A year ago, as Ohio State prepared to enter spring practice, there were exactly zero spots available along the offensive line. The Buckeyes were returning four starters from a national championship team and in the only spot they lost somebody, a fifth-year senior was waiting in the wings.
There were going to be no position battles, no competition, no drama. Ohio State was set up front.
Heading into this spring, however, things are a bit different. Much like almost every other position group out there for the 2016 Buckeyes, there are question marks on the offensive line and there are spots available as Ohio State gets ready to open up spring practice next Tuesday.
The Buckeyes return just two starters up front in Pat Elflein and Billy Price. Elflein, the right guard last season, will move to center in 2016 and Price is slated to start his third-consecutive season at left guard. Ohio State is in pretty good shape in the middle with those two experienced players.
But the rest of the line is somewhat unknown at this point. There are front-runners to win some jobs right now and junior Jamarco Jones and sophomore Isaiah Prince are those guys at tackle, but nothing is set in stone. Jones and Prince will likely be the first-team tackles to start spring, but you have to remember the Buckeyes signed a junior college lineman, Malcolm Pridgeon, in their 2016 class and when Pridgeon arrives on campus, he’s a legitimate contender to grab a position.
“We don’t recruit a junior college guy to sit,” Ohio State coach Urban Meyer said on National Signing Day. “We hope to get him in here in June and compete for a starting spot.”
So yes, it may appear like Jones and Prince are going to be the guys at tackle in 2016, but that won’t truly be known until Pridgeon arrives on campus. This spring is a big one for both Jones and Prince.
The other available spot is Elflein’s old right guard position. And it seems like this slot is the most intriguing of all the open ones up front because there are three different guys who have a chance to earn the job. Redshirt junior Evan Lisle, redshirt sophomore Demetrius Knox and redshirt freshman Matt Burrell all have the potential to be named starter at right guard.
It will be an interesting first spring for new Buckeyes offensive line coach Greg Studrawa.
“I want to play the best guys,” Studrawa said on National Signing Day. “We want to be as good as we can possibly be.”
There’s no certainty we learn what Ohio State’s starting offensive line for 2016 will be coming out of spring practice because of the Pridgeon factor. He’s a wildcard in this situation and if he’s as good as the Buckeyes think he might be, he could come right in in June and earn a starting spot.
If that happens and Pridgeon is a capable starter, there's potential for one of the tackles — the likely candidate here seems like Jones since Prince is a prototypical tackle — to move inside to guard and compete for that right guard spot. Studrawa said the obvious goal is for Ohio State to get its best five linemen on the field. That means there could be a shuffle and guys can change positions — well, all but Elflein and Price, those two are set in stone.
“What we’re going to do is find the best fit for every single one of them that gives us the best five guys on the field first and then the best backups after that,” Studrawa said on signing day. “So yeah, there could be a change at any of those spots.”
The Buckeyes' offensive line situation appears somewhat fluid right now. It's unlikely there will be a starting five coming out of spring ball, but there's certainly potential for a few guys to lock up starting jobs heading into the summer.
