Ohio State Football: Donovan Jackson is a budding star

The Ohio State football team will have a better offensive line this year. At least they should considering they have a new offensive line coach that should be able to instill a new culture with that unit. They didn’t have the mean streak that they needed to have.

The Buckeyes have some highly-regarded players on that line. They were all top recruits coming out of high school. That was certainly true about Donovan Jackson. Jackson was the number one interior lineman in the country for the 2021 class and was a five-star recruit.

Jackson is in line to be a starting offensive lineman this year after the departure of two starters. Jackson will likely start at guard opposite Matt Jones. Even though he hasn’t played against top-level competition yet, he still has all of the talent in the world to be great.

Jackson has the strength and size to be a fantastic guard and could eventually swing out to tackle next year if Paris Johnson Jr and Dawand Jones head to the NFL. He is versatile, uses his hands extremely well to keep the defensive lineman engaged, and has a mean streak to him.

That mean streak is what will be the most valuable thing that he has this season. The Ohio State football team did not have that mentality last year, and it hurt them in short-yardage situations. They weren’t able to pick up critical first-downs against the best teams they faced.

I’m really excited to see Jackson in action this year. He probably won’t be the best offensive lineman on the team this year, but he probably be next year. That’s how good he is as a prospect. Ryan Day has faith in him, and that faith will be rewarded.