Ohio State Football: Putting together the all-time Jim Tressel team

Ohio State Football All-Time Jim Tressel team, Offensive Line

Jim Tressel’s teams were known for smash-mouth football. You can’t have that style of offense without having a great offensive line. Tressel had some really good players come through on the O-line, so this was tough. Here is the list:

LT: Alex Boone

LG: Justin Boren

C: Nick Mangold

RG: LeCharles Bentley

RT: Shane Olivea

I did some cheating on this one. I put Bentley at right guard even though he played mostly center throughout his career, including his senior season when he won the Rimington Award for best center in the country and he was a First-Team All-American. But he did start his career at guard, so that’s why he’s there.

This also allows me to put Mangold at center. Mangold was perhaps the second-best center ever behind Bentley. He was a First-Team All-American in 2005 and was on that 2002 national championship team. He also had an amazing pro career.

Boone was a First-Team All-Big Ten selection in 2006 and was Second-Team All-Big Ten in 2007. He was a solid left tackle that was good at both pass blocking and run blocking. He’s a good choice to protect Smith’s blindside on this team.

The late Shane Olivea was very solid as a tackle as well. He was a part of that national title team too. His accolades include being a two-time Second-Team All-Big Ten selection in back-to-back seasons.

There really weren’t any slam dunk candidates left for a selection at left guard, so I went with Boren. Boren transferred from TTUN to head to Ohio State and played well for the Buckeyes. He was a Second-Team All-American in 2010 so that was good enough for me.

Now we head to the defensive side of the ball to finish our list.