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Lathan Ransom did not want to end his career at Ohio State after the 2023 season. The senior was injured in the game against Wisconsin in late October and was no longer on the field after suffering a Lisfranc fracture.

The safety didn’t want to end his time as a Buckeye without beating Michigan and winning a national title. Like many of his teammates who could have declared for the 2024 NFL Draft, Ransom decided to return to Columbus for another year in the scarlet and gray.

Ransom was one of the top-ranked safeties in the country when he joined Ohio State as a four-star recruit in 2020. In his freshman season, Ransom played in seven games, spending most of his time on the field as part of the special teams.

The following season, Ransom played more frequently as a safety, recording 38 tackles and five passes defensed in 13 games. Unfortunately, Ransom’s season ended with a broken leg in the 2022 Rose Bowl against Utah.

In the 2022 season, Ransom came back with a vengeance, recording a career-high 74 tackles and being named a semifinalist for the Thorpe Award. In the win against Michigan State, Ransom caught the first interception of his career and recorded nine tackles in three games, including the heartbreaking Peach Bowl loss to Georgia. After a strong junior season, expectations were high for Ransom as a safety for the 2023 season.

Last year, Ransom had one of his best performances in Ohio State’s biggest non-conference games, making a career-high 13 tackles in a 17-14 win over Notre Dame in late September. In Ohio State’s next game against Maryland, Ransom made the second interception of his career. Then in late October, Ransom was injured against Wisconsin and would not play in 2023. Although Ransom had hoped to play in the Cotton Bowl against Missouri, he simply could not get cleared to play against the Tigers.

After four years of college football, it would have been understandable if Ransom had decided to move on to the NFL. Instead, Ransom knows there are still a number of goals he set for himself when he came to Ohio State that he has yet to achieve. The Michigan game was canceled in 2020 due to COVID-19, and the Buckeyes have lost their last three games against the Wolverines. Ransom knows that Ohio State not only beat Michigan this year, but has a talented team capable of winning the national championship.

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The decision to return to Ohio State became even easier when Alabama safety Caleb Downs announced after his transfer that he was joining the Buckeyes. With Ransom’s experience and Downs’ playmaking ability, Ohio State undoubtedly has the best combination of safeties in the country. With 151 tackles in 40 games so far during his time in Columbus, Ransom has the most tackles among active Buckeyes.

In addition to everything we’ve seen from Ransom so far at Ohio State, he will finish his career as a five-year performer at Ohio State, joining linebacker Cody Simon and only three others to accomplish that feat. To ensure Ransom is fully healthy to start the season, he was held out of full-contact workouts in spring practice, but he did plenty of mental exercises to make sure he’s at full speed when it’s time to put on the pads in training camp.

Given what he has already been through in his career at Ohio State, expect Ransom to give it his all this season to not only lead the Buckeyes to their first win over Michigan since 2019, but also help them become national champions in January.