The 2024 Ohio State offense has at least 600 snaps totally up for grabs. Who will get them remains mysterious.
Quarterback pecking order will shake out shortly, if not this week - we have a pretty good idea who the starter will be. The running back room has two guys on the Doak Walker watch list both committed to load management in what's a shared NFL audition year. The OSU backfield is as unmysterious as it is formidable.
Speaking of unmysterious and formidable, the starting wide receivers will feature a team captain, a super sophomore and a freshman unlike any we've seen lined up together - with Brandon Inniss getting starter-volume snaps through his chess piece versatility.
Offensive tackles are set while both center and guards shouldn't be too far behind. It's all quite intriguing, but none of those positions can be deemed mysterious. Except one.
We're talking about a spot which operates in the shadows and carries the most varied responsibilities on the unit. Block like a tackle on passing plays and a pulling guard on running plays. Carry the ball with the efficacy and security of a running back. Run routes and secure passes like a wide receiver. Be fluent in like seven languages. Open sealed jars without straining.
Dim sportswriters begged for years to get them more involved in the passing game. Give up?
It's the beleaguered tight end, tasked with doing just about everything except throwing and kicking. Ohio State's have operated in a steady state of underperformance since Kevin Wilson left for Tulsa, as the unit has been equal-parts patchwork and turnstiles since Jeremy Ruckert and Luke Farrell departed campus.
rewatch Trey Sermon's record-setting afternoon in Indianapolis BUT only focus on the edges. IT's BEEN YEARS SINCE THEY WERE SEALED LIKE THAT.
The room has been a crippling liability in just about every game since. If that seems harsh, rewatch Trey Sermon's record-setting afternoon in Indianapolis but only focus on the edges when Ohio State had the ball. Look who is sealing them with absolute brutality and precision. You haven't seen anything like that since.
And despite Northwestern bringing a sturdy, chippy and disciplined defense, Ohio State's tight end tandem buried them play after play after play. The edge is all a running back needs to break a play wide open, and the Buckeyes have conceded it for too many seasons in a row.
Cade Stover was a linebacker who was converted to tight end, which means he had never blocked another guy in his life when he entered the room. Big receiving target, delivered some nice moments, the Farmer Gronk thing was fun, but he was almost always a step late when a play didn't involve him getting the ball.
If you have the stomach to rewatch Ohio State's short yardage plays the past two seasons, do it with your 2020 B1G Title Game goggles on - just look at the edge and the tight end. It's usually Stover. Yes, he played hurt - which only means the rest of the room wasn't trustworthy enough to replace Cade at partial strength. That's not great.
Gee Scott Jr. is a converted wide receiver at the end of his Ohio State journey, a guy who has had ups, downs and sidewayses along the way. He's perched for a triumphant conclusion in 2024, but it's a bit murky because he's been poised to break out every year he's been on campus.
Ohio State TE Patrick Gurd eludes Minnesota DB Jack Henderson during the 2nd half at Ohio Stadium last November. © Clare Grant/The Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK
His blocking efficacy was at best equal to Stover's. Whenever the Buckeyes went 13 personnel, they had two big guys on the field who didn't block like their lives depended on it. Which is what an offense committed to running the ball like Ohio State's desperately needs. Which is also what Chip Kelly's offenses have traditionally required.
Scott is pictured atop this column grabbing his blocking assignment by the sides of the helmet. He was in for 350 snaps last season, a distant second to Stover's 613. Only 63 other snaps return from last season's roster, which isn't a terrible thing for a unit which has shown a chronic inability to consistently finish blocking assignments.
The good news is the best blocking collegiate TE in Ohio last season is now a Buckeye. Will Kacmarek transferred over from Athens, shed his black stripe quickly and represents the highest-graded blocker in the unit by a significant, almost comical margin. Here are some 2023 PFF blocking grades:
Stover: 116th (FBS)
Scott Jr.: 160th
Kacmarek: 16th
Ohio State's top TE last year was 116th in blocking. There are 133 FBS programs.
Yes, Kacmarek blocked guys he lined up across from as part of the Ohio Bobcats' schedule, which isn't quite the same as playing for the Buckeyes. But he's a tight end down to his marrow who understand the mandate of the position is to erase dudes, seal edges and enhance whatever the offensive tackle is already doing.
Ohio State got itself one of the best blocking TEs in the country. That wasn't accidental.
The Buckeyes have been losing big games and reducing their superiority advantages on the edges and the margins since the pandemic, with anemic TE blocking and the worst special teams in program history.
It's unsexy and repetitive to dwell on these things, but they're what separate Ohio State from achieving its program aspirations versus being one or two plays away from them - and they have been allowed to persist at unacceptable performance levels for way too long.
Special Teams this season, conservatively, should be no worse than mediocre - this represents a massive upgrade - with coaches-by-committee taking over for what was a failed experiment in 2021, let alone the two additional years that failure was allowed to fester.
The TE room is led by Keenan Bailey, another one of those Guys Who Were Already in the Room whom Ryan Day tapped him on the shoulder - something he did a little too much of as a neophyte head coach. That said, it would take an unhealthy degree of pessimism to suggest a Parker Fleming comparison here.
The 2024 SEASON could be the beginning of a dramatic turnaround for what's been a chronic deficiency, a unit that lost its way and purpose following the pandemic.
That's because Bailey does something Fleming never even pretended to do and he does it quite well. Fleming never delivered any work above a D- level. We're not even sure his coffee didn't taste like shit. Bailey hasn't earned that scorn just because he arrived on Day's staff through the same talent acquisition channel.
But he did get his own room coming out of his work assisting Brian Hartline with Zone 6, Ohio State's in-house alien farm where blocking is a point of pride but it's more of a side dish than an entree. If the Buckeyes are going to run 12 and 13 personnel (1 RB, 2 WR, 2 TE and 1 RB, 1 WR, 3 TE respectively) (spoiler, they're going to do both in 2024, a lot) they're going to require at least four committed, healthy, angry, passionate blocking tight ends on the roster.
Can you name them? Kacmarek, Scott Jr, Jelani Thurman, Patrick Gurd. I have no idea what the order is there, but the best blocker is probably the first guy and the others couldn't beat out a converted linebacker last year. Bennett Christian returns from suspension. Jace Middleton and Zak Herbstreit are senior walk-ons. Damarion Witten and Max LeBlanc were in high school earlier this year.
This could be the beginning of a dramatic turnaround for what's been a chronic deficiency, a unit that lost its way and purpose following the pandemic. Hartline's room doesn't need any help making defenses miserable downfield, but Justin Frye's line and everyone positioned behind it could definitely use the Edge the Buckeyes have conceded for too long.
Which is to say that if this offense is going to approach the peak of its powers this season, the most mysterious unit on the roster must demonstrate that it understands the assignment.
Win your blocking assignments. Seal the edge. Everything else is extra credit.
