In promotion of Johnsonville Sausage's partnership with the Joe Moore Award, I got the chance to speak with the award's founder, CBS Sports analyst and former Notre Dame, Packers, and Chargers offensive line great Aaron Taylor. The former Lombardi Award winner and Super Bowl champion spoke to the partnership's special meaning, which is an ode to the “no weak links" mentality of his former Fighting Irish OL coach, Joe Moore. I also asked Taylor about the Buckeyes' offensive line situation, which is somewhat unresolved just weeks before the season.
Many wonder if Ian Moore is the answer at left tackle or if Austin Siereveld has to reprise his role from last year instead of moving to his natural spot at right guard. If Moore isn't ready, Siereveld could protect the blindside while Joshua Padilla pushes for snaps at RG.
Transfer running back Ja'Kobi Jackson may have revealed that the Buckeyes plan to go with Moore on the outside and Siereveld on the inside. Regardless if that's the definitive plan or if Jackson was speaking out of turn, Taylor believes that Ohio State is in a great position either way. Taylor isn't sure if there even is a definitive plan yet.
Aaron Taylor believes Ohio State's OL is 'way ahead of the pack'
"So you look at a school like Ohio State, which has a question at left tackle; that's phenomenal because Oregon has probably three question marks. They've got eight that can play, but they don't know what combination it's going to be, and that's proving to be a key differentiator for the units that emerge and move on from maybe a semifinalist to a finalist and then the eventual (Joe Moore Award) winner," Taylor said.
"Consistency is one of the six criteria, and it's proving to become more and more important because injuries are having some sort of a force multiplier effect in the era of the NIL and the portal. We can't fully put our fingers on them, but we are watching that when one player goes down, it's a 2x reduction in production for a week or two longer than it's been historically.
"So the dip is further, faster, and it takes longer to climb out of it, and I think we saw that a season ago with Ohio State, maybe even the last couple seasons, but certainly with Texas, Ohio State, Oregon, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, all of them. All of those units had a single player go down that, when they had to shuffle the deck, was problematic. Indiana, for a couple of games, had that situation happen last year, so, as having challenges and question marks, I think Ohio State's way ahead of the pack compared to some of the other national contenders."
Padilla, who could play all along the interior, guard Gabe VanSickle, and even true freshman tackle Sam Greer could see snaps in the rotation behind, from left to right: Moore, Luke Montgomery, Carson Hinzman, Siereveld, and Phillip Daniels. Taylor's confidence in the entire group is notable, since chemistry up front defines any offense's ceiling.
With the margins so thin at the top of the sport, it's music to Buckeye fans' ears that a trenches expert like Taylor believes the offensive line is in such good shape relative to the other teams in the CFP mix.
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