Buckeyes Prioritizing Versatility On The Offensive Line

Most coaches keep their offensive linemen at a single position, with only a rare few possessing the ability to rotate across the front line. But after last season when Ohio State had to shuffle players around the front five, that’s not how the Buckeyes are doing it.

Led by offensive line coach Tyler Bowen, the Buckeyes have adopted the practice of playing its offensive lineman at multiple positions across the trenches, promoting a plug-and-play mindset where anyone can learn any position.

Throughout Ohio State’s fall camp, Bowen has rotated players between tackle, guard, and center during team period drills to help them grow comfortable at multiple positions on the line.

“We might have a guy bump within a team period. That’s all things we’re mindful of and we make sure to prepare them,” Bowen said on Tuesday. “You want to be in a position where you can go out on a day and put a guy in a spot and then this day he’s going to play this spot.”

Junior offensive lineman Austin Siereveld is among several players Bowen has shifted to different spots along the line.

Siereveld spent his first two seasons at Ohio State playing at guard, swapping between the left and right side when needed, seldom seeing action at any other position on the line. This fall, however, Siereveld has been playing both tackle positions. 

“If it’s at left or right (tackle), nothing’s final yet. So like we’re all repping our primary and our secondary,” Siereveld said. “Nothing’s really final for us up front, but we just have to keep working, keep building.” 

Making the switch from the interior to the exterior offensive line is no easy feat.  Siereveld highlighted the difficulties and challenges of changing positions, explaining the differences between the responsibilities and skills needed at each spot.

“You can translate the physicality from guard and always having your (three-tech) or (nose guard) across from you.” Siereveld said. “But at tackle, there’s a lot more space and just having some good feet and having coaches keep coaching me up, that’s how I play tackle.” 

Transfer tackle Ethan Onianwa is performing the reverse of Siereveld, switching between his primary tackle position to play guard on occasion. 

Onianwa praised his coaches and teammates for easing him into the transition, citing the ability to lean on experienced Buckeye guards to help him improve his versatility.  

“It’s different from tackle for sure, but I have really great coaches and they’ve been helping me through the process and also like amazing teammates,” Onianwa said. “Luke Montgomery, he’s a great guy to talk to about things like guard and everything.”

The open-mindedness and desire to improve shown by Bowen’s players have been greatly influenced by the culture he has built along the offensive line. Onianwa said he is comfortable wherever he plays and is willing to play any position on the line, as long as it benefits the team. 

“Honestly, my comfort is wherever Coach (Ryan)Day wants me at,” Onianwa said. “I just want to be a help to the team, wherever I need to be, I’m going to be.” 

Bowen said that even though he values the ability to move his linemen around when necessary, he ultimately wants a set in stone starting group of his best player at each position. 

“I feel good about the versatility we have, but at some point we have to be able to line up and say, ‘Hey, I can trust a left tackle. I can trust a right tackle. I can trust a right guard,’ ” Bowen said. “Moving around’s great, but we’ve got to start honing in now.” 

Despite the promise of a deep and flexible offensive line, Bowen noted there’s still room for growth and improvements before finalizing the starting lineup.

“We have a lot of versatility. We do have some depth, but we’ve got to be able to perform at a high level on the spot that we settle into, and that’s what we got to figure out this week,” Bowen said.