Ohio State football: The quiet ascension of Nicholas Petit-Frere

You almost don’t realize he’s there. You don’t hear his name mentioned very much and he doesn’t talk a whole lot. You won’t see what he does show up on a stat sheet. Yet, the quiet ascension of Nicholas Petit-Frere to one of the best tackles in college football is a big reason why the Ohio State football team’s offense is so prolific.

You can look at an analytics site like Pro Football Focus to see how they grade him to get an idea of his performance. You can also just watch an Ohio State game, take note of who is lining up across from him, and see how many times they call that player’s name.

If that number isn’t zero, it will be very close to it. The junior from Tampa makes opposing defensive ends disappear and that allows quarterback C.J. Stroud plenty of time to get the ball to one of those outstanding receivers.

He signed with the Buckeyes as the number one offensive tackle in the country, but he was not ready-made to step in and play. It had nothing to do with ability. It was his weight-he simply was not big enough to play at only 272 pounds.

Offensive linemen are routinely in the 310-315 pound range these days. Ohio State’s strength and conditioning coach, Mickey Marotti, put him on an 8,000 calorie per day diet to try to get Petit-Frere’s weight up. After a redshirt season in 2018, he was ready to contribute.

As a backup to Branden Bowen in 2019, he played in all fourteen games. 2020 was to be his breakout year. He started every game at right tackle and allowed a quarterback pressure on just 0.5% of OSU’s pass attempts (according to Pro Football Focus). That was tops among all Power 5 offensive tackles. He made the switch to left tackle this year and picked up right where he left off.

While college football fans and media may not notice him much, NFL scouts are taking note of his play so far this year. Petit-Frere is exceptionally athletic and light on his feet. He’s strong, rarely gets out-muscled, and is very good with his hands. He uses all of those physical skills to control defenders equally well in pass and run blocking. You’re starting to hear rumblings of him possibly pushing into the first round of the upcoming NFL Draft.

Petit-Frere was Second-Team All-Big Ten last year and was named to watch lists for a few awards before the 2021 season. He should be a first-team all-conference selection this year and get serious All-American consideration. The key word here is should. He should receive these postseason awards, but I’m not convinced he will. It goes back to how quietly he does his job.

While being overlooked for awards might bother some, Petit-Frere is a team-first player. He turned down most college visit offers during his senior high school season because they conflicted with film sessions, and he felt obligated to be there for his teammates.

This gives just a glimpse of why he seems perfectly fine with quietly doing his job and helping the Ohio State football team’s offense be one of the best in college football.