At the end of last year, Ohio State's offensive line kind of fell apart. The right side of the line was an extreme disappointment. That led to Tegra Tshabola being sent away in the offseason, but four starters return from last year's roster. How those starters will be oriented on the offensive line remains to be seen.
With Tshabola gone, that leaves a spot at right guard that needs to be filled. There are a few guys who could fill that spot, including Joshua Padilla. However, Ryan Day singled out one player on the offensive line who could determine who starts where.
Ryan Day singles out Phillip Daniels as a key offensive lineman
While speaking on Media Day, Day singled out Phillip Daniels multiple times as a player who could help determine who the best five offensive linemen are.
"Probably practice nine or 10, we'd like to have that sorted out. A big part of that is going to be how Phil plays, how Josh plays, how Ian (Moore) plays, because if that allows us the opportunity to move Austin (Siereveld), then we will. The good news is that we have some good options there. If all of a sudden Phil or Ian shows us a high level of play in practice, then that gives us a level of flexibility."
Daniels started at right tackle last season after transferring from Minnesota. He had an up-and-down season with the Buckeyes, but his last couple of games were rough. He got overpowered several times and was not able to play up to the level that the offensive line needed him to.
Day said a couple of times that the Buckeyes will play their best five up front. That seems to indicate that Daniels is not guaranteed a starting spot this year if his level of play isn't up to snuff. Daniels could get moved out of the starting lineup if Ian Moore plays well enough.
Ryan Day thinks Ohio State's offensive line is the deepest it has been in years
Day made it clear that he thinks the offensive line is the deepest that it's been since he became the head coach. He seems to like the options that he has to work with in the Fall. The Buckeyes also want to settle the offensive line in the first couple of weeks of practice.
Doing that will allow them to have some much-needed stability up front. Once that stability is figured out, that will allow Julian Sayin to get more chemistry with all five guys up front. The two biggest issues at the end of last year were Sayin and the offensive line.
Of course, those issues are intertwined. Sayin didn't have enough time to find receivers down the field, but he also didn't scramble enough. He could have given himself more time to find those receivers, but the offensive line also needed to play better on the right side.
Day knows both of those issues need to be fixed if they are going to win a national title this year.
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