Welcome to your Daily Buckeye Blitz for a Saturday. I hope you’re having a good weekend and started it off right with some Buckeye football talk. Today is January 14th, 2023 and I am your host, Joe from the Buckeye Cast. Thank you for joining me as always. Please subscribe to the channel or subscribe to the podcast, however you’re taking in the show. A like or a positive review would be amazing, thank you.
Today, we’re going to expand on Friday’s show, which was about areas of improvement for the Buckeyes going forward into 2023. Because this is the offseason and the preseason is starting next week, get ready for it. We’re going to talk about building depth that was one of our areas of need across the team. Most of all though, I think the O-line is my first area of focus, so that’s what we’re going to talk about today, O-line depth, how do we build that? That’s been lacking big time for multiple years now.
I think Justin Frye has made improvements there, but still, I’m going to throw some snap counts at you, we’re going to talk about recruiting classes, and who needs to step up, and honestly, what are we working with here? Because we have to replace three positions along the offensive line this coming season. So, let’s talk about it. Depth, so look, we know who started last year, Paris, Donovan Jackson, a guard, Luke Wypler, center, Matt Jones at the other guard. Jackson and Jones are coming back. Then Josh Fryar, I’m sorry, I forgot about Dawand Jones there, but Josh Fryar was the next in line. He had 227 snaps compared to 757 by Paris. Donovan Jackson and Luke Wypler, they all had 757 snaps, so that’s basically all the important snaps right. So Josh Fryar at 227, that was the most experience that we got out of an offensive lineman last year. Enokk got in there for with 116, Zen Michalski 79, Jakob James 79, Tegra Tshabola, keep him in mind, he had 52, Toby Wilson with 18, Ben Christman with nine, George Fitzpatrick with nine.
So, okay, so that gives you an idea of what we’re dealing with here, coming back as far as experience, not a lot. Josh Fryar, you know, he had about a third of everybody else’s snaps. So, in the 2020 class, we had Josh Fryar, and he was a low four-star, I would call him. No, actually, he was a three out of Indiana. Then we had Trey Leroux, he was a three-star. This is all class of 2022, 2020 also, Jakob James, a three-star, Grant Toutant, three-star, Christ, so that’s four three-stars in a row in that 2020 class. That is why we don’t have freaking depth, all right?
So, we can spit on Coach Stud’s grave if we want, but that’s not going to help us in 2023. So, that 2020 class is a major issue right now, and I don’t think any of those guys are going to play, except Josh Fryar, and where do you move him? I mean, he played some right tackle, some guard, so I don’t know, that’s up in the air.
But then coming back, you still got to get another tackle. We did not get anybody in the portal, doesn’t look like we’re going to. The portal is closing, was it the 19th? I can’t have any assumptions that we’re going to get somebody in the portal, as it is closing in less than five days and then it reopens in May after Spring ball is over with.
Other guys in the 2021 class include Ben Christman, Donovan Jackson, who is obviously a starter this past year, as well as Zen Michalski. I think Zen Michalski is the guy I’m hearing the most upside about. He was a four-star out of Indiana, and we seem to take a lot of players from that state. He’s a possibility, but I’m also hearing good things about Tegra Tshabola, who is in the 2022 class. We’re hearing good things that he’s got his body in shape and he was a high four-star out of Westchester, Ohio. So, maybe he’ll add some depth, but again, this is not just about figuring out the starters.
We’re trying to find 10 guys that can play and that’s the real challenge. We want to be too deep where when somebody gets hurt or breaks a shoelace, whatever, we got somebody going in that they don’t have to change the playbook for or not run to his side or whatever it might be. Carson Hinzman was the other 2022 guy. He was a four-star out of Wisconsin. I don’t think you can bank on a 2022 guy or a freshman coming in in the 2023 class to come in and start their first or second year on campus. It just seems very difficult. If Tegra gets into the two deep, that’s great, and I kind of expect him to, but these true freshmen,
I would even though they’re highly ranked and highly recruited, especially Luke Montgomery, I can’t bank on them cracking the two deep. It’s a big difference to get your body ready for banging in power five college football. We’re putting a lot of eggs in the Justin Frye basket and if he’s taken over OC duties as well, that’s just even more piled on.
So, let’s focus on the offensive line and let’s build up. I think you got to go with Matt Jones as your center, then you bring in Vamahi in place of him at the guard. You got Donovan Jackson coming back in Garden, then you got Josh Fryar probably right tackle and you’ve got to find yourself a tackle in this group of youngsters. I’m crossing off Jacob James, Trey Leroux, and Grant Toutant, I’m not expecting much from those guys. I think that the 2021 class, this will be their third year on campus, and the 2020 class this will be their fourth year on campus and they’re still not ready other than Josh Fryar. That’s a big problem.
I think they got to be more aggressive in the portal, especially in May when it reopens soon. That’s what I got, offensive line depth. Have at it Justin Frye, it’s going to be a big year for you. Earn that cash.
All right, I’ll talk to you later folks. As always, please subscribe, like, rate, review all that happy stuff, and we’ll talk to you later. Don’t forget, Sunday night 8 P.M YouTube live, we will be there, you’ll be there, all right? We’ll be talking all things Buckeye football, me, Jeff, and Sean, Sunday night 8 P.M. Talk to you later, and go Bucks!