Left tackle was one of Ohio State’s best positions in the 2024 season. Both Josh Simmons and Donovan Jackson, who slid over from left guard after Simmons went down with a season-ending injury, were taken in the first round of the NFL draft.
The Buckeyes went into the transfer portal to try to find a starter for the 2025 season and were able to get a commitment from former Rice tackle Ethan Onianwa who seems in line to claim that position barring any major changes in fall camp.
One thing head coach Ryan Day wanted to see after Onianwa first showed up on campus was for the 357-pounder to lose some weight so that he could move better to protect the blind side of whoever ends up under center for the Buckeyes. On the fall roster passed out at fall camp, Onianwa is listed now at 335 pounds, and the hard work it took to get to that point has been noticed by his head coach.
“When Ethan first came in, he was heavier than he is now,” Day said. “I think he’s done a great job with his body. You can tell by the way he looks that he’s leaned out and he’s moving better. He was recognized last night in one of our champions meetings and it was significant the amount of guys that really supported him.”
Day is never sure what to expect when Ohio State pulls a transfer in from a different program because they might run things very differently than Day does. So when Onianwa and other transfers get to Columbus, he likes to compare and also establish what they are expected to do now that they’re a Buckeye.
“Any time a transfer comes in, regardless of where (they’re from), we always like to ask them, ‘What is your perception of how we do things here? What are things that we do differently?’ ” Day said.
“The transfers are the ones who can give you a little bit of a comparison to other programs and how different things are here,” Day said. Our foundation is the weight room and how we do things, and that’s where you build your respect.”
There’s still a lot of time to go until noon on Aug. 30 when Texas is in town, but Onianwa has already earned the respect of his teammates and coaches, and hopes to be the next great left tackle at Ohio State.
