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LGHL Burning Questions: What will Ohio State’s offensive line look like this season?
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Burning Questions: What will Ohio State’s offensive line look like this season?
Brett Ludwiczak via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Robin Alam/ISI Photos/Getty Images
Even though Ohio State will be replacing three starters on the offensive line from last year’s squad, they will have some experienced starters taking snaps in 2025.
From now until preseason camp starts in August, Land-Grant Holy Land will be writing articles around a different theme every week. This week is all about the most important questions yet unanswered for the season. You can catch up on all of the Theme Week content and our ”Burning Questions” articles here.
Ohio State will be replacing starters from last year’s national championship team all over the field this season. One group that will be replacing three players who started last season is the offensive line.
Left tackle Josh Simmons, center Seth McLaughlin, and right tackle Josh Fryar have all moved on to the pros, leaving some questions on who will fill those spots. Today we’ll try to predict who is in line to start on the offensive line this season.
Despite being down three starters from last year’s squad, Ohio State did get a taste of life without Simmons and McLaughlin last season. Simmons suffered a knee injury in the Oregon game, leading to some shuffling on the offensive line. Just as the Buckeyes were getting used to life without Simmons, McLaughlin suffered an achilles injury prior to the game against Indiana, leading to a former starter at center returning for the remainder of the season.
Not only did Ryan Day have to replace Simmons, McLaughlin, and Fryar this season, he also needed to find a new offensive line coach since Justin Frye moved on to the NFL to join the coaching staff of the Arizona Cardinals. Taking over for Frye is former Virginia Tech offensive line coach Tyler Bowen, who has already made some splashes on the recruiting trail.
There won’t be much of a grace period for Bowen and the new starters on the offensive line, since Ohio State is not only defending champs, they’ll open up the season in one of the marquee non-conference games in college football this year when they host Texas.
Ryan Day has already declared that Siereveld would start in 2025 for Ohio State, the only question is where. After starting six games at left guard last year, Austin Siereveld will likely move to right tackle to replace Josh Fryar, who started every game for the Buckeyes at the position last season.
Even though it would make sense for Siereveld to stay at left guard since he has familiarity at the position, Luke Montgomery feels like the favorite to be the starter there, especially after starting the final two games last season at left guard.
What will be interesting to see is if Minnesota transfer Phillip Daniels is able to push Siereveld for playing time. Since both are juniors, it is likely we see both starting somewhere on the offensive line over the next two seasons. Siereveld gets the nod just because he has familiarity starting for the Buckeyes and he is a bit of a jack of all trades since he can start at both guard and tackle.
Daniels did start four games for the Golden Gophers last season, he just might be a year away from seeing playing time as a starter in Columbus.
In his first season as starter, Tshabola was a rock for Ohio State on the interior of the offensive line, starting every game at right guard. With the experience Tshabola picked up as the Buckeyes went on to win the national championship, it’s hard to imagine anybody else starting at right guard this season.
Tshabola will be entering his senior season so the mountain of a man from West Chester will be looking to close out his Ohio State career on a high note.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/26045500/2187038904.jpg "Indiana v Ohio State")
Photo by Jason Mowry/Getty Images
Backing up Tshabola will likely be Gabe VanSickle, who didn’t appear in any games last season as a freshman after he didn’t enroll in classes until June. Even though he hasn’t yet seen any action on the field in a game, the coaching staff is high on VanSickle, and he figures to play a big role on the offensive line over the next few years.
Center is the easiest position to predict on the offensive line. Not only did Hinzman start 12 games in 2023, he stepped in for Seth McLaughlin when the Alabama transfer was injured prior to the Indiana game.
Nobody would have blamed Hinzman if he had decided to jump into the transfer portal when McLaughlin committed to Ohio State since it felt like there was a disconnect between Hinzman and the coaching staff. Instead, Hinzman stuck it out and was ready to step in wherever he was needed.
Prior to returning to center following the injury to McLaughlin, Hinzman started three games at left guard after Donovan Jackson moved to tackle after Simmons was injured.
Backing up Hinzman will likely be Josh Padilla, who has made some appearances in the scarlet and gray but hasn’t seen any significant action yet. What will serve Padilla well is to sit behind Hinzman this year and soak up all he can from the starter to try and prepare to be in the mix to take over for Hinzman at the position next year.
Much like how Donovan Jackson was the leader on the Ohio State offensive line last year, Luke Montgomery could be the same this year for the Buckeyes. Despite starting just two games last season, Montgomery started the two most important games, manning the left guard spot against Texas and Notre Dame.
Now a junior, Montgomery has turned those performances against the Longhorns and Fighting Irish into a spring that saw him earn rave reviews from the coaching staff. Montgomery has also been working at center, but that feels more like an emergency plan in case Ohio State has some terrible injury luck on the line like they did last season.
One name to know for the future of the Ohio State line is Jake Cook. The true freshman from Westerville North is able to play all five positions, which could come in handy since college football seasons are turning into wars of attrition following the continued expansion of the College Football Playoff. Cook is a four-star recruit and could be eased into action while sitting behind Montgomery this year, with bigger plans on the horizon for him in 2026 and beyond.
Filling the shoes of two first round picks at left tackle won’t be easy, but Ohio State is taking a big swing at replacing Josh Simmons and Donovan Jackson by bringing in Rice transfer Ethan Onianwa. Simmons started the year at left tackle before he suffered a knee injury at Oregon, forcing Donovan Jackson to shift from left guard to tackle for the rest of the season.
Onianwa has incredible size at 6-foot-6, 345 pounds, and was considered the best offensive lineman in the transfer portal. After starting 25 games at right tackles for Rice from 2021 to 2023, he shifted to left tackle last season and made nine starts for the Owls.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/26045505/2181360429.jpg "COLLEGE FOOTBALL: OCT 26 Rice at UConn")
Backing up Onianwa will likely be Ian Moore, who was part of Ohio State’s 2024 recruiting class. Moore was named Indiana’s Mr. Football Offensive Lineman in high school, it’s just not quite time for him to start just yet. With Onianwa starting for the Buckeyes this year before heading off to the NFL next year, Moore figures heavily into the offensive line plans in 2026 when he can compete for a starting role at tackle.
Continue reading...
Brett Ludwiczak via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Robin Alam/ISI Photos/Getty Images
Even though Ohio State will be replacing three starters on the offensive line from last year’s squad, they will have some experienced starters taking snaps in 2025.
From now until preseason camp starts in August, Land-Grant Holy Land will be writing articles around a different theme every week. This week is all about the most important questions yet unanswered for the season. You can catch up on all of the Theme Week content and our ”Burning Questions” articles here.
Ohio State will be replacing starters from last year’s national championship team all over the field this season. One group that will be replacing three players who started last season is the offensive line.
Left tackle Josh Simmons, center Seth McLaughlin, and right tackle Josh Fryar have all moved on to the pros, leaving some questions on who will fill those spots. Today we’ll try to predict who is in line to start on the offensive line this season.
Despite being down three starters from last year’s squad, Ohio State did get a taste of life without Simmons and McLaughlin last season. Simmons suffered a knee injury in the Oregon game, leading to some shuffling on the offensive line. Just as the Buckeyes were getting used to life without Simmons, McLaughlin suffered an achilles injury prior to the game against Indiana, leading to a former starter at center returning for the remainder of the season.
Not only did Ryan Day have to replace Simmons, McLaughlin, and Fryar this season, he also needed to find a new offensive line coach since Justin Frye moved on to the NFL to join the coaching staff of the Arizona Cardinals. Taking over for Frye is former Virginia Tech offensive line coach Tyler Bowen, who has already made some splashes on the recruiting trail.
There won’t be much of a grace period for Bowen and the new starters on the offensive line, since Ohio State is not only defending champs, they’ll open up the season in one of the marquee non-conference games in college football this year when they host Texas.
Right Tackle - Austin Siereveld
Ryan Day has already declared that Siereveld would start in 2025 for Ohio State, the only question is where. After starting six games at left guard last year, Austin Siereveld will likely move to right tackle to replace Josh Fryar, who started every game for the Buckeyes at the position last season.
Even though it would make sense for Siereveld to stay at left guard since he has familiarity at the position, Luke Montgomery feels like the favorite to be the starter there, especially after starting the final two games last season at left guard.
What will be interesting to see is if Minnesota transfer Phillip Daniels is able to push Siereveld for playing time. Since both are juniors, it is likely we see both starting somewhere on the offensive line over the next two seasons. Siereveld gets the nod just because he has familiarity starting for the Buckeyes and he is a bit of a jack of all trades since he can start at both guard and tackle.
Daniels did start four games for the Golden Gophers last season, he just might be a year away from seeing playing time as a starter in Columbus.
Right Guard - Tegra Tshabola
In his first season as starter, Tshabola was a rock for Ohio State on the interior of the offensive line, starting every game at right guard. With the experience Tshabola picked up as the Buckeyes went on to win the national championship, it’s hard to imagine anybody else starting at right guard this season.
Tshabola will be entering his senior season so the mountain of a man from West Chester will be looking to close out his Ohio State career on a high note.
Backing up Tshabola will likely be Gabe VanSickle, who didn’t appear in any games last season as a freshman after he didn’t enroll in classes until June. Even though he hasn’t yet seen any action on the field in a game, the coaching staff is high on VanSickle, and he figures to play a big role on the offensive line over the next few years.
Center - Carson Hinzman
Center is the easiest position to predict on the offensive line. Not only did Hinzman start 12 games in 2023, he stepped in for Seth McLaughlin when the Alabama transfer was injured prior to the Indiana game.
Nobody would have blamed Hinzman if he had decided to jump into the transfer portal when McLaughlin committed to Ohio State since it felt like there was a disconnect between Hinzman and the coaching staff. Instead, Hinzman stuck it out and was ready to step in wherever he was needed.
Prior to returning to center following the injury to McLaughlin, Hinzman started three games at left guard after Donovan Jackson moved to tackle after Simmons was injured.
Backing up Hinzman will likely be Josh Padilla, who has made some appearances in the scarlet and gray but hasn’t seen any significant action yet. What will serve Padilla well is to sit behind Hinzman this year and soak up all he can from the starter to try and prepare to be in the mix to take over for Hinzman at the position next year.
Left Guard - Luke Montgomery
Much like how Donovan Jackson was the leader on the Ohio State offensive line last year, Luke Montgomery could be the same this year for the Buckeyes. Despite starting just two games last season, Montgomery started the two most important games, manning the left guard spot against Texas and Notre Dame.
Now a junior, Montgomery has turned those performances against the Longhorns and Fighting Irish into a spring that saw him earn rave reviews from the coaching staff. Montgomery has also been working at center, but that feels more like an emergency plan in case Ohio State has some terrible injury luck on the line like they did last season.
One name to know for the future of the Ohio State line is Jake Cook. The true freshman from Westerville North is able to play all five positions, which could come in handy since college football seasons are turning into wars of attrition following the continued expansion of the College Football Playoff. Cook is a four-star recruit and could be eased into action while sitting behind Montgomery this year, with bigger plans on the horizon for him in 2026 and beyond.
Left Tackle - Ethan Onianwa
Filling the shoes of two first round picks at left tackle won’t be easy, but Ohio State is taking a big swing at replacing Josh Simmons and Donovan Jackson by bringing in Rice transfer Ethan Onianwa. Simmons started the year at left tackle before he suffered a knee injury at Oregon, forcing Donovan Jackson to shift from left guard to tackle for the rest of the season.
Onianwa has incredible size at 6-foot-6, 345 pounds, and was considered the best offensive lineman in the transfer portal. After starting 25 games at right tackles for Rice from 2021 to 2023, he shifted to left tackle last season and made nine starts for the Owls.
Backing up Onianwa will likely be Ian Moore, who was part of Ohio State’s 2024 recruiting class. Moore was named Indiana’s Mr. Football Offensive Lineman in high school, it’s just not quite time for him to start just yet. With Onianwa starting for the Buckeyes this year before heading off to the NFL next year, Moore figures heavily into the offensive line plans in 2026 when he can compete for a starting role at tackle.
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LGHL You’re Nuts: Which classic Ohio State team would be the most fun to play with in a CBB video game?
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You’re Nuts: Which classic Ohio State team would be the most fun to play with in a CBB video game?
Connor Lemons via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Mike Carter-Imagn Images
There are a bunch of old Buckeyes teams to choose from.
Big news: EA Sports confirmed reporting this week that a college basketball game is in the works: the first since 2010. Land-Grant Holy Land alum Matt Brown, the author of the Extra Points newsletter, broke the news first, and also reported that the game would be released in 2028.
To this point, EA Sports has not confirmed when the highly anticipated game will be released. The release date being three years down the road certainly bursted people’s bubble a little bit, but it is still exciting to know that college basketball will be back on game systems soon.
Last week, Connor and Justin debated which high school recruit Ohio State should prioritize next. With Dorian Jones de-committing from the 2025 class in June, Ohio State now has zero high school commits in the last nine months — the most recent was A’mare Bynum in October 2024, who is now on campus with the team as a freshman.
In a landslide vote, 83% of readers agreed with Justin last week, who picked Anthony Thompson, the No. 11 player in the nation, per 247Sports. 9% of readers agreed with Connor, who wants to see Ohio State pursue a possible legacy Buckeye in Jason Singleton. The remaining 8% believe Jake Diebler and his and his staff should be pursuing someone else.
Connor- 95
We’re both giddy for EA Sports to come out with a college basketball video game, even if it’s a few years down the road. Aside from taking a mid-major nobody to the Final Four, playing with Ohio State is obviously the best thing you can do in that game.
With that established, which Ohio State team would be the most fun to play as? Since the last college basketball video game came out in 2009, we are only talking about the teams since that game came out. Ohio State teams from 2010 to 2025 are eligible for this, since none of them have been in a college basketball game.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/26046768/usa_today_6107996.jpg "NCAA Basketball: Division I Championship-Ohio State vs Gonzaga")
Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
Sure, I’ll play with the best Ohio State team of the past 15 years. A share of the Big Ten title, a 31-8 record, an All-American, and two other guys who scored at least 14 points per game. Sounds like a good time to me.
Jared Sullinger was an All-American that year, averaging 17.5 points and 9.2 rebounds per game. Deshaun Thomas, who would take over as the go-to guy one year later, averaged 15.9 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. In his senior season, William Buford averaged 14.5 points and five rebounds per game.
As a team, Ohio State was the second highest-scoring team in the Big Ten at 75 points per game. The Buckeyes had the second highest shooting percentage in the Big Ten at 47.9%. They were also the second-best rebounding team in the conference, averaging 36.8 boards per game, with seven different players averaging at least two rebounds per game.
Even thought we didn’t pay much attention to KenPom back then, the Buckeyes were a very well-balanced team under the analytical microscope. Thanks in large part to guards Aaron Craft and Lenzelle Smith Jr., Ohio State was No. 4 in defensive efficiency that season. They were also No. 6 in offensive efficiency, thanks to the scoring trio I noted above.
More than anything, it would be fun to play with the Sullinger-Thomas combination. As far as sidekicks go, there haven’t been many better than Thomas was to Sullinger over the past 20 years in the Big Ten. If opponents try to double-team Sullinger, Thomas is great as a No. 2, and would’ve been the go-to guy on a lot of teams that season.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/26046805/usa_today_23580392.jpg "Syndication: The Columbus Dispatch")
Barbara J. Perenic / USA TODAY NETWORK
When it comes to playing as a certain team in a video game, playing as the 2014-15 Ohio State men’s basketball team would be a ton of fun.
Let’s start with the star of the team D’Angelo Russell, who led the loaded 2014 recruiting class to Columbus (Russell, Jae’Sean Tate, Keita Bates-Diop, and Kam Williams). Russell was the No. 2 pick in the upcoming NBA Draft after averaging 19.3 points, 5.7 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game. He was fun to watch every single game, and was a human highlight reel and would be exciting to play with in a video game.
Sam Thompson was the second leading scorer for the season at 10.2 points and 3.9 rebounds per game, but everyone that has watched Ohio State basketball when Thompson was there knows why he would be fun to play with in a video game: Posters every game.
Jae’Sean Tate was the third best player on the team and second best freshman on the team. Marc Loving, Shannon Scott, Amit Williams, Kam Williams, and Keita Bates-Diop rounded out the contributors, and all have something unique about them that would be fun to use and play around with the different rotations as a unit that had solid depth.
This was also one of the best scoring teams the Buckeyes had in recent years. This team averaged 75.3 points per game, which was good for 26th out of 351 teams. That is another fun thing to play with on a video game.
This is not the best Ohio State team of the past two decades, but it was one of the more exciting ones with some of the best players.
Continue reading...
Connor Lemons via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Mike Carter-Imagn Images
There are a bunch of old Buckeyes teams to choose from.
Big news: EA Sports confirmed reporting this week that a college basketball game is in the works: the first since 2010. Land-Grant Holy Land alum Matt Brown, the author of the Extra Points newsletter, broke the news first, and also reported that the game would be released in 2028.
To this point, EA Sports has not confirmed when the highly anticipated game will be released. The release date being three years down the road certainly bursted people’s bubble a little bit, but it is still exciting to know that college basketball will be back on game systems soon.
Last week, Connor and Justin debated which high school recruit Ohio State should prioritize next. With Dorian Jones de-committing from the 2025 class in June, Ohio State now has zero high school commits in the last nine months — the most recent was A’mare Bynum in October 2024, who is now on campus with the team as a freshman.
In a landslide vote, 83% of readers agreed with Justin last week, who picked Anthony Thompson, the No. 11 player in the nation, per 247Sports. 9% of readers agreed with Connor, who wants to see Ohio State pursue a possible legacy Buckeye in Jason Singleton. The remaining 8% believe Jake Diebler and his and his staff should be pursuing someone else.
After 211 weeks:
Connor- 95
Justin- 90
Other- 20
(There have been six ties)
We’re both giddy for EA Sports to come out with a college basketball video game, even if it’s a few years down the road. Aside from taking a mid-major nobody to the Final Four, playing with Ohio State is obviously the best thing you can do in that game.
With that established, which Ohio State team would be the most fun to play as? Since the last college basketball video game came out in 2009, we are only talking about the teams since that game came out. Ohio State teams from 2010 to 2025 are eligible for this, since none of them have been in a college basketball game.
This week’s question: Which old Ohio State team would be the most fun to play as in a college basketball video game?
Connor: The 2011-12 team
Sure, I’ll play with the best Ohio State team of the past 15 years. A share of the Big Ten title, a 31-8 record, an All-American, and two other guys who scored at least 14 points per game. Sounds like a good time to me.
Jared Sullinger was an All-American that year, averaging 17.5 points and 9.2 rebounds per game. Deshaun Thomas, who would take over as the go-to guy one year later, averaged 15.9 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. In his senior season, William Buford averaged 14.5 points and five rebounds per game.
As a team, Ohio State was the second highest-scoring team in the Big Ten at 75 points per game. The Buckeyes had the second highest shooting percentage in the Big Ten at 47.9%. They were also the second-best rebounding team in the conference, averaging 36.8 boards per game, with seven different players averaging at least two rebounds per game.
Even thought we didn’t pay much attention to KenPom back then, the Buckeyes were a very well-balanced team under the analytical microscope. Thanks in large part to guards Aaron Craft and Lenzelle Smith Jr., Ohio State was No. 4 in defensive efficiency that season. They were also No. 6 in offensive efficiency, thanks to the scoring trio I noted above.
More than anything, it would be fun to play with the Sullinger-Thomas combination. As far as sidekicks go, there haven’t been many better than Thomas was to Sullinger over the past 20 years in the Big Ten. If opponents try to double-team Sullinger, Thomas is great as a No. 2, and would’ve been the go-to guy on a lot of teams that season.
Justin: The 2014-15 team
When it comes to playing as a certain team in a video game, playing as the 2014-15 Ohio State men’s basketball team would be a ton of fun.
Let’s start with the star of the team D’Angelo Russell, who led the loaded 2014 recruiting class to Columbus (Russell, Jae’Sean Tate, Keita Bates-Diop, and Kam Williams). Russell was the No. 2 pick in the upcoming NBA Draft after averaging 19.3 points, 5.7 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game. He was fun to watch every single game, and was a human highlight reel and would be exciting to play with in a video game.
Sam Thompson was the second leading scorer for the season at 10.2 points and 3.9 rebounds per game, but everyone that has watched Ohio State basketball when Thompson was there knows why he would be fun to play with in a video game: Posters every game.
Jae’Sean Tate was the third best player on the team and second best freshman on the team. Marc Loving, Shannon Scott, Amit Williams, Kam Williams, and Keita Bates-Diop rounded out the contributors, and all have something unique about them that would be fun to use and play around with the different rotations as a unit that had solid depth.
This was also one of the best scoring teams the Buckeyes had in recent years. This team averaged 75.3 points per game, which was good for 26th out of 351 teams. That is another fun thing to play with on a video game.
This is not the best Ohio State team of the past two decades, but it was one of the more exciting ones with some of the best players.
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LGHL Burning Questions: What’s up with Ohio State’s defensive line recruiting?
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Burning Questions: What’s up with Ohio State’s defensive line recruiting?
Matt Tamanini via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK
Is the Buckeyes’ NIL philosophy getting in the way of landing big-time recruits, or has Larry Johnson lost a step?
From now until preseason camp starts in August, Land-Grant Holy Land will be writing articles around a different theme every week. This week is all about the most important questions yet unanswered for the season. You can catch up on all of the Theme Week content and our ”Burning Questions” articles here.
Whether you are judging by recruiting rankings, on-field success, the eye-test, or NFL Draft results, there is no denying that Ohio State is routinely one of the most talented teams in all of college football. Currently, the Buckeyes sit at No. 5 in the 247Sports recruiting rankings. As of publication, the Buckeyes have 21 recruits committed to the class, including two five-star prospects and 14 four-stars.
But, despite that success, the 2026 class continues a trend that we have witnessed in recent cycles; the Buckeyes seem to be struggling in recruiting top-tier defensive line talent.
The highest-ranked DL prospect in the class is Damari Simeon, who is an interesting case. The New Jersey nstive is currently the No. 201 player in the class and the No. 26 defensive lineman according to the 247Sports Composite Ranking. However, 247Sports itself does not have an individual rank for him, and has him as the No. 44 DL.
With all due respect to Rivals, ESPN, and all of the other recruiting services, I always look a little side-eyed when a player is ranked far better elsewhere than they are by 247, who I think we all agree is the benchmark of recruiting.
The next highest rated recruit is Khary Wilder, the No. 241 player in the country and No. 23 edge rusher. Although many analysts believe that the 6-foot-4, 260-pound prospect is more likely to end up on the inside, rather than on the end, where he plays in high school.
From there, the other defensive linemen in the class are Cameron Brickle, and Jamir Perez. Brickle is the No. 538 player in the country and No. 62 defensive lineman, while Perez is No. 679 and No. 74, respectively, and flipped his commitment from Florida yesterday.
That means that the average defensive line ranking so far in the 2026 class is 414.75. Now, I don’t mind a proven player developer like Larry Johnson taking some projects; we have seen him work magic with diamonds in the rough countless times during his decade-plus tenure at Ohio State. But, missing on top-end talent again and again has become a pattern for LJ in recent years, and as NIL and paying players potentially brings some level of parity to the sport, OSU simply cannot continually see the vast majority of high-value DL targets that it invests ungodly amounts of time and money on go somewhere else.
Now, it’s not like Johnson and the Buckeyes don’t still hit on big-time defensive linemen. Obviously in 2021, they landed J.T. Tuimoloau and Jack Sawyer the nation’s No. 4 and 5 players. However, since then, Omari Abor (No. 63 in 2022), Kenyatta Jackson (No. 60 in 2022), Jason Moore (No. 66 in 2023), Eddrick Houston (No. 26 in 2024), and Zion Grady (No. 86 in 2025) are the only top-100 defensive linemen to sign with OSU; Abor is now playing for SMU, Moore has recorded one tackle as a Buckeye, and Grady is yet to officially start his collegiate career.
In fairness, Houston and Jackson played clean-up roles for last year’s championship team — the former a true freshman and the latter as a redshirt sophomore — and likely both will start this fall. However, combined, they have accumulated only 20 tackles in their careers (five for Houston and 15 for Jackson).
So that means that in the four recruiting cycles since LJ landed Jack and J.T., he has only signed five top-100 players, none of whom have yet to make a significant impact for the Buckeyes. If we expand that to top-200 prospects (according to the 247Sports Composite rankings), Ohio State has also signed Caden Curry (No. 123 in 2022), Hero Kanu (No. 129 in 2022, now playing for Texas), Joshua Mickens (No. 119 in 2023), Dominic Kirks (No. 163 in 2024), and Jarquez Carter (No. 198 in 2025).
So, that’s 10 top-200 defensive linemen in the past four years; two have transferred, and the eight who remain have compiled 49 tackles between them. Granted, because Sawyer, Tuimoloua, Ty Hamilton, and Tyleik Williams played for so long, there weren’t a ton of snaps or tackles to go around, so it is a bit unfair to judge them but their tackle totals alone. But the fact remains that Johnson’s ability to close has been less than stellar in the past four years.
As has been the case in recent cycles, in 2026, we have routinely seen top-tier defensive linemen have the Buckeyes in their group of finalists, only to opt to commit somewhere else: Luke Wafle (No. 55) went with USC over Ohio State, Pierre Dean (No. 66) chose Georgia over Ohio State, Earnest Rankings (No. 117) picked Florida State over Ohio State, Landon Barnes (No. 139) picked Ole Miss over Ohio State, and K.J. Ford (No. 116) is expected to pick Florida over Ohio State on Friday, July 11.
So my question is, why? A lot of Buckeye onlookers and insiders are discussing the program and athletic department’s philosophy of focusing NIL money on proven players already on the roster rather than recruits who have yet to play a down of collegiate football. Ryan Day has discussed that plan in the past, and athletic director Ross Bjork has preached that type of hesitancy following the House settlement, potentially scarred by his time as AD at Ole Miss and Texas A&M.
While not a defensive lineman, on Friday, five-star offensive tackle Felix Ojo (No. 7 nationally) committed to Texas Tech 24, just hours after confirming that his top four were Florida, Texas, Michigan, and Ohio State. So, what changed?
Who knows? But, his agent did say after his client’s commitment that the Red Raiders offered Ojo a fully guaranteed, three-year, $5.1 million deal. So maybe that had something to do with it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.
I don’t know how those kinds of contracts work with college students, who, presumably, can transfer whenever they want, but that’s clearly not something Ohio State fans (and bloggers) have to worry about, because the Buckeyes seem to have no interest in going anywhere near those types of deals.
Despite the NIL stinginess, Johnson has clearly been incredibly close to landing plenty of players who would have changed the tenor of this conversation. So, is OSU’s refusal to pay a ton of money for young, unproven talent to blame? Some beat reporters think so, and they might be right. But then, why does it not seem to be impacting other positions nearly as much?
Brian Hartline’s wide receiver room currently includes the Nos. 15 and 108 players in the country. The defensive back haul includes Nos. 26, 106, 173, and 176. Tyler Bowen’s first OSU offensive line class currently includes the Nos. 109 and 127 players. And even though James Laurinaitis only has two linebackers currently in his class, one of them is the No. 71 player in the country, and Carlos Locklyn has the No. 167 player in his running back class.
In total, there are currently 10 OSU commits ranked ahead of Wilder, the top defensive line recruit in the Buckeyes’ 2026 class.
Obviously, OSU’s WR pedigree gives Hartline an advantage that practically no position coach in the country has, and I would venture to guess that when it comes to NIL, other than quarterback and wide receiver, defensive linemen (especially edge rushers) command the most money. So perhaps OSU’s frugality hurts LJ a little more than anyone else, buuuuuuuut, he is 72 years old, and I have to imagine that has an impact as well.
We have long heard about schools negatively recruiting against Johnson, telling players that the beloved, grandfatherly position coach was inevitably going to retire during their college career. And while that seems to have quieted down over the past few years, I have to imagine that being 30 to 40 years older than many of the guys you’re recruiting against does put a seed of insecurity into the back of prospects’ minds. Understandably, no one wants to sign with a school only to have the coach who recruited them retire a quarter, or even half, way through their collegiate career.
I don’t doubt that Larry Johnson can still cultivate meaningful relationships with recruits and their families as well as anyone; if he couldn’t, we wouldn’t routinely see OSU as a finalist for the top players in the country. But clearly something is not connecting with the defensive line recruits like it is with players at other positions.
Ohio State’s apprehension to shell out big bucks for high school players is admirable. Saving that money to invest in keeping the best, most-proven players on campus clearly worked for the Buckeyes last season, but a lot of those guys came to Columbus before the advent of NIL. So you have to wonder how many would have even been on the team in the first place had Ryan Day had to pony up cash to get their commitment initially.
Again, I think the philosophy is laudable, and in a perfect world, that would probably be the way I’d want things to happen. But if you don’t get high-quality talent on campus to begin with, you’re not going to have anyone worth paying to keep in school when the time comes. I’m fine with not getting into an arms race that gives a rising high school senior $5.1 million fully guaranteed, but I do wonder how different things would be if the Buckeyes loosened the purse strings a bit more for the most explosive position on the defensive side of the ball.
The Buckeyes seem to be playing by NIL and revenue-sharing rules that not only is no one else following, but that don’t even really exist to begin with. Of course, we don’t want to see our beloved, saintly program devolve into the depths of moral and ethical degradation as has happened in that cesspool of depravity and licentiousness known as Ann Arbor, but this is Ohio State.
The program has literally every weapon imaginable at its disposal, and while we know that they aren’t going to land every five-star prospect that they get to visit, it would be unfathomable and unforgivable if the administration inside the football program, or the athletic department at large, was handcuffing the coaches by not letting them play (and pay) on equal footing with the other programs around the country.
While I think that Larry Johnson can still go out there and give you a solid six innings, it seems pretty clear to me that he has lost a bit on his fastball, at least from a recruiting perspective. It is unfair to arguably the greatest defensive line coach in the history of college football if Day and/or Bjork aren’t giving him every tool possible to be successful.
LJ has clearly needed a little help in sealing some of his more high-profile deals in recent years, so I hope that the powers that be let him open up the checkbook a little bit more in the most impactful situations.
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Is the Buckeyes’ NIL philosophy getting in the way of landing big-time recruits, or has Larry Johnson lost a step?
From now until preseason camp starts in August, Land-Grant Holy Land will be writing articles around a different theme every week. This week is all about the most important questions yet unanswered for the season. You can catch up on all of the Theme Week content and our ”Burning Questions” articles here.
Whether you are judging by recruiting rankings, on-field success, the eye-test, or NFL Draft results, there is no denying that Ohio State is routinely one of the most talented teams in all of college football. Currently, the Buckeyes sit at No. 5 in the 247Sports recruiting rankings. As of publication, the Buckeyes have 21 recruits committed to the class, including two five-star prospects and 14 four-stars.
But, despite that success, the 2026 class continues a trend that we have witnessed in recent cycles; the Buckeyes seem to be struggling in recruiting top-tier defensive line talent.
The highest-ranked DL prospect in the class is Damari Simeon, who is an interesting case. The New Jersey nstive is currently the No. 201 player in the class and the No. 26 defensive lineman according to the 247Sports Composite Ranking. However, 247Sports itself does not have an individual rank for him, and has him as the No. 44 DL.
With all due respect to Rivals, ESPN, and all of the other recruiting services, I always look a little side-eyed when a player is ranked far better elsewhere than they are by 247, who I think we all agree is the benchmark of recruiting.
The next highest rated recruit is Khary Wilder, the No. 241 player in the country and No. 23 edge rusher. Although many analysts believe that the 6-foot-4, 260-pound prospect is more likely to end up on the inside, rather than on the end, where he plays in high school.
From there, the other defensive linemen in the class are Cameron Brickle, and Jamir Perez. Brickle is the No. 538 player in the country and No. 62 defensive lineman, while Perez is No. 679 and No. 74, respectively, and flipped his commitment from Florida yesterday.
That means that the average defensive line ranking so far in the 2026 class is 414.75. Now, I don’t mind a proven player developer like Larry Johnson taking some projects; we have seen him work magic with diamonds in the rough countless times during his decade-plus tenure at Ohio State. But, missing on top-end talent again and again has become a pattern for LJ in recent years, and as NIL and paying players potentially brings some level of parity to the sport, OSU simply cannot continually see the vast majority of high-value DL targets that it invests ungodly amounts of time and money on go somewhere else.
Now, it’s not like Johnson and the Buckeyes don’t still hit on big-time defensive linemen. Obviously in 2021, they landed J.T. Tuimoloau and Jack Sawyer the nation’s No. 4 and 5 players. However, since then, Omari Abor (No. 63 in 2022), Kenyatta Jackson (No. 60 in 2022), Jason Moore (No. 66 in 2023), Eddrick Houston (No. 26 in 2024), and Zion Grady (No. 86 in 2025) are the only top-100 defensive linemen to sign with OSU; Abor is now playing for SMU, Moore has recorded one tackle as a Buckeye, and Grady is yet to officially start his collegiate career.
In fairness, Houston and Jackson played clean-up roles for last year’s championship team — the former a true freshman and the latter as a redshirt sophomore — and likely both will start this fall. However, combined, they have accumulated only 20 tackles in their careers (five for Houston and 15 for Jackson).
So that means that in the four recruiting cycles since LJ landed Jack and J.T., he has only signed five top-100 players, none of whom have yet to make a significant impact for the Buckeyes. If we expand that to top-200 prospects (according to the 247Sports Composite rankings), Ohio State has also signed Caden Curry (No. 123 in 2022), Hero Kanu (No. 129 in 2022, now playing for Texas), Joshua Mickens (No. 119 in 2023), Dominic Kirks (No. 163 in 2024), and Jarquez Carter (No. 198 in 2025).
So, that’s 10 top-200 defensive linemen in the past four years; two have transferred, and the eight who remain have compiled 49 tackles between them. Granted, because Sawyer, Tuimoloua, Ty Hamilton, and Tyleik Williams played for so long, there weren’t a ton of snaps or tackles to go around, so it is a bit unfair to judge them but their tackle totals alone. But the fact remains that Johnson’s ability to close has been less than stellar in the past four years.
As has been the case in recent cycles, in 2026, we have routinely seen top-tier defensive linemen have the Buckeyes in their group of finalists, only to opt to commit somewhere else: Luke Wafle (No. 55) went with USC over Ohio State, Pierre Dean (No. 66) chose Georgia over Ohio State, Earnest Rankings (No. 117) picked Florida State over Ohio State, Landon Barnes (No. 139) picked Ole Miss over Ohio State, and K.J. Ford (No. 116) is expected to pick Florida over Ohio State on Friday, July 11.
So my question is, why? A lot of Buckeye onlookers and insiders are discussing the program and athletic department’s philosophy of focusing NIL money on proven players already on the roster rather than recruits who have yet to play a down of collegiate football. Ryan Day has discussed that plan in the past, and athletic director Ross Bjork has preached that type of hesitancy following the House settlement, potentially scarred by his time as AD at Ole Miss and Texas A&M.
While not a defensive lineman, on Friday, five-star offensive tackle Felix Ojo (No. 7 nationally) committed to Texas Tech 24, just hours after confirming that his top four were Florida, Texas, Michigan, and Ohio State. So, what changed?
Who knows? But, his agent did say after his client’s commitment that the Red Raiders offered Ojo a fully guaranteed, three-year, $5.1 million deal. So maybe that had something to do with it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.
I don’t know how those kinds of contracts work with college students, who, presumably, can transfer whenever they want, but that’s clearly not something Ohio State fans (and bloggers) have to worry about, because the Buckeyes seem to have no interest in going anywhere near those types of deals.
Despite the NIL stinginess, Johnson has clearly been incredibly close to landing plenty of players who would have changed the tenor of this conversation. So, is OSU’s refusal to pay a ton of money for young, unproven talent to blame? Some beat reporters think so, and they might be right. But then, why does it not seem to be impacting other positions nearly as much?
Brian Hartline’s wide receiver room currently includes the Nos. 15 and 108 players in the country. The defensive back haul includes Nos. 26, 106, 173, and 176. Tyler Bowen’s first OSU offensive line class currently includes the Nos. 109 and 127 players. And even though James Laurinaitis only has two linebackers currently in his class, one of them is the No. 71 player in the country, and Carlos Locklyn has the No. 167 player in his running back class.
In total, there are currently 10 OSU commits ranked ahead of Wilder, the top defensive line recruit in the Buckeyes’ 2026 class.
Obviously, OSU’s WR pedigree gives Hartline an advantage that practically no position coach in the country has, and I would venture to guess that when it comes to NIL, other than quarterback and wide receiver, defensive linemen (especially edge rushers) command the most money. So perhaps OSU’s frugality hurts LJ a little more than anyone else, buuuuuuuut, he is 72 years old, and I have to imagine that has an impact as well.
We have long heard about schools negatively recruiting against Johnson, telling players that the beloved, grandfatherly position coach was inevitably going to retire during their college career. And while that seems to have quieted down over the past few years, I have to imagine that being 30 to 40 years older than many of the guys you’re recruiting against does put a seed of insecurity into the back of prospects’ minds. Understandably, no one wants to sign with a school only to have the coach who recruited them retire a quarter, or even half, way through their collegiate career.
I don’t doubt that Larry Johnson can still cultivate meaningful relationships with recruits and their families as well as anyone; if he couldn’t, we wouldn’t routinely see OSU as a finalist for the top players in the country. But clearly something is not connecting with the defensive line recruits like it is with players at other positions.
Ohio State’s apprehension to shell out big bucks for high school players is admirable. Saving that money to invest in keeping the best, most-proven players on campus clearly worked for the Buckeyes last season, but a lot of those guys came to Columbus before the advent of NIL. So you have to wonder how many would have even been on the team in the first place had Ryan Day had to pony up cash to get their commitment initially.
Again, I think the philosophy is laudable, and in a perfect world, that would probably be the way I’d want things to happen. But if you don’t get high-quality talent on campus to begin with, you’re not going to have anyone worth paying to keep in school when the time comes. I’m fine with not getting into an arms race that gives a rising high school senior $5.1 million fully guaranteed, but I do wonder how different things would be if the Buckeyes loosened the purse strings a bit more for the most explosive position on the defensive side of the ball.
The Buckeyes seem to be playing by NIL and revenue-sharing rules that not only is no one else following, but that don’t even really exist to begin with. Of course, we don’t want to see our beloved, saintly program devolve into the depths of moral and ethical degradation as has happened in that cesspool of depravity and licentiousness known as Ann Arbor, but this is Ohio State.
The program has literally every weapon imaginable at its disposal, and while we know that they aren’t going to land every five-star prospect that they get to visit, it would be unfathomable and unforgivable if the administration inside the football program, or the athletic department at large, was handcuffing the coaches by not letting them play (and pay) on equal footing with the other programs around the country.
While I think that Larry Johnson can still go out there and give you a solid six innings, it seems pretty clear to me that he has lost a bit on his fastball, at least from a recruiting perspective. It is unfair to arguably the greatest defensive line coach in the history of college football if Day and/or Bjork aren’t giving him every tool possible to be successful.
LJ has clearly needed a little help in sealing some of his more high-profile deals in recent years, so I hope that the powers that be let him open up the checkbook a little bit more in the most impactful situations.
Continue reading...
