Ohio State football rumors: Ryan Day on hot seat, uncertainty at quarterback and along offensive line
By John Buhler
This is a massive year for the Ohio State football program after coming up just short in Atlanta.
For the Ohio State football team, anything short of a return trip to the College Football Playoff will be viewed as a disappointment.
The Buckeyes should once again have one of the better rosters in the Power Five. They may have lost a star receiver, a star quarterback and a pair of excellent book-end tackles, but the Buckeyes should, in theory, be in good shape to handle this kind of attrition because of recruiting. Of course, Ryan Day has to beat Michigan this season. Otherwise, it could lead to a long December for him…
Here are a few rumors about the Buckeyes program heading into the latter part of May 2023.
Ohio State football rumors: What is going on with the Buckeyes program of late?
Ohio State football rumors: Offensive tackle is bigger issue than quarterback
While much has been made about Ohio State having to replace C.J. Stroud under center, Cameron Teague Robinson of The Athletic believes how the Buckeyes go about replacing their two book-end tackles in Paris Johnson Jr. and Dawand Jones is a far more pressing issue. His thought has everything to do with Day’s offensive system getting the most out of Devin Brown or Kyle McCord.
With Ohio State having replaced Greg Studrawa with Justin Frye as this unit’s position coach, that matters big time when it comes to replacing three starters along last year’s offensive line. While redshirt junior Josh Fryar should play well at left tackle, right tackle may be the even bigger issue. For now, the leader to replace Jones over at right tackle is San Diego State transfer Josh Simmons.
Even though the Buckeyes are elite as they come at receiver, these wideouts are going to need to get open. It would also help having a running game to take some of the pressure off a new starting quarterback. Frye might get the benefit of the doubt in his first year in his new role, but Studrawa seemed to have left the cupboard bare when it came to recruitment at this critical position group.
Ultimately, it is all about getting the right five players working well together to solve this big issue.