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MI DB Dillon Tatum (Michigan State Verbal)

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West Bloomfield (MI) West Bloomfield High School

Running Back
5-11
180 lbs
Class of 2022


 
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TATUM VIEWED AS DB BY BUCKEYE STAFF
When four-star 2022 prospect Dillon Tatum, a teammate of four-star running back and former Buckeye target Donovan Edwards at West Bloomfield (Mich.) High School, speaks with schools about where they view him positionally, it’s been a pretty even split.

“With the offers that I have, 50 percent want me as a running back, 25 percent is defensive back, and the other 25 percent is athlete,” Tatum, who holds 30 total offers, told Eleven Warriors following Saturday’s Elite Underclassmen Camp. “They left that decision up to me on what side of the ball I want to play, but they know I can do good things on either side of the ball.”

The Buckeyes, he says, are part of the 25 percent that want him in the secondary.

“Ohio State, they look at me more as a defensive back,” Tatum said. “When I first got there, they were saying they were recruiting me as an athlete because, ‘I don’t know if I wanna put you at slot or running back.’ It depends on what I wanna do going into the future.”

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Ohio State target Dillon Tatum competed as a running back at Saturday's Elite Underclassmen Camp but is viewed as a defensive back, likely a nickel cornerback, by the Buckeyes.
Ohio State’s legacy of building defensive backs into moneymakers as first-round NFL Draft picks and its BIA reputation are both draws to the program for Tatum, a 5-foot-11, 190-pounder who might not be the biggest player but is still well-built for a player of his size.

He does not have a lot of experience at defensive back, having only started playing in the secondary when he got to high school. He started as a safety before being moved to the nickel spot, and he has played a bit of outside corner since then.

“I always knew a little bit, but for me it was always that outside linebacker, Viper type growing up,” said Tatum, who is ranked No. 190 overall, No. 21 at running back and No. 5 in Michigan. “And then I got to high school and moved back to safety, and my sophomore year I moved to nickel. And this year, I’m probably gonna play more of the Rover position than strong safety.”

If a college is looking at him to be a defensive back, Tatum says the nickel corner spot is the one they want him to play “because I can hit, but I can also cover that man position. That’s what they’re looking at me for.”

Tatum says he believes he has “a really good chance” to make it to the NFL, and he says that once Kerry Coombs came back to Ohio State, “I knew it was gonna be even better there than what it was the last two years when he was gone. I feel like the defensive back position, they earn a lot of money, and they have a lot of longevity at that position.”

Coombs, of course, is well known for successfully recruiting the state of Michigan, a place where it’s still difficult to weed out the noise from Wolverine fans anytime Ohio State comes calling.

“Anytime I say something about Ohio State, there’s Michigan fans coming up to me saying, ‘What are you doing?’ type things,” Tatum says with a smile. “But for me, I don’t have a favorite. When I was growing up, my favorite was (Michigan State). But now that I’m getting recruited by these schools, I don’t have a favorite. I’m just looking at what school academically and football can benefit me the most.”
 
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