Ohio State will have big shoes to fill once again on its offensive line after this season.
Billy Price has been recognized as the best center in college football this year, earning consensus All-American honors and winning the Rimington Trophy. Left tackle Jamarco Jones has had an excellent season in his own right, earning first-team All-Big Ten honors while holding down J.T. Barrett’s blind side with solid pass protection.
Jones and Price are both outgoing seniors, which means the Buckeyes will have to replace their two best offensive linemen – who play arguably the two most important positions on the offensive line – going into next season.
The outgoing seniors themselves, however, are confident that the Buckeyes offensive line – which has been one of the team’s strongest units this season – will continue to perform well without them next season.
Ohio State is expected to have two third-year returning starters in Michael Jordan, who has started 26 straight games dating back to the beginning of last season at left guard, and Isaiah Prince, who has started 26 straight games dating back to the beginning of last season at right tackle.
The Buckeyes will have two more returning linemen with starting experience in Branden Bowen, who started the first six games of this season at right guard, and Demetrius Knox, who has started at right guard since Bowen went down with a season-ending leg injury.
Price expects all of those players, along with Brady Taylor – Price’s current backup at center, who will be a fifth-year senior next year – to step up and take on bigger leadership roles following his and Jones’ departures.
"The culture that’s set in there, Isaiah Prince and Mike Jordan are kind of going to be those leaders with Brady next year, with Demetrius and Branden, just to really continue to push that and continue to sharpen each other," Price said.
The first big question for the offensive line going into next season will be at center, where the Buckeyes will be looking to keep a strong run going after having back-to-back Rimington Trophy winners in Price and Pat Elflein at the position. Price expects that question to have an easy answer, however, as he believes Taylor will be prepared to take over his role in 2018.
"I think it’s really Brady’s position to lose at this point because the kid’s been in the program four or five years now, he’s continued to get better," Price said. "Coaches have to trust you to get that block, and I think Brady’s done a great job right now of continuing to build that trust and to say 'Hey, I can get the job done.'"
Brady Taylor (79) is expected to replace Billy Price at center next season.
The answer to who will replace Jones at left tackle does not appear to be nearly as clear, but the Buckeyes will have several options they could consider. One option could be moving Prince from the opposite side of the line, a move Jones believes his fellow tackle would be more than capable of making.
"Oh yeah, I’m not sure what the (coaches’) plan is, but I definitely think he could do it," Jones said of Prince potentially playing left tackle. "He’s taken some snaps at left tackle throughout the season this year, so I think he could definitely do it."
Regardless of whether Prince moves to the left side or stays on the right side, the Buckeyes will need a new offensive tackle to step up into a starting role. One candidate to fill that role, which would also clear up the question of who will start at right guard next season, is Bowen, who was considered to be the Buckeyes’ third tackle – even though he was starting on the interior line – before his injury this year.
Price expects Bowen – who ultimately moved inside because he beat out Knox, Matthew Burrell and Malcolm Pridgeon to win the starting right guard job – to perform well next season regardless of where he is asked to line up.
"He’s a selfless guy and he’ll do whatever the team needs. So if Coach says 'Hey, I really need you to play tackle,' Branden will go play tackle," Price said of Bowen. "We said to him in preseason camp and in fall camp like ‘Hey, we’re going to try to work hard, how do you feel about that?’ ‘All right, let’s go do it.’ And I said ‘OK, hey, block that guy.’ And he went and blocked that guy. So that’s just the kind of guy Branden is."
Joshua Alabi, the Buckeyes’ current backup left tackle, and Thayer Munford, the current backup right tackle, could also be candidates to move into the starting lineup depending on where Prince lines up. Jones says he has been impressed by the way both of them have developed over the course of this season.
"Josh Alabi’s been having some really good practices the past few weeks, even before, and so now I expect him to improve even more throughout the bowl season and this offseason," Jones said. "Thayer, too, I think Thayer’s going to be really good."
Thayer Munford is among the offensive linemen who could have a shot to earn a starting spot next season.
Ohio State coach Urban Meyer has expressed concerns about his team’s offensive line depth all season, which certainly means he’ll have concerns going into next season after losing two of his best players on that unit. Price, however, believes the Buckeyes have plenty of offensive linemen who will be ready to rise to the occasion – including some who haven’t even played a single snap this year – in 2018.
"You got Isaiah, Michael, Brady, Demetrius, Branden, and then you got Thayer, Josh Alabi and then some of the young guys too that are coming up, guys who are working scout team right now, who are going to continue to push for that contention to get into the two-deep," Price said. "Josh Myers, Wyatt Davis, Gavin Cupp, Jack Wohlabaugh and you can go on throughout the names. So I’m very optimistic about it."
In their final few weeks as Buckeyes, Jones believes he and Price have a responsibility to help prepare those younger offensive linemen to be ready to be take on bigger roles next season.
"You want to leave the room better than it was when you got there," Jones said. "So that’s a big focus, we don’t want it to be any drop-off. That’s one thing Taylor (Decker, former Ohio State left tackle) always talked to me about, not being any drop-off when he leaves and when I have to step in there and play, and whoever has to step in there and play next year, I want the same thing. So have to make sure we’re still pushing these young guys to get better every day."
