2023 WHERE's THE BEEF?

[pnuts34]

Let's be honest, all Frye needs to find is a starting lineup and 3 reserves. OSU is in a great spot if for example they find 5 solid starters: Michalski, Jackson, Jones, Vimahi, Fryar. That seems to be the early odds on starting lineup. If they have 3 solid reserves to fill if needed, like: James, Tshabola and Fitzpatrick then the OL is where OSU wants it to be. Maybe in blowouts we see an entire OL substitution, but there's hardly ever a time when we see OSU have to trot out 3rd string OL to play in a game against Ped St or ND. If a guy like Jackson gets knicked, there's Tshabola to slide in, or James can slide in for Jones at OC. Just like this year, when needed Fryar stepped up, but I never saw a time where Day went to the podium and said OSU had to play a guy like Trey Leroux out of necessity

 

[mendensa]

Let's be honest, all Frye needs to find is a starting lineup and 3 reserves. OSU is in a great spot if for example they find 5 solid starters: Michalski, Jackson, Jones, Vimahi, Fryar. That seems to be the early odds on starting lineup. If they have 3 solid reserves to fill if needed, like: James, Tshabola and Fitzpatrick then the OL is where OSU wants it to be. Maybe in blowouts we see an entire OL substitution, but there's hardly ever a time when we see OSU have to trot out 3rd string OL to play in a game against Ped St or ND. If a guy like Jackson gets knicked, there's Tshabola to slide in, or James can slide in for Jones at OC. Just like this year, when needed Fryar stepped up, but I never saw a time where Day went to the podium and said OSU had to play a guy like Trey Leroux out of necessity

Agreed. But to get to a quality five that can actually start and perform at an OSU-type level you need depth in numbers. All it takes is an injury or two and the inability to pick up a 1st down on short yardage or that extra second for McCord to get through his reads disappears and the struggle is real. Developing guys is great, but it’s also nice to get those nice shiny 5* toys (like they have at WR) that can come in and legit contribute from day one or day two…. not year 3 or 4. We haven’t had that consistently in a while. And numbers on the outside look extremely thin.

 

[RB07OSU]

Let's be honest, all Frye needs to find is a starting lineup and 3 reserves. OSU is in a great spot if for example they find 5 solid starters: Michalski, Jackson, Jones, Vimahi, Fryar. That seems to be the early odds on starting lineup. If they have 3 solid reserves to fill if needed, like: James, Tshabola and Fitzpatrick then the OL is where OSU wants it to be. Maybe in blowouts we see an entire OL substitution, but there's hardly ever a time when we see OSU have to trot out 3rd string OL to play in a game against Ped St or ND. If a guy like Jackson gets knicked, there's Tshabola to slide in, or James can slide in for Jones at OC. Just like this year, when needed Fryar stepped up, but I never saw a time where Day went to the podium and said OSU had to play a guy like Trey Leroux out of necessity

I'm of the same mindset, just holding my breath on LT. Zen I am high on, but he's gotta prove it on the field and PJ was maybe low key the best LT we've had in my lifetime other than Pace, and honestly that is a close one just looking at PJ almost never giving up a sack. Point is that we have to expect at least a little drop-off there. Fryar at RT I think will be roughly equivalent. Interior OL I'm not too concerned on, Vimahi is probably the house favorite at RG but I expect Christman to make a push there and at least provide depth. And can anyone really complain about the OL last season? The run game wasn't stellar, but the pass blocking was pretty much perfect.

But to the point of this thread, I do think the number in '24 for OL is going to be 5+. I think we got 3 really good ones in '23 in Montgomery, Padilla and Siereveld...I'm not convinced on Walker but if he pans out I think you're looking at 3 years down the road. The staff has said Padilla is going to be a center and I like that fit. Siereveld is almost certainly a guard. Montgomery to me is a stud and can play anywhere, including LT...but think he is best suited at RT. So I think the #1 priority in the upcoming class (up there with CB at least, but I think Mathews and CSB are both elite, so not overly concerned there) is LT and a top 5 type of guy. Good news is we may already have that in Moore, just not sure he is a LT. If not, one of the Armstrong twins seems to be a top candidate and I see them both ending up in or near top 100 overall. In summation, the

You also have to like that PJ is likely a top 15 pick and Dawand probably goes in the 2nd or late 1st, then Wypler will get drafted just not sure where. Nothing like results to help with recruiting, see Bama. We don't really know if Frye is a great coach or recruiter yet, the results were great last year but he inherited quite the OL room. My inclination is to say he looks the part so far, but let's see how his recruits play and develop before declaring how bad or good he is. Next year will probably tell the tale.

 

[mendensa]

I'm of the same mindset, just holding my breath on LT. Zen I am high on

My only point is that you shouldn’t have to hold your breath at a place like OSU if the OL recruiting had been better in 2 of the last 3 years/classes. I think the 3 in-state boys they brought in this year were huge for Frye, but he’s playing catch-up with the lack of numbers and star power from the previous 2 classes before that. I think they can be good, but to look at that potential starting 5 and assume they can be a dominant group this fall from the jump?…. I have a hard time buying into that right now. And not saying Frye isn’t doing a good job. Just looking at what is coming back and what we have on deck if they were to have any significant injuries along the line during the season. 2-deep doesn’t look promising to me. If what happened in the RB room last year was to happen in the OL this fall….. it would be a disaster. I think they could have overcome a few plug and plays on the line this past year without too much drop of…. This year? Not so sure.

 

[OregonBuckeye]

My only point is that you shouldn’t have to hold your breath at a place like OSU if the OL recruiting had been better in 2 of the last 3 years/classes. I think the 3 in-state boys they brought in this year were huge for Frye, but he’s playing catch-up with the lack of numbers and star power from the previous 2 classes before that. I think they can be good, but to look at that potential starting 5 and assume they can be a dominant group this fall from the jump?…. I have a hard time buying into that right now. And not saying Frye isn’t doing a good job. Just looking at what is coming back and what we have on deck if they were to have any significant injuries along the line during the season. 2-deep doesn’t look promising to me. If what happened in the RB room last year was to happen in the OL this fall….. it would be a disaster. I think they could have overcome a few plug and plays on the line this past year without too much drop of…. This year? Not so sure.

Where did anyone say they would be a dominant group from the jump? And why do they need to be? We have 3 cupcakes before our first real test and even that is OOC which doesn't matter all that much

 

[calibuck]

Exactamundo Oregon. Guess the operative word is "gel" for the OL. See the potential of the guys onboard now, and thoroughly agree that tOSU has missed on two years worth of 'studs' - Tackles or other. Has seemed to me that we get one 5* a year to fit in, and one 3-4* develops to fill the other side of the OL. Whoever they throw in the mix, there'll be what, 20 practices, and methinks that Day will tell Coach J to put the DL wood to the OL. See who crumbles and who thrives. From what I've read, Vimahi is very good run blocker, just doesn't quite have the nuances of pass pro yet. Yeah, believe that the OL will be good eventually, so hopefully Mariotti is building lower and upper body strength, and foot agility for our guys. Go Bucks!

 

[RB07OSU]

My only point is that you shouldn’t have to hold your breath at a place like OSU if the OL recruiting had been better in 2 of the last 3 years/classes. I think the 3 in-state boys they brought in this year were huge for Frye, but he’s playing catch-up with the lack of numbers and star power from the previous 2 classes before that. I think they can be good, but to look at that potential starting 5 and assume they can be a dominant group this fall from the jump?…. I have a hard time buying into that right now. And not saying Frye isn’t doing a good job. Just looking at what is coming back and what we have on deck if they were to have any significant injuries along the line during the season. 2-deep doesn’t look promising to me. If what happened in the RB room last year was to happen in the OL this fall….. it would be a disaster. I think they could have overcome a few plug and plays on the line this past year without too much drop of…. This year? Not so sure.

There has been some painful misses on the OL, but I think the amount of time given to some of the OL that needed to develop was aided big time by having the luxury of PJ and Dawand. To your point, I like our 2 deep inside. Depth is definitely a concern at tackle... none of the inbound freshmen are ready to play at tackle at a high level. None usually are outside some rare exceptions. Frye will have to earn his paycheck at the OT and you're right that his hand was dealt when he landed here.

But I guess holding our breath isn't the best way to say it. You basically have no idea what's behind the door on the 3 guys going pro because they were so good we never had to find out. Fryar was the only one we got a glimpse of and it was encouraging. Jones is a great interior guy, only question is if he can adjust to center. Donovan was very good last year. So we need 2 guys to step up into starting roles and probably 2-3 more for depth. I think it's possible, I'm just not going to predict it until we hit game day and see the results.

 

[calibuck]

Guess we'll get our first glimpse of the OL at the spring game. Most eyes will be on the QB battle, but the 'hidden' part of the game will be how well the OL protects/moves out. Yeah, get that with the spring game rules, it won't be a true test, but there'll be DL guys fighting for PT as well, so methinks there'll be some spirited battles. Given that Frye came to tOSU on 'third base', we'll see how the development progresses. Go Bucks!

 

[RB07OSU]

Guess we'll get our first glimpse of the OL at the spring game. Most eyes will be on the QB battle, but the 'hidden' part of the game will be how well the OL protects/moves out. Yeah, get that with the spring game rules, it won't be a true test, but there'll be DL guys fighting for PT as well, so methinks there'll be some spirited battles. Given that Frye came to tOSU on 'third base', we'll see how the development progresses. Go Bucks!

The biggest problem on making any assessment of the OL in the Spring Game is typically the OL are spread out over two teams rather than putting all the projected starters together in essentially an offense vs defense format. We might have changed that recently, but this might be a great year to change that and have your starting OL/guys in position battles all in on the same OL. Pretty tough to gage that position if guys are playing in isolation with 3rd stringers and walk ons. It is just one game so I am probably making too much of it, but it would be great to see our top 5-7 OL playing together most of the game.

 

[MaxBuck]

I'm actually pretty pleased and optimistic about our OL, now and for the near future. Those who aren't are welcome to stress out.

 

[mendensa]

Where did anyone say they would be a dominant group from the jump? And why do they need to be? We have 3 cupcakes before our first real test and even that is OOC which doesn't matter all that much

I thought they were pretty damn dominant on day 1 this year. You knew what they had from the start. We don’t discuss OL when they do their job only when they suck. Shouldn’t have many questions on the OL from year to year at a place like OSU. I feel like there are more questions this year than answers going into the Soring.

Can’t afford to drop one to the Domers out of the gate bc they can’t protect McCord or can’t pick up 3rd and 1. Too many people are dismissing the lack of quality exterior lineman brought into the program the past 2-3 years. Quick way to derail a season, just like the injuries at RB did this season.

 

[Bestbuck36]

I thought they were pretty damn dominant on day 1 this year. You knew what they had from the start. We don’t discuss OL when they do their job only when they suck. Shouldn’t have many questions on the OL from year to year at a place like OSU. I feel like there are more questions this year than answers going into the Soring.

Can’t afford to drop one to the Domers out of the gate bc they can’t protect McCord or can’t pick up 3rd and 1. Too many people are dismissing the lack of quality exterior lineman brought into the program the past 2-3 years. Quick way to derail a season, just like the injuries at RB did this season.

Is the third game this year so they get a couple tuneups before hand