Perhaps no unit of Ohio State’s championship football team was working more efficiently at the end of the season than the offensive line. The group affectionately known as “the Slobs” lose only one member for the 2015 season—right tackle Darryl Baldwin.
So who will replace Baldwin?
Like Baldwin, Farris is a former D-lineman.
There are two main candidates to become the replacement Slob at right tackle. Both of last season’s backups at the two tackle spots will be the heavy (no pun intended) favorites to take Baldwin’s vacated spot. Let’s take a look at both.
Chase Farris, a converted defensive lineman, backed up Baldwin in 2014. He’ll be a senior in 2015 and has been practicing at right tackle and played their on occasion last season. His participation chart shows him seeing time in all of last year’s games except the Big Ten Championship against Wisconsin, but he’s been on special teams throughout his career so it’s unclear how many offensive snaps he saw.
Farris was an All-Ohio performer as a defensive lineman at Elyria High School with 11.5 sacks as a senior. He redshirted in 2011 and switched to offensive line in 2012. He played 26 snaps from scrimmage, including 18 against Illinois. He saw action in seven games on special teams.
In 2013, Farris moved back to defense due to Tommy Schutt’s injury, after he battled Taylor Decker for right tackle through training camp. He saw 120 plays on defense and special teams combined, finishing with three tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss. A knee injury requiring surgery forced Farris to miss the Orange Bowl against Clemson.
The OSU staff moved Farris back to offensive line in 2014, and he saw action from scrimmage in several blowout wins. The 6-foot-5, 300-pound man-mountain has the size you want in an offensive lineman, along with the quickness and aggression of a defensive player.
Jamarco Jones was a highly rated recruit.
Farris will be tough to beat out for the spot. But if someone can do it, it might be sophomore-to-be Jamarco Jones.
One of the top tackle prospects in the 2014 recruiting class, the 6-foot-4, 306-pound product of Chicago’s De La Salle High School backed up Decker at left tackle last season as a freshman.
Jones, who played in the Under Armour All-American Game, was All-State at De La Salle in 2013, and saw action in four games for the Buckeyes last year, taking snaps against Kent State, Cincinnati, Rutgers and Illinois, according to the participation chart. However, we've got a photo of him on the field against Wisconsin, so take the participation chart with a grain of salt.
Whether it’s Farris, Jones or someone more surprising, we’ll find out a lot more about the battle through spring and fall camp. If the last few seasons are any indication, the new right tackle might begin slowly, but Ed Warinner will likely have his first-year starter playing at peak capacity by mid-season.
Warinner is, after all, the Slob whisperer.
Farris has more experience but Jones has a higher ceiling. Who do you like in this important camp battle?
