Football season is officially upon us! Tony is probably huddled in the corner of the Woody somewhere wondering where life went wrong, Urban Meyer is praying someone parks in his spot again, Larry Johnson is wondering where he is going to play 14 future NFL defensive linemen, and Kerry Coombs is probably on his 27th mile as a warm-up before practice.
I mean seriously, who has it better than us? Definitely not you Michigan. Damn, it feels good to be a Buckeye!
With fall practice officially starting up, we at the-Ozone have given you the complete power to make Urban Meyer’s life a lot easier. You are going to “decide” who should win each positional battle. One by one, we’ll go through the positional groups and pick the winner. First up, we’re going to look at the vacant right guard spot where apparently seven players are still in the mix.
SENIORS
There are no seniors competing for the starting right guard position. The only two senior offensive linemen are Jamarco Jones and Billy Price who are holding down the fort at left tackle and center.
JUNIORS
Malcolm Pridgeon (R-Jr) – At 6’7” and 315 pounds, it may be difficult to imagine Pridgeon on the inside of the line. Most interior linemen seem to be more in the 6’3” to 6’4” range, but he may be an exception to the rule. As most of you may remember, Pridgeon came into the 2016 fall camp as a highly-recruited Junior College transfer expecting to compete for the right tackle job with Isaiah Prince. During the first week of camp, Pridgeon suffered a knee injury which essentially cost him the entire season. With Prince now seemingly entrenched into the right tackle spot, Pridgeon had to move inside if he wanted a chance to start this season. During the spring game, Pridgeon didn’t stand out for good or bad at right guard, which is usually good for an offensive lineman.
Demetrius Knox (R-Jr) – 247Sports had Knox as the #10 offensive guard in the 2014 class and his future looked promising. He immediately came to Ohio State and worked his way up the depth chart and looked primed to be a future starter. For unknown reasons, his promising future with the Buckeyes has yet to pan out and this becomes a huge year for the Texas native. If he gets beat out for the right guard position — like he did at left guard, Knox will have a tough decision ahead. Knox comes into fall camp listed at 6’4” and 308 pounds.
SOPHOMORES
Matthew Burrell (R-So) – If you had to say someone was the “frontrunner” for the right guard spot, you would give that title to Burrell. Technically, he left spring as the number one right guard, but that designation was far from a solid commitment from the coaching staff. After redshirting in 2015 and being #2 on the depth chart last season, this could be a huge year for Burrell. Burrell is listed at 6’3” and 300 pounds. He was the #6 offensive guard in the 2015 class according to 247Sports.
Branden Bowen (R-So) – Kind of a shock to be mentioned here, Bowen is another very large man you would not usually think of as an interior linemen. At 6’7” and 312 pounds, Bowen was the top backup at left tackle last season and is looking to force his way into the starting five up front. While it would be a surprise if Bowen winds up as the starter, he has spent his entire OSU career surprising people. After only being a three-star and #40 offensive tackle in the 2015 class, Bowen has already skyrocketed up the depth chart passing up a few more highly thought of recruits.
FRESHMAN
While the upperclassmen may be getting the publicity, there are a couple of true freshmen knocking at the door hoping to follow the path of Michael Jordan on the left side.
Wyatt Davis (Fr) –Davis was a five-star recruit and the consensus #1 offensive guard coming out of high school. At 6’4” and 310 pounds, the California native is already built to be the prototypical interior linemen. While it is usually hard for a freshman to come in and start on the offensive line, someone like Davis could easily do it.
Josh Myers (Fr) – No one really knows where Myers will wind up. He could be a tackle or he could be a guard, but wherever he winds up he is a future starting slob. 247Sports had him as a four star and the #10 offensive tackle, while Rivals had him as the #2 offensive guard in the class behind his fellow new Slob Davis. Like Davis, Myers is already built to withstand the punishment on the inside of the line at 6’5” and 305 pounds.
Thayer Munford (Fr) – If you were impressed with the size of the first two true freshman, Munford would like a word with you. At 6’6” and 325 pounds, Munford is one of the biggest offensive linemen on the team and he hasn’t even had the chance for Mickey Marotti to completely transform him yet. As Urban Meyer said earlier this week, Munford has really impressed the coaching staff since coming in about a month ago. He was a four-star recruit and the #26 offensive tackle by 247Sports.
As Urban Meyer stated, here are your seven choices for the vacant right guard position. Who is your vote going to?
All of us at @HayesAndCannon and @theOzonedotnet are turning the power over to you. Who is going to start at right guard for Ohio State?
— Brandon Zimmerman (@bzimmerman9) July 31, 2017
