Ohio State Football: Offensive line a bigger concern than QB

Every year under Ryan Day, the Ohio State football team has had a really good quarterback. That goes back to his days as the offensive coordinator as well. He’s proven that he can develop quarterbacks as well as anyone in the country. The results speak for themselves.

Dwayne Haskins set about every single-season record that there was to set in Ohio State football history and was a Heisman Finalist. Justin Fields led the Buckeyes to back-to-back appearances in the College Football Playoff and was a Heisman Finalist as well. We all know what C.J. Stroud just did in his two years as a starter too.

Quarterback play won’t be the issue as long as Day is in charge. What will be the bigger issue, at least next season, is the offensive line. That’s because the Buckeyes have to replace three starters up front. They really only bring back their guards, which are the easiest of the offensive line positions to replace.

Ohio State struggled to run the ball consistently last season. Part of that was the health of the running backs and part of that was the inability on the offensive line to get push up the middle. Both should be better with a full offseason of work and rest.

How the new starters along the offensive line respond early next year is going to tell us a lot. The Buckeyes have three games to warm up in before they travel to South Bend to take on Notre Dame. Those three games will be critical in developing these players.

I am a little worried about how the offensive line is going to play in 2023. The lack of a running game was critical in the loss to Georgia. They need to get back to being able to run the ball with force, and that starts up front with the offensive line.