Your (almost) daily dose of good-natured, Ohio State banter.
On Friday night Ohio State will battle Texas in the Cotton Bowl with a spot in the College Football Playoff Championship Game on the line. The Buckeyes and Longhorns are two of college football’s heavy hitters, annually bringing in some of the top recruits in the country, as well as having deep pockets from donors to splash cash into NIL collectives to not only entice recruits out of high school, as well as lure top players in the transfer portal.
With both rosters loaded with blue chip talent, there are plenty of Ohio State players that Texas fans wished were suiting up in burnt orange, and many Longhorns that Buckeye fans would gladly welcome to Columbus. There’s even a key player on one of the rosters who has spent time at both schools. Quarterback Quinn Ewers spent the first year of his college career at Ohio State in 2021 only seeing the field to take two snaps at the end of a blowout against Michigan State. Ewers would transfer back to his home state of Texas following the season and has led the Longhorns to College Football Playoff appearances in each of the last two seasons.
Today we are going to focus on current Texas players who would be welcomed to Ohio State. What we want to know is which Longhorn you would love to see playing for the Buckeyes. It could be either a player you think would step in immediately and make an impact, or a Texas player that might not see a ton of playing time currently but would be an asset over the next couple of seasons.
Today’s question: Which Texas player would you love to see at Ohio State?
We’d love to hear your choices. Either respond to us on Twitter at @Landgrant33 or leave your choice in the comments.
Brett’s answer: Kelvin Banks Jr.
Since Ohio State is loaded with skill position talent I figured the obvious choice would be to focus on the trenches. The most obvious choice for me is offensive tackle Kelvin Banks Jr., winner of the 2024 Outland Trophy and Lombardi Award. Along with winning those awards, Banks was named a unanimous All-American and First Team All-SEC. The conference honor comes a year after he was named First Team All-Big 12.
The choice of Banks makes even more sense after the Buckeyes have suffered two major injuries on the offensive line this season. Tackle Josh Simmons was injured in the Oregon game, forcing guard Donovan Jackson to shift over to tackle. Later in the season, center Seth McLaughlin suffered an Achilles injury, which led to another shake-up on the offensive line. Even though the line has found its groove in the playoff, Ohio State might have had a little more success moving the football in the dreadful offensive performance against Michigan in late November had the Buckeyes had Banks on the left side of the offensive line.
Since he is a junior, Banks likely will be playing in the NFL in the fall since it’s hard to imagine his draft stock being any higher than it will be when the 2025 NFL Draft rolls around in April. Although it’s highly unlikely Banks would be playing when the Buckeyes and Longhorns square off to open the season in late August, he still would make offensive line coach Justin Frye’s job easier since Banks is the type of talent you can put at the tackle spot and not have to worry about. On Friday night both J.T. Tuimoloau and Jack Sawyer will have their work cut out for them as they try and get by Banks and into the Texas backfield
Matt’s answer: Jake Majors
If I’m being completely honest with you, I don’t know that there is anyone on Texas that I would want to replace a Buckeye with right now. Yes, there are individual talent, experience, and productivity upgrades at individual spots, but given how cohesive all of OSU’s units have been through the first two games of the playoffs, I wouldn’t want to disrupt anything that the Buckeyes have going on in favor of a short-term fix.
However, like Brett, in this hypothetical, I would stick on the offensive. Again, personally, I think that Justin Frye and the o-line have been tremendous given the circumstances and deserve any and all praise that they get. But, if you are looking to upgrade a position, I would go there. BLeez went tackle, and I understand why, but I’m thinking more about the middle of the line.
While I think Carson Hinzman has done an admirable job coming back to the position he played last season, I have a few reservations. First is that the center is in the… well… center of the line. So, if you have an elite player at that position, they can help the guard on either side of them. Given the volatility of Ohio State’s guard situation (again, I’ve been very pleased with their performance thus far in the postseason), it might help to have a veteran at the spot. This would also allow Hinzman to kick back to guard if the coaching staff so desired.
Jake Majors is a fifth-year senior who has been an All-conference selection, an Outland Trophy National Player of the Week, a Joe Moore Award semifinalist, and more. He also rates as the top Texas offensive lineman behind Banks according to Pro Football Focus.
My other concern at Ohio State’s center position has to do with how slowly Hinzmann seems to snap the ball. All too often, it feels like the football kind of floats back to Will Howard, or he has to bend down to catch it, giving the defenders an extra second to get into the backfield. It hasn’t cost OSU yet, but I’m afraid that in a tight game, it very well might.
So, for those reasons, I am opting to go with Majors at center, but again, I would gladly stick with the team we’ve already got.