There might not be any other Ohio State unit that needs to play its best football in the Peach Bowl more than the Buckeyes’ interior offensive line.
That’s because they’ll be going head-to-head with Jalen Carter, who’s arguably the best NFL prospect on either team in a game that will be loaded with future pros. Ranked by ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. as the No. 1 overall prospect in the 2023 NFL draft class, Carter is almost universally projected to be a top-five overall pick.
Before he begins his NFL career, however, Carter will be looking to lead Georgia to its second straight national championship, starting with a College Football Playoff semifinal win over Ohio State. If the Bulldogs win, he’ll likely be a big reason why, as he’s been the best player – Pro Football Focus grades him as the second-best interior defensive lineman in all of college football this year – on a defense that’s arguably the best in the country for the second year in a row.
Ohio State’s offensive linemen are looking forward to the challenge.
When Donovan Jackson was asked if he relished the opportunity to play against Carter, he smiled and said “it's hard to say no to that.” Luke Wypler was emphatic about his excitement when he was asked the same question, saying he’s glad the Buckeyes get to play Georgia because of the chance to take on Carter and the rest of the Bulldogs’ highly touted defense.
“Everyone obviously wanted to play the team up north in the CFP, but I was so excited that we got the chance to play Georgia and I'm excited to play a team of this caliber,” Wypler said last week. “I think we all are as a team and it’s really been motivating, you kind of see it in practice every day, the juice that we're able to bring up because we know what we’re up against.”
The Buckeyes know keeping Carter out of the backfield won’t be easy. Jackson, Wypler and Ohio State coach Ryan Day all gave glowing reviews when asked what stood out to them when they watch No. 88 on film.
- Jackson: “I would say he's very good. On the film, he's a very strong run stopper. When he gets a pass-rush, he can be very agile and you don't know if you're gonna get speed to power or you're gonna get a little wiggle out of him. So it's gonna be a very tough test for not only me but the entire O-line.”
- Wypler: “He has all the traits that you want in a top talented guy in the NFL. He has power, speed; you can tell his football IQ’s really high the way he approaches pre-snap, you can kind of see sometimes on film, he's giving defensive backs cues of run, pass based on our stances. So he has all the intangibles you want in a guy. He knows how to use his hands, leverage, push-pull, everything. So he's a great player and I think that it’s going to be a great challenge for our offensive line.
- Day: “He's very explosive, very disruptive. He's in the backfield a lot. So you gotta know exactly where he is all the time. Plays really, really hard, plays with good leverage. One of the best tackles in the country, one of the best football players in the country. And you can see it, he's very, very productive. So it'll be a big challenge for our guys up front. And we'll have to know exactly where he is.”
It’s not only Carter that the Buckeyes will have to be prepared for, as Georgia’s defensive line rotation is well-stocked with talent. Another Bulldog defensive lineman who stands out to Jackson is nose tackle Nazir Stackhouse, who has actually played the most snaps of any defensive lineman and also grades out highly as a run-stopper (83.3) by PFF.
“I saw him a lot in recruiting and I know how good he is,” Jackson said. “But even the guys they rotate, they have a very deep D-line room, and their rotation, their talent level, it goes deep. And so you just got to prepare for every guy on that D-line because you know they're gonna give you something different, you know that they're going to come hard off the ball.”
Georgia’s defense also utilizes a wide variety of blitzes to generate pressure, so that’s another variable the Buckeyes will have to be prepared for up front.
“It's just mainly communication,” Jackson said when asked how he and his fellow offensive linemen would prepare for Georgia’s blitzes. “There's a lot of stuff we say mid-play to like make sure we're on the same page, because sometimes one guy's uncovered and he sees it a lot better than the guys who are blocking so he might have to echo stuff down the line while we're blocking to make sure either I get off and get someone else or make sure someone's coming with me. So it circles back to communication.”
As good as Carter is inside, the Bulldogs don’t have an elite outside pass rush, as they lost their best edge rusher when Nolan Smith went down with a season-ending pectoral injury. That could allow Ohio State’s offensive tackles to give the interior offensive linemen some help inside, and Dawand Jones says that’s something they need to be prepared to do.
“When they have their ends drop, we can just make sure we help down on the guard just knowing it's a tougher job,” Jones said. “He's basically the best D-lineman in his draft class … so the outside guys definitely have to help the inside guys.”
That could be particularly important for Jones if Matt Jones, who missed the Michigan game due to a foot injury, is unable to play at right guard or if he’s less than 100 percent. That said, Jackson said Jones has been working his way back and that he’s confident in either Josh Fryar or Enokk Vimahi if one of them needs to step in at right guard as they did against the Wolverines.
“They're getting great movement off the ball. They're settling in there in pass protection. It's kind of just that next man up mentality,” Jackson said. “You don't know when your number's called, but when it is called, you gotta get after it. So I think Nok and Josh did a great job of it (against Michigan).”
In a game where Ohio State struggled as a whole, the Buckeyes’ offensive line was one of its better units against Michigan, allowing only one sack while leading the way for Ohio State to run for 143 yards on 4.93 yards per carry against a defense that has allowed only 2.92 yards per carry for the season as a whole. Given that Michigan’s interior defensive line was arguably the best Ohio State faced during the regular season, that could give the Buckeyes confidence about their ability to hang with Carter in Atlanta.
“I think we've shown that this year where when we do the things the right way and the way they should be done and we're all on the same page, it's hard to stop our offense,” Wypler said. “So for us, we know he's a great player and he's gonna have a hell of a career at the next level, so it's how can we out-execute him play in and play out.”
Wypler has as much to gain as anyone if he can perform well against Carter, as he’s widely regarded as one of the top centers in the 2023 NFL draft if he declares. Wypler said how well he fares against Carter and the rest of Georgia’s defense could be a factor in whether or not he goes pro, as it will serve as a major measuring stick of whether or not he’s pro-ready.
More important to Wypler right now, though, is just beating Georgia. And he knows his performance, along with the rest of Ohio State’s offensive line, will be vital to the Buckeyes’ chances of winning.
“I think this game is gonna be pretty telling of where I'm at. Obviously going against a guy of that caliber,” Wypler said. “And for me, all I care about is really winning this game right now. So that's my main focus.”
