When Billy Price announced he not only intended to return for his senior season but move to center in place of the departed Pat Elflein, the next question on Ohio State's offensive line became who would replace him at right guard. Provided everyone else came back — left tackle Jamarco Jones was the only other starter eligible to turn pro — the Buckeyes had four of five possible starters back in the fold for Urban Meyer's sixth season in Columbus.
The other three: sophomore left guard Michael Jordan, junior right tackle Isaiah Prince and Jones, now a senior.
With the unit's abysmal performance in the Fiesta Bowl against Clemson still firmly on everyone's brains including both Meyer and offensive line coach Greg Studrawa, the need for a facelift is imperative. The group must be better in 2017.
On the first day of spring practice, the head coach mentioned four potential names fighting for the right to replace Price. He started with Demetrius Knox because a reporter brought his name up since the redshirt junior was the first guy off the bench when Jordan went down with an ankle injury against Clemson.
“I wouldn't say a favorite but Demetrius Knox is a guy that's going to be very involved in that,” Meyer said on March 7. “Matt Burrell, Malcolm Pridgeon and maybe Branden Bowen. He's a guy that we'll look at. That's a very competitive spot. Lot of competition for that spot.”
Let's dissect the competition a little further. Below is a breakdown of each player's Ohio State career to date.
Demetrius Knox — Redshirt Junior
So far, Knox's Ohio State career has been highlighted (lowlighted?) by injuries. And this:
That is the Ohio State offense's first play against Clemson with Knox in place of the injured Jordan, who got rolled up on and had to miss a few series in the Fiesta Bowl. Studrawa thrust Knox into the fray as a stopgap when Jordan went down, even though he hadn't played a meaningful down in more than two months after breaking his foot in practice.
After taking a redshirt during the 2014 national championship season, Knox broke his other foot the following February and sat out spring practice. Thus, this year's set of spring drills is only the second one he has been healthy enough to participate.
A four-star prospect from All Saints Episcopal in Fort Worth, Texas, it is pretty safe to say Knox is the leader in the clubhouse right now at the spot even though Meyer wouldn't necessarily identify him as such. He lost the left guard spot to Jordan last season before the Buckeyes listed him as Price's backup on the other side, however.
Matthew Burrell, Redshirt Sophomore
Another four-star prospect from out of state, Burrell redshirted in 2015 after turning in an All-State caliber season in Virginia the year before. He didn't play much last season either and Price offered up a bit of an explanation as to why last week. Price spoke on the temptations and freedoms that many college freshmen realize once they no longer live with Mom and Dad, mentioning Burrell by name.
“I wasn’t into the whole High Street scene and doing the extracurricular activities — that really didn’t help my purpose,” Price said. “So those kind of guys… We’ve had those conversations. Particularly, Matt Burrell. You know, I told him ‘You gotta close your circle and tighten your circle down because people want to hurt you, people want to take you down. People want to see you mess up and put you on the frontline news. Especially here. Especially here.’”
Burrell is extremely talented, has a quick first step and is the prototypical size for a guard — 6-foot-3 and 300 pounds. Rated the top offensive line prospect from his region, there is a reason Ed Warinner and Meyer recruited him so heavily. He just hasn't earned the right to show it yet.
Jordan also passed over him last season. Like the other names Meyer mentioned above, it is on him to not allow that to happen again with either Josh Myers or Wyatt Davis.
Malcolm Pridgeon, Redshirt Junior
Pridgeon had an excellent chance to start last season at right tackle for the Buckeyes but then went down with a knee injury that kept him on the sideline until bowl practice. It came shortly after defensive end Darius Slade tore his Achilles, another season-ending injury.
“Those are two tough ones,” Meyer said in August, before calling the depth on the offensive line "a concern."
“That's where Matt Burrell, Demetrius Knox have really got to come on, really come on and then Branden Bowen has got a long ways to go, but he's going to come on too,” Meyer said. “So you have to get depth there.”
As we saw in the Fiesta Bowl, the depth never came.
“The first place you always start with is pass protection,” Meyer said recently when asked about the passing game. “Obviously, that was not a strength of ours last year.”
Pridgeon is back 100 percent and participated fully in Ohio State's first two practices. The fact that he is listed at 6-foot-7 and 315 pounds made it a little surprising that Meyer mention Pridgeon as a candidate to play guard. But with Jones and Prince back to man the tackle spots, it makes some sense.
Ohio State will play its best five offensive linemen regardless. It showed that last year when Jordan lined up between Jones and Elflein at left guard. He, like Pridgeon, is 6-foot-7. Quarterback J.T. Barrett is only 6-foot-2, so throwing lanes can be tough to find behind all those big bodies.
But Pridgeon is a junior college transfer, something Ohio State usually doesn't take unless it believes it can be an impact player right away. Pridgeon's injury prevented that from happening in 2016. This spring offers a fresh slate.
Branden Bowen, Redshirt Sophomore
Like Knox, Bowen saw some playing time during the 2016 season albeit in a different capacity. The former was forced into action because of an injury, while the latter put on a different jersey and served as a blocking tight end against Northwestern.
Another mammoth human standing at 6-foot-7 and 312 pounds, Bowen was the first-ever player Ohio State signed from the state of Utah. Like Pridgeon, he was thought to be a tackle at the college level. And, like Pridgeon, could find himself at guard if the lack of readily available depth on Ohio State's offensive line forces the issue.
The fact the Buckeyes used Bowen some against Northwestern means two things. First, that they wanted some healthy girth to block on the edge with tight ends A.J. Alexander and Marcus Baugh working through nagging injuries. Second, that Bowen is close to being trusted by the coaching staff.
How does that translate to the 2017 season? Meyer threw the word "maybe" ahead of Bowen's name when asked about the right guard spot, so the redshirt sophomore is probably not the team's first choice to fill it. Thus, they'd rather not have someone who played tackle in high school play at guard.
Bowen is likely better suited at tackle, so it will be of interest to watch where he continues to work this spring.
