Ohio State football: Super-sub to Superstar?

The time has finally come for Matthew Jones. The super-sub of the Ohio State football team’s offensive line over the last two seasons is scheduled to be the starter at right guard when the 2022 season opens.

Is the title of this article a little too much hype? Can the fifth-year senior from Erasmus Hall High School (same school as former Buckeye Curtis Samuel) in Brooklyn, New York go from a fill-in starter to a superstar? Well, rarely do offensive guards reach star status like that. Tackles, yes. Guards, not so much.

Wyatt Davis was about as close as the Buckeyes have come to a superstar guard in the last few seasons, but he was a two-time All-American. Jones may not become a superstar, but he can certainly make a name for himself.

Jones made his first career start in 2020 against Michigan State when he stepped in for COVID-stricken Harry Miller. He started the College Football Playoff semi-final against Clemson when Miller was out again and played so well that he stayed in the lineup for the championship game against Alabama.

Coming out of spring practice last year Jones looked to be on track to becoming a full-time starter, but the decision was made to move left tackle Thayer Munford inside. Although very disappointed, Jones kept working. Consistency was a problem-one that he felt stemmed from not being conditioned well enough.

When he was called on again early last season to fulfill his super-sub role for an ailing Munford, he once again turned in quality performances. The next time we saw Jones as a starter it was because Munford moved back to left tackle after Nicholas Petit-Frere elected to not play in the Rose Bowl when he declared for the NFL Draft.  Jones was part of a unit that kept leaning on and finally wore down Utah’s defensive front in the Ohio State football team’s wild Rose Bowl win.

Because of the offensive line’s struggles to gain any movement in short-yardage situations last season, I often said natural guards were needed instead of tackles being moved inside to play guard, as was the case with Thayer Munford and Paris Johnson, Jr.

The majority of interior defensive linemen are in the 6’2”-6’3” range. Munford and Johnson are both 6’6”. One thing that has never changed at any level of football is low man wins. It’s hard to be the low man when you’re trying to get underneath someone 3-4 inches shorter who is already in a low stance. Matthew Jones is what you want in a guard. He’s 6’4” (310 pounds).

At that height, he is much better equipped to get underneath a defensive tackle and drive him out of the way. With Jones on one side and 6’4” Donovan Jackson on the other, I fully expect the Buckeyes to run the ball much more effectively in 2022.

I like Matthew Jones a lot. When he did not win a starting job last year, he could have easily blamed the coaching staff and transferred to a place where he could start immediately. Instead, he took responsibility for his own shortcomings and went to work on improving. I can really root for a guy like that. Jones may not become a superstar, but by the end of the 2022 season, I think a lot of people are going to know exactly who he is.