Ohio State football: The Buckeye Magicians

The Ohio State football team doesn’t just have one great offensive lineman but a whole unit of competent players.

There is a certain type of very rare offensive tackle in pass protection. They don’t give up sacks or pressures. They play on an island by themselves not needing help from tight ends or running backs. They make life easy for quarterbacks and coaches.

These tackles so control the player they’re blocking you begin to wonder if the defense is playing with just ten guys. They make opposing defensive ends and blitzing linebackers disappear. Meet…The Magicians.

Pro Football Hall of Fame member and former Buckeye Orlando Pace was a magician. Seattle’s Walter Jones, also a Hall of Fame member, did such a good job on Pittsburgh’s Joey Porter in Super Bowl XL some wondered if they should send a search party for the Steeler outside linebacker. Future Hall of Famer Joe Thomas of the Browns? Yeah, that guy was a magician pretty much from day one of his first training camp.

The Buckeyes don’t just have one magician. They’re blessed with two. Pro Football Focus feels Thayer Munford and Nicholas Petit-Frere may be the best tackle tandem in the country. One of their evaluators came right out and said so a few months back.

According to PFF’s grades, Munford is the top returning tackle in the country. Petit-Frere was so good last year he allowed Justin Fields to be pressured on just ½ of a percent of his drop-backs. He did not allow a sack or pressure in the Sugar Bowl against Clemson.

Munford and Petit-Frere are going to be a very large asset to the development of whichever young quarterback is named the starter. Young quarterbacks can tend to be a bit skittish. They become even more skittish when they’re worried about getting their head taken off each time they drop back to throw.

These two are going to be vitally important in the Ohio State football team’s opening two games of 2021. Minnesota believes they are as good and deep on their defensive line as they’ve ever been. Some think Oregon defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux could be the top pick in next spring’s NFL Draft. Munford and Petit-Frere are going to have to show early and often why they’re the best tackle duo in the country.

If there is any area of the two that needs work, it is Petit-Frere’s run blocking. He became an elite pass blocker in 2020. He was a good, but not a great run blocker. Offensive line coach Greg Studrawa has worked to change that this off-season.

He said emphasis has been put on Petit-Frere working to lower his pad level. To be an effective run blocker requires an offensive lineman to bend his knees and get those pads down in order to have leverage. Studrawa said Petit-Frere has worked on further strengthening his lower body to aid in this.

One came to the Buckeyes as the top player at his position. The other was rated so low some questioned why the Ohio State football program recruited him. The once much-ballyhooed Petit-Frere and the once-doubted Munford now combine to give the Buckeyes the luxury of two supreme offensive tackles. You can catch performances by The Buckeye Magicians every Saturday (and one Thursday) this fall.