Ohio State Football: Can Urban Reconstruct a Dominant Offensive Line?
How good will the Ohio State offensive line be?
In the NFL, one of the most important parts of the offense is a dominant offensive line. Of course, the same can be said about a collegiate offense as well.
The Ohio State University lost two important players at the tackle positions (Taylor Decker & Chase Farris) to the NFL. The Detroit Lions chose Decker in the first round of the draft and picked up Farris as an undrafted free agent.
Center Jacoby Boren wasn’t drafted but is still hoping to someday play in the NFL. Losing these three key players means the Buckeyes will have to reconstruct their offensive line. The question remains: Can the Buckeyes rebuild a dominant offensive line?
Pat Elflein was the teams’ right guard for the entire 2015 season. He has taken many snaps as the backup center, and this season will move there permanently.
Elflein was ranked as merely the No. 55 offensive guard and the No. 983 overall prospect in the country in the 2012 class, per the 247Sports Composite. In what was technically Urban Meyer’s first recruiting class at Ohio State – although he only had roughly two months to complete it after being hired – Elflein was the lowest-ranked player. The 25-man class finished ranked No. 5 in the country, and Elflein was ranked below such recruits as Luke Roberts, Blake Thomas and Frank Epitropoulos.
Elflein was thrust into action at right guard at Michigan in 2013 as a redshirt freshman when senior Marcus Hall was ejected for infamously giving the UM crowd the “double-barrel salute.” Elflein played the remaining three-quarters of the Buckeyes’ 42-41 win, and the coaching staff praised his performance afterward. Elflein then started his first career game in the 2013 Big Ten Championship Game, a contest won by Michigan State.
In 2014, Elflein started 3 games at left guard and 12 games at right guard as the Buckeyes captured the national championship. He was named first-team All-Big Ten and honorable mention All-American.
In 2015, Elflein was named second-team All-American by the AP and first-team All-Big Ten after once again starting every game (13) at right guard for OSU.
Elflein could have left early for the NFL after last season, but decided to return for his senior season at Ohio State. His return is huge for the Buckeyes because he will anchor the offensive line at the most important position on the line.
The position change should be seamless because Elflein practiced as the backup center the past two seasons. In fact, many felt Elflein was the best center on the roster the last two years, but since Jacoby Boren could only play center, the Buckeyes decided to go with Elflein at guard and Boren in the middle.
It is expected that Elflein will be on the short list of Rimington Award candidates when it’s all said and done this year (even though he’s not on the preseason watch list for the award since he hasn’t played center at the collegiate level yet) and will be a late first-round or early second-round pick in next year’s NFL Draft. He could be Ohio State’s best center since Nick Mangold in 2005.
More from Scarlet and Game
- Ohio State Football: How Denzel Burke has bounced back so far this season
- Ohio State basketball: Buckeyes conference schedule is set
- Ohio State Football rolling into form at the perfect time
- How Ohio State football has done historically versus new Big 12
- Ohio State Football: We need to see “Killer Ryan Day” at South Bend
With Elflein and left guard Billy Price returning for the 2016 season, the Buckeyes have a good foundation on the offensive line to build upon. However, the most important position to J.T. Barrett and keeping him upright – the left tackle – has been projected to be occupied by junior Jamarco Jones who has been groomed as the next left tackle by Decker.
Matthew Burrell (RG) and Isaiah Prince (RT) could be the final two pieces to the 2016 offensive line. With three new starters, can the Buckeyes have a dominant offensive line in the upcoming season?
With so many players on the O-line leaving the Buckeyes for the NFL, it will be up to new offensive line coach Greg Studrawa to get all the pieces working well in Offensive Coordinator Ed Warinner’s system. This will be under the watchful eye of head coach Urban Meyer, who wants to continue his pledge of “making the great state of Ohio proud with everything we do.”
must read: Top Defenses Buckeyes will Face
With the entire state behind coach Meyer, he has indeed made Ohio proud and with his track-record will no doubt continue making Ohio proud for many years to come!