COLUMBUS – Ohio State still isn’t ready to name a starter at the right guard position – or even narrow the competition down to two or three guys.
Nine practices into fall camp, head coach Urban Meyer and offensive line coach Greg Studrawa say there are still four veterans making a push for the open starting spot on the Buckeyes offensive line, while a pair of true freshmen still have a chance to seize the job, too.
Redshirt junior Malcolm Pridgeon, redshirt sophomore Matthew Burrell and redshirt junior Demetrius Knox remain the main contenders to start at right guard. Redshirt sophomore Branden Bowen has practiced primarily at tackle, where the Buckeyes need him for depth behind starters Jamarco Jones and Isaiah Prince, but Bowen has performed well enough to keep his name in the right guard competition.
Studrawa likes what he has seen so far from the position battle.
"The competition so far has been excellent," Studrawa said. "Right now, we’re just trying to develop some fundamental toughness, get the fundamentals and things in and then start working, but right now, it’s a wide open competition."
While none of the potential starting right guards have ever previously started a game at Ohio State, Bowen and Burrell played in all 13 of the Buckeyes' games last season off the bench. Knox played in only four games last season due to a broken foot, but played in all 13 games in 2015. Pridgeon, a junior college transfer, redshirted his first season at Ohio State due to a knee injury.
Malcolm Pridgeon is among the top contenders to start for Ohio State at right guard.
Studrawa says it’s also still "absolutely possible" that either Josh Myers or Wyatt Davis could win the starting job, even though Myers has only been at Ohio State since January and Davis just arrived on campus this summer.
"They're fighting right now and it could be anybody right now," Studrawa said.
Thayer Munford, Ohio State’s other true freshman offensive lineman, has been working primarily at right tackle.
Although continuity is important on the offensive line – the Buckeyes started the same five offensive linemen in all 13 games last season – Studrawa said it is possible the Buckeyes could rotate two players at the right guard position if two prove worthy of being starters.
"If it ends up being two guys, you’d love to be able to play two guys," Studrawa said. "We’ll see how that folds out, but we’ve got a lot of time right now."
What Studrawa is most pleased to see is how hard each of the potential right guards are competing for the starting job.
"The best thing they’re doing is giving effort and straining and fighting for it," Studrawa said. "There’s nothing greater than competition. When there’s an open job, guys fly around for it, and now we’ve got great competition. So we’ll find out and see how it shakes out."
