Ohio State Football: ‘Who’s gonna fill their shoes’?
For the Ohio State football team to compete for the national title next season, it will be important for coach Greg Studrawa to shore up these positions.
Now that Ohio State football spring practices are underway, everyone’s attention seems to be on who will win the starting quarterback job for Ohio State. However, with center Billy Price and left tackle Jamarco Jones moving on to the NFL, “who’s gonna fill their shoes”?.
Does it really matter who the quarterback is if he is getting pressured from his blind side all the time. And someone has to set the blocking scheme, snap the ball cleanly to the QB and then keep a player from coming up the middle to plant him in the ground.
How will offensive line coach Greg Studrawa fill those positions? Let’s take a look at the observations of the first spring practice as reported by Tim Bielik of Cleveland.com. They give us an indication of how coach Stud sees the situation with the offensive line playing out.
Apparently Isaiah Prince has been moved to left tackle, which many expected to be the case, and Joshua Alibi remains the backup. Prince has the ideal size to protect the left edge, and he has been a starter for two years while Alibi doesn’t have nearly as much game experience.
If Prince can make a seamless transition from one side of the line to the other, like Taylor Decker did in 2014, the left tackle situation will be solved. Thayer Munford has moved into the No. 1 spot at right tackle and Kevin Woidke apparently is the backup. If that situation holds, it will give the Buckeyes big, athletic bookend tackles.
Brady Taylor is finally getting a chance to earn the starting center spot after playing behind Jacoby Boren, Pat Elflein and Billy Price. Josh Myers, one of the road graders from the 2017 recruiting class, is in the mix as well. Another, Wyatt Davis, is backing up the returning starter Demetrius Knox at right guard.
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Players in the mix behind starting left guard Michael Jordan are Malcolm Pridgeon, Matthew Burrell and Gavin Cupp.
It does seem as though the offensive line is loaded in the interior and thin on the edge but that may not be the case. 6-7 Brandon Bowen, who was the starting right guard last season before being injured, could be moved to tackle. There are other players who could compete for a spot on the depth chart at tackle as well.
Max Wray, the No. 9 player in the country at the position in the 2018 recruiting class, is an early enrollee who will get a look this spring. Also, the top rated offensive tackle in the country Nicholas Petit-Frere will be joining the Buckeyes in June.
As far as the center position goes, there will be more competition coming with Matthew Jones, the No. 1 recruit at the position, and he has already enrolled.
Next: Billy Price is prototypical NFL lineman
Thngs certainly aren’t settled on the Ohio State offensive as the Ohio State football team just began spring practice. However, the starting lineup could be set sometime soon. If that’s not the case, coach Studrawa has versatile players and plenty of time to get his line in place by the start of the 2018 season.