Football

Buckeye Football Freshman Focus: Offensive Lineman Josh Myers

by Tony Gerdeman
Buckeye Football Josh Myers Ohio State Football Ohio State Buckeyes

Josh Myers was one of the top offensive linemen in high school football last year. He was rated the No. 2 offensive guard by Rivals and the No. 3 guard by Scout.

He was a 5-star prospect for most of his time in the rankings, but some struggles with pass blocking during the week of the Army All-American game dinged him a bit. He was a two-time First-Team All-State selection at Miamisburg High School in Miamisburg, Ohio.

Myers enrolled at Ohio State in the winter and was an immediate hit in the weight room. He took part in the spring and helped improve the depth chart at guard. He spent most of his time at right guard in the spring game, but didn’t play until late in the game.

Myers did enough in the spring to be one of several players to watch when it comes to the open competition at right guard in the fall.

What to Like

Myers (6-5 305) is a strong athlete who is mobile for his size. He is very good at pulling on running plays, and can also be counted on to clear a path straight ahead of him. Because he played in a running offense throughout high school, his pass protection is behind his run blocking at this stage. That is not at all unusual, however.

But when he pulls, he’s fun to watch.

Here he is at left guard in the Army All-American Bowl. He pulls and puts 5-star defensive end Jaelen Philips on the ground. (You might want to mute the sound.)

Here he is pulling from left guard again and keeping the defensive end out of the play.

He’s also a force at the point of attack. He can move his man backwards, creating room for his tailback.

Myers has the ability to pass block as well, despite what some experts may tell you. As long as he keeps his head up, he’s able to get his feet where they need to be. You can see him at right guard here against Malik Barrow in the spring game. His head goes down and Barrow gets right by him.

When he keeps his head up, however, he can do things like this against a quick defensive tackle in Robert Landers.

Sometimes, however, you just get bested.

The Potential

Josh Myers is already college-strong even before his first fall camp, and he’s only going to get stronger. As he puts that natural strength together with Ohio State’s weight staff and position coaching, it’s easy to project a very nice future.

Even now as a pass blocker, he is looking for areas where he can help. When he is combo blocking, he also has his eyes looking for defenders trying to sneak past. He has the ability to disengage and pick up blitzers already and will only get better in that regard. Technique is only going to get better from here. Eventually, Myers could move out to tackle, or stay inside like an Andrew Norwell and become a tremendous pass-blocking guard.

The Expectations

Myers will be vying for a spot in the two deep this season, and while he may not be there in September, he could be there by October. There will come a time when they’ll have to decide if he is going to play this season. Generally, true freshmen on the offensive line redshirt. There are exceptions, of course, and one of them was the starter at left guard in 2016 — Michael Jordan.

Nobody should be expecting Myers to come in and earn a starting spot, but he should absolutely be expected to push the starters and make them better than they were a year ago.

The Bottom Line

With the sheer number of possibilities at right guard for the Buckeyes, if Josh Myers doesn’t redshirt this season, then you might want to get excited about him. If he’s not redshirting while competing against the likes of Demetrius Knox, Malcolm Pridgeon, Gavin Cupp, and Wyatt Davis, then that means he is making some serious waves in camp.

Even if he does redshirt, don’t get too fretful. He might be the strongest player on the team a year from now, and he’ll be a much craftier lineman than he is at the moment.

If he needs to play this year, however, just watch how much better he gets as the season goes on.

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