There was a common thread amid discussions with several of Ohio State’s potential first-time starters on the new-look offensive line this spring.
Paris Johnson Jr., Dawand Jones and Luke Wypler are all officially headed to the next level after hearing their names called at the NFL draft this past weekend, which means Josh Fryar, Carson Hinzman and Tegra Tshabola are all among the names competing to fill the void at tackle and center in 2023.
And all three praised the efforts of returning left guard Donovan Jackson in helping mold them into a cohesive unit this offseason.
“Donovan's doing the most amazing job I think anyone can, leading the team, helping me,” Hinzman, who has emerged as the frontrunner to start at center after just one year in the Buckeye program, said in March. “There was a play on Tuesday where I left Donovan dangling, and it was completely my fault. And he came over to me and he got on me a little bit and I needed that. The play right after that, we fixed it and got it going. So it's been an honor to play with those guys. I'm hoping that we can continue to play with that and continue to grow and get better as much as we can.”
Fryar, the most established commodity of the three players in question, said he already had a connection with Jackson playing together on the second-team offensive line in 2021. But now playing next to him at left tackle on the first-string unit in 2023, their chemistry is more important than ever.
“The process has gone really well. Donnie, my sophomore year, his freshman year, we played right side together with the two. So I feel like we have that connection,” Fryar said. “… Honestly, we (talk) all the time. Even when we were in spiders the first few days, I felt like I called him, I was like, 'Hey, Donnie, could I do this better? Could I do that better?' And then he would give me feedback, and then vice versa for him.”
Tshabola has his work cut out for him as a second-year lineman switching from guard to tackle, and that transition’s only been made more difficult given Ohio State’s need for a rock-solid right tackle to emerge as one of the Buckeyes’ best five up front. But Tshabola said Jackson has made his life easier at every step.
“Donovan Jackson, he's definitely been a big help for me,” Tshabola said. “Just things like staying calm and being in control, being confident in your set and your hands and everything.”
Three departing starters up front is a massive blow to the offensive line in general, particularly to the leadership of the unit. But it isn’t just the young returning Buckeyes of which much is being asked this offseason. Ohio State also has two transfer portal additions in former Louisiana-Monroe lineman Victor Cutler and San Diego State tackle Josh Simmons. Cutler spent the spring with the Buckeyes, but Simmons will have to acclimate to the program this summer as he looks to compete for the starting right tackle job in the preseason.
For all of those reasons, the Buckeye coaching staff tasked Jackson – a five-star recruit out of Bellaire, Texas, in the 2021 class – with becoming a vocal leader for his teammates to lean on in 2023.
“It’s weird to say that I’m a veteran of the offensive line. All throughout the offseason, Coach Mick and the entire strength staff and now the (offensive) staff are like, ‘Hey, you’re a veteran now, you gotta do the things the right way the first time and lead the young guys to do the right thing so they're not repeat offenders.’ So it's definitely a new role to try to show everyone what to do. Because obviously, it's not easy to come to Ohio State. High school to Ohio State's a whole different speed. So just trying to teach the young guys to make sure everyone's on the same page so we have great practices and keep stacking days.”
Jackson will have new starters to his left and right in his third year in scarlet and gray, and to ensure the success of both the offense as a whole and himself as an individual, he knows he must do everything possible to get them up to speed ahead of the season.
Jackson echoed Fryar’s sentiment about their level of communication but said it’s taken extra work to build a relationship with whichever center will end up lining up next to him on the inside.
“My freshman year I worked with Josh a lot. And even now, that chemistry has kind of boiled over to this year. We're always staying in constant communication because that's what you have to do when you're working with someone new, you have to be on the same page,” Jackson said. “So you have to over-communicate to the point where it's second nature. So just trying to build chemistry with Josh all over again. And with the centers, the guy inside of me, we're working hard every day to make sure we're on the same page. You have to have a strong inside if you want to get anything done. So making sure that there's no leaks and cracks in the O-line in the middle.”
Even after a full spring for the offensive line to develop, it still may be the biggest concern on the entire roster – especially with a new starter at quarterback. The fact that Ohio State brought in a post-spring transfer at the tackle position only further speaks to that notion.
Therefore Jackson’s job as the leader of the unit is one of high importance for the Buckeyes this offseason and one he appears to be openly embracing thus far.
