Ohio State Committed to Retooling the Lines This Offseason, and They Executed
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Buckeye Nation was not the only one who felt that the Buckeyes needed to retool the lines of scrimmage on both sides of the ball this year.
Head coach Ryan Day and the rest of the staff realized the weak point in the Ohio State roster, and they addressed it immediately this offseason. They acquired reinforcements for now with three transfer portal additions and for the future with a master class in high school recruiting.
The transfer portal additions up front will be asked to make a major impact right away. Qua Russaw, James Smith, and John Walker from UCF. These three will be asked on day one to be game changers.
The major news is what the Buckeyes did in recruiting. On Monday, they officially signed five-star DL Markus Fakatou to join five-star defensive end DJ Jacobs and four-star edge rusher Wyatt Smith from St. Thomas Aquinas in Fort Lauderdale.
On the other side of the ball, the offensive line was invested in a major way. First, the Buckeyes returned four out of their five starters from last year's team. Austin Siereveld is going to slot in at either left tackle or right guard, depending on which current young player wins the spot in fall camp. Luke Montgomery will be your left guard, Carson Hinzman will be one of the best centers in college football next year, and Phillip Daniels will be the right tackle.
There is just one spot to fill, and the hope is that they find that player early in camp to start to build that chemistry.
Behind them, the Buckeyes committed to really attacking the offensive line in the 2027 recruiting class. At this point, they have signed six offensive linemen for the future of this class.
It will be critical for these guys, and the current depth guys on the roster, to make major strides this year because at this time next year, there will be at least four spots up for grabs that the Buckeyes are going to have to address when this veteran group all heads to the NFL.
Ohio State identified its deficiencies and addressed them immediately this offseason. They saw that in their two losses, they lost the line of scrimmage in a major way, and it cost them the ability to win the football game.
They committed to making that a thing of the past, and it seems that they executed what they set out to do.
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