tackles, two fumble recoveries and a blocked field goal. Football also runs in the family for the Caldwells. Simeon’s father, Mike Caldwell, played 11 seasons in the NFL, and his uncle is actually Ohio State co-defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach Tim Walton.
Despite all that, most preseason projections didn’t have Caldwell playing meaningful snaps this fall. Ohio State had Jaylen McClain and Earl Little Jr. as its starters. Veteran depth from Duke transfer Terry Moore, Leroy Roker III, and Blaine Bradford, the higher-rated freshman safety in the same class.
Caldwell has worked his way past most of that list anyway.
Caldwell’s role keeps growing
The first sign came in fall camp, when Caldwell lost his black stripe ahead of most of the defensive freshmen. The second came in the season opener, when he played 24 snaps against Ball State. That’s typical for a freshman in a blowout, but it was clear the coaching staff wanted to see him.
The more important moment came in Austin. In Ohio State’s 24-23 loss at Texas, the starters played nearly every snap. Ten of the 11 defensive starters played more than 50 snaps, and McClain was on the field for all 80. Caldwell only got five, but they came in dime packages, which tells you the staff trusted him in a hostile road environment in a top-five matchup.
That trust has only grown since. Caldwell played 20 snaps against Illinois, matching Roker. Then against Iowa, with Jay Timmons out, he played a season-high 26 snaps and lined up at both safety and linebacker. He finished with three tackles and earned a 71.8 grade from Pro Football Focus. Among Ohio State’s safeties, only McClain graded higher, and Caldwell finished ahead of both Little and Roker.
What stood out against Iowa was how comfortable Ohio State was asking him to handle tight end DJ Vonnahme. That’s a difficult assignment for a true freshman against a physical Big Ten tight end, and Caldwell held up. He also made a key open field tackle on Vonnahme in the second half to stop an Iowa drive.
Meanwhile, Bradford, the five-star safety many expected to make the early splash, hasn’t appeared in the defensive rotation in Ohio State’s last three games. None of that means Bradford won’t be a great player at Ohio State, and freshman development is rarely linear.
Right now the coaches are telling us who they trust, and the answer is Caldwell.
Could Caldwell be a starter in 2027?
The best part about Caldwell’s role is that there’s still plenty of room for it to grow. He’s at his best in Ohio State’s big nickel and dime packages right now, and his size makes him an interesting matchup piece against tight ends and bigger slot receivers.
That type of versatility becomes even more valuable later in the season, when Ohio State faces offenses like USC, Oregon and Michigan, who all have threats at tight end. If Caldwell keeps progressing at this pace, it isn’t hard to imagine him playing 30 to 35 snaps a game by November and being a real factor by the time the playoffs arrive.
The bigger question is what this means for next season. Little is a fifth-year senior who came from Florida State and will be out of eligibility after 2026. McClain is a true junior, but he’s already viewed as a potential early-round pick in the 2027 NFL Draft. If he has the rest of the season many expect, he’ll have a decision to make.
That could leave Ohio State replacing both starting safeties next year. Bradford will be in the mix, and so will Roker and whatever the Buckeyes add through recruiting and the transfer portal. But Caldwell will enter that competition with something none of the others can match. A full season of meaningful snaps in big games, including on the road at Texas and Iowa.
There have also been questions about whether Caldwell eventually grows into a linebacker, much like Sonny Styles did. That could still happen. But he’s already showing he can play both roles, and that versatility only makes him more valuable to this defense.
Caldwell won’t be the freshman who dominates the headlines this season, and he doesn’t have to be. He’s already earned a role on one of the best defenses in the country, and he’s only getting started.
