Going into the spring, offensive tackle was Ohio State’s biggest position of concern entering the 2023 season. With spring practices nearing their conclusion this weekend, that hasn’t changed.
Josh Fryar has taken the majority of first-team reps at left tackle this spring while Tegra Tshabola and Zen Michalski have split first-team reps at right tackle. But Ryan Day isn’t ready to give any of them starting jobs yet.
“We're not there, ready to name a starter right now. I don't think either of those guys have stepped up,” Day said Wednesday when asked about the right tackle competition. “I still think at left tackle, too, I think there's been good things, but to say that we're, where we're sitting right now, we can say those guys are the starters moving into the preseason, can't do that. I’d like to say that, but we’re not there. So a lot of work to be done here in the next few months.”
Fryar has been viewed as the surest bet among them to be a starter this fall, and that still appears to be the case. But Day says the fourth-year offensive tackle, who served as the sixth man on Ohio State’s offensive line and started one game at right tackle in 2022, hasn’t been consistent enough yet for Day to anoint Fryar as the starter on the blind side yet.
“He's getting there. I can't sit here and tell you he's got it locked down just yet,” Day said of Fryar. “Making the transition to left is different. I think Josh certainly has the ability to do it. You can see it on film, that for him, it's just the consistency of doing it over and over again. It's very different when you're the starter and you gotta do it over an extended period of time than just do it once or twice. He has the ability, he’s shown he can do it this spring. If he can just increase the consistency, then he will lock it down.”
Day did not give any indication Wednesday as to who the frontrunner to start at RT would be right now. While Tshabola’s reps with the first-team offensive line have seemingly increased as spring has progressed, that was partly because Michalski missed time due to an undisclosed ailment before returning to practice last week.
While the competition at offensive tackle will continue into preseason camp, Ohio State must determine in short order whether it needs to add talent at the position via the transfer portal. The second transfer window begins this weekend, so the Buckeyes will surely keep an eye on which offensive tackles enter the portal and assess whether any of those tackles would be upgrades over their current players. Day says those determinations will be made in part upon how the tackles perform in Saturday’s spring game.
“I think that's a conversation to have,” Day said when asked about potentially adding tackle help through the portal. “We got to kind of go through and see how the game plays out, see how that looks on film, take the body of work, and then make some decisions from there. But we'll kind of have those conversations and see where we're at.
“It's a delicate situation, for sure. I think we believe in the guys that we have. Otherwise, we would, we’d say yeah, we got to bring in a guy. I think we believe in the guys, we know that they can do it. We're looking for more consistency.”
Just because Ohio State’s offensive tackles aren’t where they need to be this fall doesn’t mean the Buckeyes need to panic yet. After all, Ohio State’s offensive line had its share of struggles against the Buckeyes’ defensive line last spring, too. In particular, Paris Johnson Jr. struggled in the spring game after making an offseason move from right guard to left tackle, yet he wound up becoming a consensus All-American in the fall. If the Buckeyes’ current tackles can make similar strides this summer, Ohio State could be just fine with the tackles it has.
“I think if you rewinded a year from now and I was sitting up here, we were asking about Paris at left tackle, I'd be concerned. I was. He came a long way,” Day said. “And so I know these guys can as well. I think (offensive line coach Justin Frye) does a great job teaching technique. But they're gonna have to do that here in the next couple months.”
As Ohio State evaluates its offensive line coming out of spring, Day said the Buckeyes have to evaluate everything from whether the linemen need more reps to whether they need better coaching or better scheme or if they simply aren’t good enough to get the job done this year. Day doesn’t believe it’s the latter, though.
“I don't think that it's a situation where we just don't have good enough players, I don't think that's the case,” Day said. “I just think that we need to continue to play, they need to get more and more experience, they need to learn what it is to be a starter. It's one thing to be in the twos and go against the twos on defense every day in practice, and not really have to play as much in the game. That's another thing on 3rd-and-five and the game on the line, you gotta go block the best defensive end in the country or else we lose the game. It's a whole different feeling. There's a maturation there.”
“To say that we're, where we're sitting right now, we can say those guys are the starters moving into the preseason, can't do that. I’d like to say that, but we’re not there. So a lot of work to be done here in the next few months.”– Ryan Day on Ohio State’s offensive tackles
Tackle isn’t the only question mark up front for the Buckeyes, as Ohio State will also be breaking in a new center this season. Carson Hinzman looks to be the frontrunner there after a strong spring, though Victor Cutler Jr. has also mixed in with the first-team offensive line and Jakob James could also factor into the competition in preseason camp after missing the spring due to injury. Like at tackle, Day isn’t ready to name Hinzman the starting center yet.
“I'd like to tell you yes. I don't think we're there yet,” Day said Friday when asked if Hinzman had solidified himself as the starting center. “I think he's done some good things. But to say that he's earned a starting spot, I don't think we're there yet.”
With more than four months still to go until the season begins, Ohio State doesn’t need to rush into naming starters right now. Day is hopeful the offensive line will progress to where it needs to be by the end of preseason camp. But he isn’t hiding the fact that it’s not where it needs to be right now.
“I mean, I think we're not crazy behind. Do I wish we were a little bit further ahead? Yes. I think we have some work to do, that's for sure,” Day said. “But they have gotten better there. There's been really good plays, there's been really good snaps, there's been great flashes, there’s been good practices. But there's also been stuff that we have to get better at.
“So I think it's probably the natural progression of where we are. We always want to be moving along faster, though.”
