Ohio State Football: Buckeyes reach out to transfer portal OT
The Ohio State football team realizes its offensive line play was not good enough last season so they have reached out to a transfer portal player.
The Ohio State football team has reached out to former San Jose State offensive tackle Fernando Carmona, according to 247 Sports. Carmona currently ranks as the sixth-best offensive tackle in the transfer portal and seems receptive to the Buckeyes’ interest in him.
Carmona said this to 247 Sports earlier this week:
"“They have reached out and we have talked. Definitely would be cool to play at Ohio State. Lots of great linemen.”"
Carmona was the starting left tackle for San Jose State last season and played pretty well. PFF gave him an 81.5 grade. Carmona is drawing interest from other top programs including Auburn, USC, and UCLA.
While Carmona may be a fine player, the Ohio State football team’s interest in him represents a larger problem for this Buckeye program. Highlighted by the failed attempt by offensive line coach Justin Frye to land a big fish in the 2024 recruiting cycle.
This feels an awful lot like last offseason, where Frye, the former UCLA offensive line coach, looked out west and plucked Josh Simmons from San Diego State. Simmons was average at best last season for the Buckeyes. Playing Mountain West schools is vastly different competition than playing in the Big Ten.
That is why I have been pounding the pavement for Ohio State to go after Carter Smith in the transfer portal. Smith, the former starting left tackle at Indiana last season was very solid for the Hoosiers and is a local Columbus area native.
He also would have three years of eligibility left, which would give time for Ohio State to fix its offensive line recruiting. It makes too much sense for this not to happen, but it doesn’t appear that Ryan Day or Justin Frye are going after him.
Next. Three coaches OSU should hire right now. dark
Either way, Ohio State has a clear and obvious need to upgrade its offensive line. If they can get Carmona, great. It would only help bolster the depth and competition. But I would like to see the Buckeyes grab a big-time player to help them immediately.