Ohio State Football lands big west coast transfer
By Eric Boggs
Ryan Day and the Ohio State Football team’s coaching staff had a very important weekend. Day welcomed three transfer portal recruits into the facility, and quite possibly the most important of the trio decided by the end of his visit that he had found a new home. Josh Simmons, the former San Diego State starting right tackle, announced Sunday night that he was choosing Ohio State over Texas A&M, Florida, and Colorado.
Ohio State has a serious need at the tackle position, and with the departure of former 4-star lineman Ben Christman, Justin Frye needed to land someone from the portal immediately. Simmons, who is 6’6” and 305 lbs. is expected to fill that gap and compete right away. Not only does he bring 13 games of division one experience to the table, but he is a redshirt sophomore, meaning he has three full seasons of eligibility remaining.
Simmons was a 4-star top 350 recruit in 2021 when he chose San Diego State over USC, Washington, and Oklahoma to name a few. The La Mesa, California native chose to stay closer to home, giving the hometown Aztecs their top-rated recruit for the 2021 class. Now he will give Frye another tool in the toolbox for this summer as he continues to rebuild this Ohio State offensive line.
This past weekend, both former Buckeye starting tackles, Paris Johnson Jr. and Dawand Jones were chosen by their respective organizations in the 2023 NFL Draft. Finding their replacements will be the biggest question mark the Ohio State football team faces this summer. It was apparent to those who attended or watched the Spring Game, that the biggest deficiency in Ohio State’s offense was the tackle play.
Simmons will join Josh Fryar, Zen Michalski, and Tegra Tshabola in competition to fill those open tackle positions. Given what Ohio State fans saw from those spots during the 2023 Spring Game, Simmons might be able to crack the starting lineup right away or at a minimum push the future starters while adding experience and depth.
Simmons became the second transfer portal commit over the weekend as well, joining Pickerington, Ohio native and Buckeye legacy Lorenzo Styles Jr. They now join a list of four other transfers who have joined the Buckeyes for the 2023 season.
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That list includes former Ole Miss cornerback Davison Igbinosun, Syracuse safety Ja’Had Carter, Louisiana-Monroe offensive lineman Victor Cutler Jr. and Arizona State long snapper John Ferlmann.