Ohio State Football: A shaky offensive line heading into summer

With July just around the corner, the Ohio State football team has only two months left to prepare for the start of the 2023 season. There are several question marks surrounding this team, such as who will be the starting quarterback and how much can the defensive secondary improve in year two under the leadership of Defensive Coordinator Jim Knowles?

That being said, the most important question in my mind is who will fill the open spots on the offensive line and how much can they gel before the Ohio State football team goes on the road to face Indiana in their season opener.

The offensive line looked overwhelmed during the spring game. It didn’t matter who was under center, whether it was Kyle McCord or Tristan Gebbia, they both were running for their life from Ohio State’s defensive line, who was getting to the quarterback in 2 seconds or less on every snap.

I know there is a lot of uncertainty surrounding how much the offensive production will dip without C.J. Stroud under center, but it won’t matter who is quarterback if the offensive line can’t protect him.

The good news up front is that there are two positions locked down as starting guards Donovan Jackson and Matthew Jones both return to anchor the line up the middle. Both started last season. For Jones, this will be his sixth and final season with the Ohio State football team after being a top-100 recruit in the 2018 recruiting class.

Jackson has been getting some national preseason attention this off-season after starting last year as a redshirt freshman. This will more than likely be his third and final year with the program as he is expected to be no worse than a second-day NFL selection in next year’s NFL Draft barring injury.

Josh Fryar saw action last season as the first tackle off of the bench. He played well in his limited action at right tackle, but after being given the reigns as the starting left tackle this spring, things appear a little shaky for the 6-6 320 pound redshirt junior from Beech Grove, Indiana.

Fryar is my first of two major concerns for this offensive line. If the quarterback cannot trust his blindside, his timing and footwork will be off, which means his accuracy will be off as well. The domino effects of not having a solid left tackle is detrimental to the entire flow of the offense.

Ryan Day and offensive line coach Justin Frye can do several things to help aid in calming down this concern. First, they can use a tight end to help chip block. Cade Stover is country strong and can definitely help to sure up that side of the offense.

They can also place Jackson, who is your best offensive lineman, beside Fryar. Finally, they can call more run plays. Every offensive lineman will tell you that they would rather run block than pass block because they can then be more aggressive.

The starting center position is officially still up for grabs, but sophomore Carson Hinzman performed well during the spring. Jakob James returns from injury and is expected to compete for the open position that was left vacated by the surprise decision from Luke Wypler to turn pro after last year.

Hinzman was a big-time recruiting win for the Ohio State Football program in 2022, and after playing sparingly in mop-up duty last season, the redshirt freshman is poised to become the starting center. I’m always worried about breaking in a new center, especially when we are also breaking in a new quarterback, but the coaching staff seems confident that Hinzman can do the job.

Finally, the coaching staff was obviously not pleased with what they saw this spring from the right tackle competition between redshirt sophomore Zen Michalski and redshirt freshman Tegra Tshabola. So much so that they went out and acquired the services of redshirt sophomore Josh Simmons, who started at tackle last season for San Diego State.

So, the competition at right tackle from this spring has been continued into the summer and now includes Simmons. If this was the only concerning spot on the line, it wouldn’t freak me out. But when you add how shaky Fryar looked on the other side, and the fact that we are breaking in a new center, the right tackle competition now feels even more desperate.

Yes, there are other concerns with this football team, some of which are more popular due to the nature of the position. But there isn’t a more important concern than the offensive line. If Day and Frye can’t get this right, then it won’t matter how many five-stars Brian Hartline develops at wide receiver, or how deep our running back room is.

The offense will be stuck in the mud in 2023 and Day will be staring a third-consecutive loss to That Team Up North directly in the face.