1. Taylor Decker
Taylor Decker’s career at Ohio State started on a rough note. The Buckeyes opened the 2013 season against the Buffalo Bulls, and the true sophomore Decker lined up against senior Khalil Mack. Mack gave Decker fits that day (to be fair, he gave the whole offense fits).
The Buckeyes still won by 20 points, 40-20, and Decker bounced back with the best career of any Buckeye offensive lineman of this century. He spent the rest of 2013 starting at right tackle and switched to left to start 2014. The Buckeyes won the national championship that year, and Decker was a big reason why. Decker would finish his Ohio State career as a consensus All-American, and the Buckeyes were 50-4 in his four years in Columbus.
2. Billy Price
Taylor Decker wasn’t the only one whose career started off on a sour note. In the second game of his freshman season, Billy Price and the Buckeyes’ interior offensive line struggled against the Bear defense of Virginia Tech, suffering their lone loss of 2014. Price’s career went up from there.
He would start the next three seasons at guard and start his senior season at center. In 2017, he would win the Rimington Award as the nation’s best center. In his four years playing in the interior of the Buckeye offensive line, Ohio State was 49-6, including the 2014 National Championship season, and Price would end his career as a unanimous All-American.
3. Nick Mangold
The best offensive line in the Jim Tressel Era, Nick Mangold, was another fantastic Buckeye ball hiker. Mangold got into the lineup for Ohio State in his freshman year of 2002. I can still remember Keith Jackson and Dan Fouts wondering how a true freshman would play in the national championship, in the Fiesta Bowl against Vince Wilfork and a crazy good Miami defensive line.
It was just the beginning for Mangold; he would help Ohio State win the 2002 title and end his career in 2005 as an All-American. Ohio State would go 43-8 during Mangold’s time as a Buckeye.