Ohio State’s offensive line competitions are expected to be settled in the near future, a step that could allow the Buckeyes to build some cohesiveness in the trenches as their season opener at Indiana fast approaches.
“You don’t want to drag it all the way out,” offensive line coach Justin Frye said. “We’re getting closer. They’ll know. We’ll know. We’re getting there. You starting seeing it.”
Three starting spots on the line remain to be filled between center and left and right tackle.
In a practice open to reporters last week, the first-team offensive line included Josh Simmons at left tackle, Josh Fryar at right tackle and Carson Hinzman at center.
But Frye on Tuesday didn’t identify any of the linemen as frontrunners to start at a particular spot as he and coach Ryan Day, as well as analyst Joe Philbin and graduate assistant Mike Sollenne, continue to assess the position group.
“We are evaluating and grading every snap of every guy,” Frye said, “so that when kick off against Indiana, we’re playing our five, six, seven, eight best.
The other linemen pushing for the vacated starting spots include Tegra Tshabola at left tackle, Luke Montgomery at right tackle and Vic Cutler at center.
The Buckeyes, who visit the Hoosiers on Labor Day weekend, are due to hold another intrasquad scrimmage on Saturday, a juncture that could help the staff to further sort out the linemen.Get the OSU Headlines newsletter in your inbox.
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“We’re hoping the guys can settle up,” Frye said, “and we can finalize that.”
The offensive line includes two returning starters from last season between Donovan Jackson and Matt Jones, who are at left and right guard. Frye also started at right tackle in a rout of Indiana last season, replacing Dawand Jones who was out with an injury.
But there is not much continuity.
Two of the linemen in contention to start are transfers with Cutler arriving from Louisiana-Monroe in January and Simmons following from San Diego State this summer. Montgomery is also a freshman.
Opportunities in the remaining preseason practices for any configuration to gel could prove pivotal.
“There’s chemistry, there’s communication, there’s continuity with those guys that we have to get into,” Frye said, “but were getting closer.”
