Tyrell Alexander’s Selfless Decision to Move to Cornerback, and Why it Will Pay Off for OSU

Cornerback depth at OSU over the past several seasons has been as thin as Gundy’s mullet in a rainstorm. To combat it, the coaching staff has brought in graduate transfer after graduate transfer to shore up depth.

From Tyler Patmon to Michael Hunter, Lenzy Pipkins to newly-minted Cowboy Kemah Siverand, the experience of these players have bolstered a mostly-shallow position group. However the end of those days may be near, as the once-thin position group slowly thickens out with youth and talent on the recruiting prowess of position coach Tim Duffie.

To add substantive depth to the position, OSU has turned over every stone available; infiltrating its own team has even been a viable route to growth. Tyrell Alexander, who was the second-highest ranked prospect in OSU’s 2016 recruiting class, is the latest Cowboy to switch positions — from receiver to cornerback.

“It’s been pretty good,” said Alexander on the position change. “It was pretty challenging starting out, but I’ve been getting more comfortable with the position each and every day. Just working out each and every day in the summer, trying to be better.”

It’s rare — if not downright inconceivable — to see a player of his caliber make a drastic position change. Most prospects with his status would simply transfer to find another opportunity. Given his talent, he could realistically be a starting receiver if not for OSU’s incredible depth at the position.

But Alexander made the change willingly, seeing opportunity at a different position to contribute rather than seeing a lack of playing time at receiver as a road block to playing for OSU.

“Really I was just trying to find anywhere possible I could help the team,” he says. “I saw we needed some depth [at cornerback], and I feel like I can help out.”

Alexander is one of a handful of cornerbacks who will make up a re-made backup rotation at cornerback this season, and his presence may not only benefit himself as he inches closer to playing a vital role, but for OSU, too, which will gladly welcome talented, long and skilled playmakers in its secondary.

He admits there’s a long ways to go to reaching his potential at the position, but he’s put in work to become a viable option if his number is called upon this season. And as fall camp wages on, he continues to focus on the fundamentals and nuances of learning the position along with a new defensive scheme.

It’s a lot, but he says he’s ready to put as much as effort as needed to give OSU a better chance of winning.

“[I’ve been] just working on technique, understanding the defense and what everybody else does, then just learning what I need to do,” Alexander says. “It’s a challenge I’m hoping to overcome.”