Better Know a Buckeye: Miles Walker is A Big Offensive Tackle with Developmental Upside

The final installment of the series for 2023 looks at the class’ lone three-star prospect, Miles Walker, who was ranked as the No. 33 offensive tackle (No. 500 overall prospect) in the cycle and is one of two offensive tackles in Ohio State’s freshman class along with Luke Montgomery.

How He Became A Buckeye

Considered a fast riser in the recruiting scene, Walker was an unranked prospect when Division I schools began recruiting (and offering) him. In the spring of 2022, he began to receive Power 5 offers from schools such as Penn State, Texas A&M and Iowa, among others. After Justin Frye stopped by Greenwich, Connecticut to visit Walker, the three-star lineman received an offer from the Buckeyes last May.

Two months later, Walker committed to the Buckeyes, becoming the fourth offensive lineman for Ohio State in the class. Even though Justin Frye had yet to coach a game for the Buckeyes, Walker believed in the offensive line coach's ability to develop him into a starting offensive tackle for Ohio State due to his track record.

"I think a huge factor is the history of coach (Justin) Frye and how he develops offense linemen," Walker's high school coach, Wayne McGillicuddy, told Eleven Warriors. "I think that was definitely interesting to him."

Walker agreed with that sentiment.

“That was the main factor why I decided to come here, just being able to work with him,” Walker told Eleven Warriors in February. “Back home, he came to visit me once, and then just being up here on some visits, being able to talk with him and just learning everything he had to say and everything he loved to put into the game and how he likes to develop kids; it just, for me, it stuck. And that's why I chose here.”

High School Years

Walker transformed his body throughout his high school career, which turned him into a Power 5 offensive tackle prospect. Prior to his junior season, Walker trimmed off 45 pounds of excess weight and then added 50 more the right way to improve his strength and physicality.

"It’s unbelievable. I’m so proud of him. There’s a lot of kids out there who work hard and do everything right, and Miles has definitely done that," McGillicuddy said of Walker's body transformation. "I’m very happy his hard work has paid off. Miles is one of the hardest-working kids I’ve ever been around. He’s someone who understands how to fuel his body right at 17-18 years old, bulk up and put muscle on the right way. It’s not often you hear a 17-18-year-old go into detail about what he’s going to eat, how much he can eat and the research he’s done, he’s put in all the hard work. I’m just glad it all paid off."

With his reformed body, Walker showed the ability to fire off the ball with great burst and quickness while also demonstrating a mean streak to drive opposing defensive ends into the ground on running plays.

As a junior, Walker primarily lined up at left guard and was also the team’s long snapper. In his senior season, Walker moved outside to tackle, the position he will play at OSU.

Immediate Impact

Even though Ohio State will have two new starting offensive tackles this fall, Walker won't see the field for any meaningful playing time during his first season in Columbus. That's not necessarily a bad thing, it just means that he needs some time to develop, both physically and with this technique.

Walker recognizes that and has no problem with waiting for his opportunity to play.

“Right now, I just need to learn everything,” Walker said. “The tackles that they have now are phenomenal, and they've been here for a little while, some of them. So they know things better. And honestly, right now, just learning in practice from them has been great. Just watching them do what they do and just trying to pick up cues on how to be better and how to fit in well. That's all I've been doing.”

Frye and company want Walker, who is currently 285 pounds, to continue to bulk up to 310-315 pounds. Luckily for him, he got a head start on that as an early enrollee, allowing him to go through a full offseason with Mickey Marotti as well as spring practices.

“It's definitely gonna take some work to get there. But I'm ready for it,” Walker said. “Right now, it's just getting stronger lifting, eating a lot.”

Even so, expect Walker to redshirt his freshman season this fall.

Long-Term Impact

Although he is the lowest-ranked signee in Ohio State’s 2023 class, Walker has shown the potential to develop into a reliable starting offensive tackle down the road. While he’s unlikely to play much in his first couple of years as a Buckeye, it wouldn't be surprising to see Walker outperform his recruiting ranking eventually.

"On the field, he’s extremely athletic, he has really good hips and he can bend," McGillicuddy said. "He gets off the ball quickly and has heavy hands so when he punches people, you can hear it across the field. Like I said, the athleticism is through the roof. He’ll rarely make the same mistake twice, he hates it when he makes the same mistake twice. The will to want to be good and do everything the right way is what’s going to help set him up to be very successful."

Walker’s size, tenacity and quick hands give him upside that Ohio State believes will make him a Buckeye-caliber tackle in the long run.

“You look at his length and his athleticism and his size, he's going to start (his Ohio State career) at tackle,” Ryan Day said. “He brings a lot of potential there.”

Given the lack of experience at tackle following the departures of Paris Johnson Jr. and Dawand Jones, Walker could earn a spot on the two-deep as a redshirt freshman in 2024. Then again, there's a chance that all of the scholarship tackles currently on the roster – Josh Fryar, Josh Simmons, Tegra Tshabola, Zen Michalski, George Fitzpatrick, Luke Montgomery and Grant Toutant – return in 2024.

If that's the case, Walker’s best chance to earn a spot on Ohio State’s two-deep might not come until 2025, when he’ll also be looking to prove he’s ready for a starting job.

Player Comparison: Branden Bowen

Bowen was 6-foot-7 and 315 pounds during his playing days at Ohio State, the same type of size Walker could be once he fills his frame out. Bowen redshirted his freshman season and didn‘t see his first substantial playing time until his third year at Ohio State. After breaking his leg during the 2017 season and missing the 2018 season due to that injury, Bowen was named the starter at right tackle as a fifth-year senior in 2019 and earned second-team All-Big Ten honors while helping to lead the Buckeyes to a 12-0 regular season and a Big Ten championship.

Rated similarly as a recruit to Bowen, who was the No. 540 overall prospect in the 2015 class, Walker comes to Ohio State with the upside to make a similar kind of impact before his career is over.