Donovan Jackson is a measured character off the field.
His answers in press conferences are almost presidential. That’s a compliment both to how articulate he is and his knowledge of the game of football, but also an insight into a calm, kinder nature when not in shoulder pads.
That demeanor faded a bit when a reporter asked Jackson if the criticism the offensive line, himself included, has faced all offseason is a motivator for this year’s campaign. His light smile faded. His eyes squeezed into a tight squint, almost confused at how obvious his answer was.
“I mean – yeah,” Jackson said, the media contingent laughing at the long, emphatic pauses between his words. “I had to swallow my words there. But yeah. What’s been said in our room doesn’t have to be said out here. We understand the narrative. We understand what some of y’all think of us and we’ve just got to execute, man. You (the media) only report what you see on the field, so if we want to change that narrative, we’ve got to change what we put on the field. That’s what we’ve got to do.”
Jackson, while expressing a touch more emotion than usual, summed up the emotions of Ohio State’s offensive linemen perfectly. They’ve heard the criticism of their performance this offseason. They’ve acknowledged it among themselves, nodded at it and used it as motivation to focus on preparations for 2024.
They also know the only way to change all the headlines and conversations is through their play on the field.
“We always have a chip on our shoulder,” right tackle Josh Fryar said. “I think (center) Seth (McLaughlin) talks about it best – I think it's what drives us. Seth's supposed to be the worst center in the country. People don't like me at right tackle. Tegra (Tshabola)'s slow, Donnie's supposed to be gone to the NFL, Josh Simmons doesn't know what he's doing. Like everybody has an opinion about us. I can't say the metaphor to that, but it's an opinion, so I don't really care about it.”
Ohio State’s struggles up front in 2023 are well-documented to this point.
The Buckeyes averaged just 4.2 yards per carry on the ground, 73rd in the country and the program’s worst mark since 2004. There were pass protection lapses in key moments. It all culminated in a Cotton Bowl debacle where the front surrendered four sacks, eight quarterback hurries and 10 tackles for loss in a 14-3 defeat to Missouri. Justin Frye may well be coaching for his job in 2024.
“If we want to change that narrative, we’ve got to change what we put on the field.”– Donovan Jackson
From Frye’s perspective, it’s important to both learn from and leave those bad outings in the past. The offensive line is often a unit that draws scrutiny, he feels, and the more important thing is that his linemen understand where they can improve and work at it.
“Just flip the calendar,” Frye said. “As an offensive line unit anyway, you're going to take the criticism. I think the maturity of these guys is probably what sounded or showed with Donovan. That's our position. That's who we are. That’s why you want to coach this position or play this position. You’re gonna take those (critiques). So I think the maturity and the growth of those guys – understanding what they need to do, why they need to do it – is going to pay dividends when we get on the field and start playing the games.”
The first place where the position group got to work this offseason was in the weight room. Three offensive linemen were named Iron Buckeyes, with Fryar and Jackson joining Carson Hinzman.
Fryar says he feels a “lot better” moving around than he did last year, having reduced his body fat and added muscle. He’s focused on having fun in training, even if it’s hard to describe to an outsider what “fun” means in the context of a college football workout.
“Screaming, yelling,” Fryar said. “I don't know, it's different, you've got to be in there to experience it. It's just a fun environment, Coach Mick (Marotti) makes it fun, he makes it super hard. But at the same time, you've got to look at it as being fun, like it's your job, it's what you're supposed to do.”
Insecure jerks cross lines behind keyboards sometimes, and it can get to even the most thick-skinned of people. Where Fryar has grown is in his ability to process those sorts of comments and keep working to better himself.
“It bothers you,” Fryar said. “Especially when you get DMs from Instagram, Twitter, all that stuff; or Buckeye fans comment on your girlfriend's post about you saying some very explicit stuff – I can't repeat it – but yeah, it's tough. But at the same time, now I know how to control it, because it's social media. Like I said, it's an opinion, you shouldn't really care about it, because those guys are behind a keyboard.”
Perhaps that’s one of the slept-on things that Ohio State’s offensive line has going in its favor this year: Experience. The Buckeyes entered 2023 with 43 combined starts among their first unit. They will enter 2024 with either 91 or 103 combined starts depending on whether Tegra Tshabola (no starts) or Carson Hinzman (12 starts) is the first-string right guard.
“This whole line, for the most part, has a lot of playing experience,” Jackson said. “Seth, he has tons of playing experience, and then everyone else on the line that played last year and now (is) coming back have a year under their belt. So just the veteran's mentality of like, you've seen it all. So now that you've seen it, you're not guessing. You can play fast.”
Frye feels that veteran leadership is reverberating through the rest of the offensive line room to its younger players. Tshabola and Hinzman have improved physically and in their technique to match the older guys. Josh Simmons has also stood out in preseason camp, showcasing his athletic upside in pass rush one-on-ones open to the media.
“You've got a guy like Tegra, he's put in a lot of time and a lot of work,” Frye said. “Changed his body, done some stuff. Carson Hinzman, Carson got here at 255, 259 and now he's a 300-pound guy and he's a 12-game starter under his belt. He's battling and playing and doing some things. So I think for them when it starts bearing a little fruit are the things that you do tell them when you're coaching. If you work this technique, you work this fit, you work this communication, then this is going to show.”
It also helps to have brought in offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, a coach known for maximizing offensive lines and cultivating great ground attacks. Ohio State’s running back tandem should be the best in college football with TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins sharing the load.
With those schematic advantages and another year of development from many of its core contributors, Ohio State’s offensive line expects to take strides in 2024.
“Yeah, I think so,” Fryar said when asked if the offensive line has “gotten its act together” after the Cotton Bowl. “The past is the past. You can't do anything about it. I mean, you can do stuff to change (what went wrong), but you can't do anything (to change) what happened in the past.”
The offensive line will have a chance to rewrite last year’s narratives with the story they tell over the next four to five months.
