With all the guys transferring it’s interesting to take a look at what we think is going on at the position.
Here is what we know: Last year the oline was inconsistent at best. You could argue it was good enough for us to win 12 games. You could argue it was good in pass protect. You could argue it was bad in run blocking. You could argue it didn’t protect the Qb. Many ways to look at them but I think it boils down to inconsistency. I think they had good moments and they had moments where they flat out looked lost.
So where does that leave us heading into next season. I think it leaves us with needing to improve it no matter what. And you have to do it with the mindset that you have an experienced Qb(which Gundy harps on) and will have a group of young Rb’s. So there is some sense of urgency at the position to get to a point of being more consistently good to achieve at a high level next year.
What we lost to exhausted eligibility:
Josh Sills - Warrior. Good player but not without areas of inconsistency himself. Could have been because he was playing injured. You take this guy for your oline every time you can get him.
Danny Godlevske- solid player. The center position got better this season. Wish we had another year with him but this is what the grad transfer portal is going to be like. 1 year with guys.
What we lost to transfers. We can argue all day if these guys were asked to look around or if they decided that on their own. We don’t know so any of that is speculation. My guess is that some were and some made the choice on their own:
Cade Bennet - This one perhaps hurts the most as it felt like he had a bright future and was going to start making progress toward playing time. Seemed like a mauler. Transfer to San Diego State which is a step down.
Monroe Mills - Came to OSU after having a serious injury. Didn’t hear any reports on him at all and have no clue if he was looking like a guy that would ever help us. Somewhat surprising he ends up at Texas Tech. Not saying Tech is on our level but this is at least a P5 transfer. I think Tech is taking a chance here because this is one I would guess was encouraged to look elsewhere.
Hunter Anthony - In his time here he just never could lock down a spot. He surprised by playing early but he was never consistent enough to hold the spot down. Just not sure he was quick enough to play the majority of the time. Again, shocked to see him transfer to Neb. They are taking a chance here but perhaps based on what they do and ask their olineman to do this will work out for both?
Tyrese Williams - It hurts based on the fact that he adds depth and we saw his value in that. I just don’t ever think he was going to start here. He wants to go somewhere and be a consistent starter. From a depth perspective and a “a bunch of guys already transferred at the position what the heck is going on” this looks bad but when you look at the big picture this is a kid who has been with the program 4 years and just wants a shot to start. He isn’t going to get that here. He probably wasn’t encouraged to move on but he also wasn’t going to be counted on to start.
So where does that leave us in my opinion:
RT - Etienne/Springfield
RG - Wooodard/Russ
C - Michalski/Wilson
LG - Birmingham/need help
LT - Webber/Miterko
Logan Nobles, Incoming recruits Austin Kawecki and Calvin Henry are too young to make an impact next year. Does Silas Barr move back?
To be honest, the above depth chart looks pretty good heading into next season without even adding anyone yet. Some will freak out about that but I honestly think if a few things pan out that has a chance to be one of our better oline groups in the last few years.
Springfield should not be a starter but he has been the past few seasons. What he allows us to do is give Eittiene a chance to live up to his potential. If he does we have a future NFL guy playing that position. If not we go back to Springfield and we know what we get.
Hunter Woodard is simply our best olineman. The kid is good and I would say was our best olineman last season. Good to have him coming back.
Cole Birmingham played out of position. We must get him inside. I think if we can do that we will see a rise in play out of him and our guard positions will be very good.
Michalski handled himself well in the time he played for Danny G. He had moments of inconsistency but for what we threw him into he did good. If Preston Wilson doesn’t lock down that position much like Springfield you at least know what you have with him. Center is a very important position on the oline so it would be nice to have above average play here.
Wilson is a guy that could play multiple positions for us and offers us good depth. Would like to see him take the next step and become a big time player but he has somewhat struggled to lock down a position spot. He is a plug and play guy at this point. His time is now.
Miterko/Etienne - both started to play last year and both disappointed. Both our highest recruited olineman and both have struggled. Etienne a highly recruited JUCO didn’t come in ready. Miterko a guy who had a Notre Dame offer and looks like one of their olineman can’t get on the field for us. Their time is now or never. Both have another year in the program and quite frankly we need them. If they can’t play next season I struggle to see them play. I’m not giving up on either of them but they need to show they are ready. Both have NFL frames.
Webber- kind of reminds me of Tevin Jenkins with how he plays. We are putting a lot of weight on his shoulders counting on him like we are. Highly recruited JUCO who came in early. So far he has taken the correct approach unlike Etienne did last year. Tough to rely on JUCO’s though. I’ll admit it feels like he could come in and start but we have to be very careful with that. The step up from juco ball to our level ball is a big one that not many JuCO’s have made at OSU along the oline.
So that gives us 12 scholarship olineman the way I see it heading into next season. Obviously, we need more help.
Some potential targets:
Michael Shanahan is a guy that has done very well at the FCS level. He has earned some high recognition at the FCS level as an offensive tackle. With 3 question marks(Etienne, Miterko, Webber) at OSU at offensive tackle getting Shanahan would help us solidify and improve our chances of putting some quality out at that position and he brings some college football experience. Not FBS experience so there will still be an adjustment here.
Mason Brooks is another offensive tackle transfer that has visited OSU and is blowing up on the transfer market. Recently visited Texas Tech and is now on his way to Auburn. He would be a huge addition to our line.
Interesting that we are looking at OT’s in the portal. Kind of shows you where we need to improve and what the key is for us. Of course, guys can play multiple positions along the oline so just because you are labeled an OT doesn’t mean you will play that along our oline but I’d think that if we land Mason Brooks that guy is coming in to lock down a tackle spot. Shanahan seems like a guy that we could move inside if we got him.
One final point I will make. It seems that we are losing guys we are trying to develop for the future also. Not only depth but guys you invest in that you count on for the future. However, I believe the portal is going to take away the importance of that. In other words, we could have an oline riddled with older players and have concern what is going to happen in the future when the graduate because our group of young guys seems to be dwindling. The portal is Changing college football and oline is a position where I think we could be effected by the portal the most
So, with all the oline attrition here is a breakdown of where I think we are at. Bottom line, we must get better at this position. We must get more consistent. In my opinion OSU hasn’t had a good/great oline in a long time. Maybe since 2011. It’s time OSU does what it takes to have an upper echelon oline in the big 12. Can we next season? Let’s cuss and discuss it!
Here is what we know: Last year the oline was inconsistent at best. You could argue it was good enough for us to win 12 games. You could argue it was good in pass protect. You could argue it was bad in run blocking. You could argue it didn’t protect the Qb. Many ways to look at them but I think it boils down to inconsistency. I think they had good moments and they had moments where they flat out looked lost.
So where does that leave us heading into next season. I think it leaves us with needing to improve it no matter what. And you have to do it with the mindset that you have an experienced Qb(which Gundy harps on) and will have a group of young Rb’s. So there is some sense of urgency at the position to get to a point of being more consistently good to achieve at a high level next year.
What we lost to exhausted eligibility:
Josh Sills - Warrior. Good player but not without areas of inconsistency himself. Could have been because he was playing injured. You take this guy for your oline every time you can get him.
Danny Godlevske- solid player. The center position got better this season. Wish we had another year with him but this is what the grad transfer portal is going to be like. 1 year with guys.
What we lost to transfers. We can argue all day if these guys were asked to look around or if they decided that on their own. We don’t know so any of that is speculation. My guess is that some were and some made the choice on their own:
Cade Bennet - This one perhaps hurts the most as it felt like he had a bright future and was going to start making progress toward playing time. Seemed like a mauler. Transfer to San Diego State which is a step down.
Monroe Mills - Came to OSU after having a serious injury. Didn’t hear any reports on him at all and have no clue if he was looking like a guy that would ever help us. Somewhat surprising he ends up at Texas Tech. Not saying Tech is on our level but this is at least a P5 transfer. I think Tech is taking a chance here because this is one I would guess was encouraged to look elsewhere.
Hunter Anthony - In his time here he just never could lock down a spot. He surprised by playing early but he was never consistent enough to hold the spot down. Just not sure he was quick enough to play the majority of the time. Again, shocked to see him transfer to Neb. They are taking a chance here but perhaps based on what they do and ask their olineman to do this will work out for both?
Tyrese Williams - It hurts based on the fact that he adds depth and we saw his value in that. I just don’t ever think he was going to start here. He wants to go somewhere and be a consistent starter. From a depth perspective and a “a bunch of guys already transferred at the position what the heck is going on” this looks bad but when you look at the big picture this is a kid who has been with the program 4 years and just wants a shot to start. He isn’t going to get that here. He probably wasn’t encouraged to move on but he also wasn’t going to be counted on to start.
So where does that leave us in my opinion:
RT - Etienne/Springfield
RG - Wooodard/Russ
C - Michalski/Wilson
LG - Birmingham/need help
LT - Webber/Miterko
Logan Nobles, Incoming recruits Austin Kawecki and Calvin Henry are too young to make an impact next year. Does Silas Barr move back?
To be honest, the above depth chart looks pretty good heading into next season without even adding anyone yet. Some will freak out about that but I honestly think if a few things pan out that has a chance to be one of our better oline groups in the last few years.
Springfield should not be a starter but he has been the past few seasons. What he allows us to do is give Eittiene a chance to live up to his potential. If he does we have a future NFL guy playing that position. If not we go back to Springfield and we know what we get.
Hunter Woodard is simply our best olineman. The kid is good and I would say was our best olineman last season. Good to have him coming back.
Cole Birmingham played out of position. We must get him inside. I think if we can do that we will see a rise in play out of him and our guard positions will be very good.
Michalski handled himself well in the time he played for Danny G. He had moments of inconsistency but for what we threw him into he did good. If Preston Wilson doesn’t lock down that position much like Springfield you at least know what you have with him. Center is a very important position on the oline so it would be nice to have above average play here.
Wilson is a guy that could play multiple positions for us and offers us good depth. Would like to see him take the next step and become a big time player but he has somewhat struggled to lock down a position spot. He is a plug and play guy at this point. His time is now.
Miterko/Etienne - both started to play last year and both disappointed. Both our highest recruited olineman and both have struggled. Etienne a highly recruited JUCO didn’t come in ready. Miterko a guy who had a Notre Dame offer and looks like one of their olineman can’t get on the field for us. Their time is now or never. Both have another year in the program and quite frankly we need them. If they can’t play next season I struggle to see them play. I’m not giving up on either of them but they need to show they are ready. Both have NFL frames.
Webber- kind of reminds me of Tevin Jenkins with how he plays. We are putting a lot of weight on his shoulders counting on him like we are. Highly recruited JUCO who came in early. So far he has taken the correct approach unlike Etienne did last year. Tough to rely on JUCO’s though. I’ll admit it feels like he could come in and start but we have to be very careful with that. The step up from juco ball to our level ball is a big one that not many JuCO’s have made at OSU along the oline.
So that gives us 12 scholarship olineman the way I see it heading into next season. Obviously, we need more help.
Some potential targets:
Michael Shanahan is a guy that has done very well at the FCS level. He has earned some high recognition at the FCS level as an offensive tackle. With 3 question marks(Etienne, Miterko, Webber) at OSU at offensive tackle getting Shanahan would help us solidify and improve our chances of putting some quality out at that position and he brings some college football experience. Not FBS experience so there will still be an adjustment here.
Mason Brooks is another offensive tackle transfer that has visited OSU and is blowing up on the transfer market. Recently visited Texas Tech and is now on his way to Auburn. He would be a huge addition to our line.
Interesting that we are looking at OT’s in the portal. Kind of shows you where we need to improve and what the key is for us. Of course, guys can play multiple positions along the oline so just because you are labeled an OT doesn’t mean you will play that along our oline but I’d think that if we land Mason Brooks that guy is coming in to lock down a tackle spot. Shanahan seems like a guy that we could move inside if we got him.
One final point I will make. It seems that we are losing guys we are trying to develop for the future also. Not only depth but guys you invest in that you count on for the future. However, I believe the portal is going to take away the importance of that. In other words, we could have an oline riddled with older players and have concern what is going to happen in the future when the graduate because our group of young guys seems to be dwindling. The portal is Changing college football and oline is a position where I think we could be effected by the portal the most
So, with all the oline attrition here is a breakdown of where I think we are at. Bottom line, we must get better at this position. We must get more consistent. In my opinion OSU hasn’t had a good/great oline in a long time. Maybe since 2011. It’s time OSU does what it takes to have an upper echelon oline in the big 12. Can we next season? Let’s cuss and discuss it!
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