Ohio State is still determining its final plan at right tackle, but Phillip Daniels “will play a lot” vs. Texas.
Asked if Ohio State had decided whether Daniels or Ethan Onianwa would start at right tackle on Saturday, Day said the Buckeyes would wait until later in the week to make a final decision on their plan at RT, though his answer suggested that Daniels is likely to play a majority of snaps against the Longhorns.
“I think we're going to kind of leave that towards the end of the week and we'll let the week play out, let these guys compete. Certainly Phil will play a lot,” Day said. “Whether we rotate or not, we'll decide, but he's had a really good preseason, and he's ready to play.”
Going into preseason camp, Daniels appeared likely to be a backup this season. Onianwa was expected to be the Buckeyes’ starting left tackle, while Austin Siereveld was expected to start at right tackle. After Ohio State moved Siereveld to left tackle, however, the door opened up for Daniels to compete for the starting RT job.
Daniels impressed his coaches and teammates throughout camp to show them he belonged in the starting lineup this season.
“Phillip, he’s going to be a dog,” running back James Peoples said of Daniels earlier this month.
A Cincinnati native, Daniels transferred to Ohio State this offseason after two years at Minnesota. He started the Golden Gophers’ final four games of last season at right tackle.
A three-star recruit out of Princeton High School – the same school former Ohio State star Paris Johnson Jr. graduated from – Daniels is hungry to show the world he was underrecruited out of high school and that he can be a star for his home-state school.
“I'm trying to help this team and be the best right tackle in the nation,” Daniels said earlier this month.
Onianwa was viewed as one of the top offensive linemen on the transfer market this offseason after starting for three years at Rice, so it will come as a surprise if he doesn’t play at all against Texas. That said, Onianwa is in line to be the sixth man on Ohio State’s offensive line if he doesn’t start. He’s cross-trained at guard in camp in addition to taking snaps at both left and right tackle, giving him the potential to be the next man up at any position but center.
Day hasn’t firmly confirmed any starters on the offensive line outside of Siereveld at left tackle, but it’s expected that left guard Luke Montgomery, center Carson Hinzman and right guard Tegra Tshabola will reprise their starting roles from last year’s national championship run.
