Ohio State Football: Buckeyes’ 2020 offensive line will be best ever
The heart of most football teams is rooted in the offensive line. The Ohio State football program’s history for producing elite-NFL ready offensive linemen is legendary.
Jim Parker, Bob Vogel, Kirk Lowdermilk, Jim Lachey, Orlando Pace, Nick Mangold, Corey Linsley and Taylor Decker are among the best to suit up for the Ohio State football team.
Parker and Pace are in the NFL Hall of Fame. Mangold may make it when eligible.
As a unit, the 1968, 1984, 1996, 2013, 2014 and 2019 lines stand out for being dominant. So many other units were great, and rarely does the line underperform.
Even with Jonah Jackson and Branden Bowen, both fantastic players, heading to the NFL the 2020 line will become Ohio State’s best ever. Here’s why:
2017 Class
Thayer Munford, Wyatt Davis and Josh Myers came in with high expectations and they are delivering.
Munford probably could have jumped to the NFL this year. Instead, he came back to improve his stock after playing with injuries in 2019.
That’s huge for this offense as Munford will be starting his third year at left tackle.
Davis was the star of the class. It took him a while make the leap to full-time starter, but he wasted no time proving why he was a coveted prospect. He was a beast last year earning first-team All-America.
I am on record as saying the line struggles from 2016-2018 were largely due to moving All-Big Ten guards to center disrupting cohesion.
Myers was groomed to be a center and finally took the reins last year playing 951 snaps and making second-team All-Big Ten. Barring injury, he’ll be an All-American in 2020.
Replacements are Ready
Harry Miller and Nicholas Petit-Frere are the favorites to win the open guard and right tackle spots.
Miller probably would have started at center if Myers wasn’t ready. Petit-Frere needed some time to fill out his frame, but the experience he gained playing behind Bowen will pay off this year.
Depth
Staying healthy is critical for any unit. Maybe even more critical for the offensive line where the drop off from starter to backup can be considerable.
Next. Buckeyes clearly in on top RB recruit. dark
Greg Studrawa probably doesn’t want to thrust any of his young guys into the spotlight early. He can rest easy knowing he’s recruited well and Mickey Marotti has done his job building up the players to be ready if needed. Max Wray, Matt Jones, Dawand Jones, Paris Johnson and others may not start this year, but they’ll see plenty of action.