Next Man Up: How Buckeyes can replace Matthew Jones at right guard

COLUMBUS — Ohio State feels much better about its offensive line right now than it did at this time last year.

Both tackles return as starters for another year. The left guard spot is locked down for a third straight season. And the Buckeyes landed a projected starter at center in the transfer portal.

The Buckeyes like their offensive line. But they also know they still have one open slot that must be filled — and whoever wins that job needs to thrive in the right guard role.

“I think we’re really athletic,” Ohio State offensive coordinator Chip Kelly said of the Buckeyes offensive line. “I think Donnie and Seth and those guys inside are really smart and really intelligent. They allow you to be able to make adjustments in-game. Just talking football with some of those guys, it’s like, ‘Wow, these guys are wired the right way.’ And a lot of those guys have played a lot of football so they can bank on their experience there.

“I think we’ve got about four guys that have played significant amount of snaps, and we got to make sure we can find out who the fifth guy is. But that’s similar to where the quarterback spot is.”

Ohio State is still sifting through the options at right guard, which appears to be the only opening along the five offensive line spots.

Lettermen Row is continuing its ‘Next Man Up’ series by breaking down the options to take over for Matthew Jones as the starting right guard this fall. Let’s dive in.

Realistic Ohio State options

Luke Montgomery: A prized in-state recruit, Luke Montgomery played regularly last season as the Buckeyes’ sixth offensive lineman — as part of the ‘Bison’ package. He entered spring practice as the first right guard to take reps with the starting Buckeyes offensive line and looked like he had a firm grasp on that job as March turned to April. Both Carson Hinzman and Tegra Tshabola made a late push, however, and took a majority of the first-team reps late in spring. Can Montgomery make a counter argument and reclaim that spot at the top of the depth chart?

Carson Hinzman: Entering his third year as a Buckeyes offensive lineman, Carson Hinzman is coming off a full season of starting experience at center. He went through his share of struggles a season ago, and the Buckeyes brought former Alabama starting center Seth McLaughlin in during the winter transfer portal window. With McLaughlin looking like the starter at center, Hinzman took first-team reps at right guard during the spring game. He’s in the thick of the guard battle after starting for a season at center.

Tegra Tshabola: Ohio State maintained for most of the spring that third-year offensive lineman Tegra Tshabola was going to stick at tackle and compete for a job on the outside of the line. But late in spring, Tshabola took reps with the first-team offensive line at right guard and transitioned to the interior. He impressed at that spot in the spring game and is certainly making a major push for that job. He and Hinzman were the first-team right guards in the Horseshoe last month. Is this becoming a two-man battle?

Austin Siereveld: The second-year interior lineman is progressing well, and he’ll compete for a starting role at this time next year. This fall might be a year too early. Austin Siereveld can serve as a key backup come fall, though.

The pick: Tegra Tshabola (for now)

With what we saw in the spring game, this is the pick right now.

Go back and watch the spring game. Tshabola looked good in the right guard role when in with the first team. He was solid in run-blocking and had good reps in pass protection.

Oh, and he impressed the Ohio State coaching staff throughout the spring months.

“He’s competing his butt off; he’s kind of living that way,” Buckeyes offensive line coach Justin Frye said. “That’s why we have the red line over there [just a step or two shy of the playing field], when you cross the line – coach Day talks about that. The game doesn’t care. You’ve got to come out and step out and do your job. It doesn’t care about anything off the field. That can sound really negative and harsh. But then also, if you just spin your tone, like, isn’t it beautiful that the game doesn’t care? It doesn’t care about your skin color, your socio-economic background, where you’ve come from.

“If you just want to do it the right way in the 53 1/3 [yards, the width of the playing field], the game will love you back. … For Tegra, yeah, he’s taken that approach. He wants to come in and be a guy. So he’s fighting and clawing and scratching every day, so when he makes a mistake, he’s trying to correct it. When he does it well, he’s trying to enhance it.”

Tegra Tshabola did the right things during the spring. He is pushing for the starting right guard role, and he is the pick right now to win that job in training camp. Of course, that can change — as the right guard battle has changed a few times already this offseason.

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