3 Ohio State football players who should be replaced on the depth chart for 2024

Vimahi is down to his final year of eligibility after getting to Columbus from Kahuku Hawaii in 2019. His career high for snaps in a season was 118 in 2022, but he played 100 snaps along the offensive line in 2023, all at right guard. 

He filled in for Matthew Jones, who is headed to the NFL and is the natural fit to take his spot on the offensive line next season. 

However, it would be a mistake to give the sixth-year guard his first chance as a full-time starter on the interior. Of those 100 snaps, 40 were pass-blocking snaps and he allowed two pressures over those snaps. That’s not a terrible number, but both came in his 57 snaps as a starter against Missouri in the Cotton Bowl. 

Otherwise, Vimahi only played against Western Kentucky, Purdue, Michigan State, and Minnesota, none of which were close to the level of Missouri. 

In that game, Devin Brown was limited by an ankle injury, so Ohio State’s offense crumbled, but the running game was stifled by Missouri’s defensive line. The Buckeyes just ran for 97 yards, and 72 came courtesy of TreVeyon Henderson. However, Henderson’s O-line wasn’t opening up holes for him., 56 of those yards came after contact. 

With Jones at center for the first time in 2023 and Vimahi at right tackle, Henderson averaged just 0.79 yards before contact, His previous season low was 1.79 average yards before contact against Notre Dame.

The good news is Ryan Day has been proactive about upgrading the interior of the offensive line. He brought in Alabama transfer Seth McLaughlin who committed on January 3.