At his best, Igbinosun was a long, rangy and physical cornerback with all the traits an NFL team covets, and those things were often on display. At his worst, those same traits were his downfall with 22 penalties the last two seasons. His 16 this season were five more than any other defensive player in the country.

His pros as an NFL prospect will still be pros in a year, but by returning he can start crossing things off his list of cons while raising his stock even more. That’s the route he’s betting on by returning to college football while taking on a new challenge.

He’ll join Sonny Styles and Caleb Downs as the only three returning starters on defense.

Igbinosun returns as the Buckeyes’ most experienced cornerback with Jermaine Mathews expected to join him in the starting lineup. A defense expecting to lose, at the bare minimum, nine starters needs to leaders to emerge. That goes double at cornerback where, outside of the top two, only two other players have played a single snap on the outside.

Lorenzo Styles Jr. returns, bringing 162 snaps with him as the expected Day 1 starter at nickel. Bryce West played 29 snaps last season on the outside, but could also end up moving to nickel. That leaves only former five-star Aaron Scott Jr., who played 74 snaps in seven games. He’ll be joined by the 2025 recruiting class’ top cornerback, Devin Sanchez, as the depth behind Igbinosun and is expected to potentially push for more.

That’s a young room, even if the ceiling is sky high.

Two years ago, Igbinosun arrived hoping to be the final piece of the puzzle for a position group that already had established leaders. Now he’s choosing to spend one more year in that room and is expected to sit at the front of it with its future looking to him as its leader.

There are surely football reasons for why his return mattered so much to Ohio State and even his future. But helping set up the program for a brighter future is an underrated plus for a team trading in experience for upside.