Myers anticipating his first start for OSU
Miamisburg grad on getting center job: ‘It’s an amazing feeling.’
Miamisburg’s Josh Myers was the favorite to be the Buckeyes’ new starting center in spring, and now the countdown is on to his debut.
Josh Myers has COLUMBUS — reached the point of his Ohio State football career where no news is good news.
The Miamisburg grad entered spring as the favorite to be the new starting center for the Buckeyes.
He solidified that spot during 15 practices in March and April, checking off another box on the development list that started even longer ago than most.
He was considered one of the best players in the class of 2015 early in his high school career and verbally committed to Ohio State more than four years ago — January of his sophomore year at Miamisburg.
After enrolling in time for spring practice in 2017, Myers made his debut last year and eventually worked his way up to second-string center by the end of 2018.
Now the countdown is on to his first start — Aug. 31 when Florida Atlantic comes to Columbus to take on the Buckeyes.
“Oh, it’s an amazing feeling,” he said. “I’m so excited. And before I came into camp I really wanted to focus on going and taking that (No. 1 center job), going and getting that spot and not settling and saying it’s mine or it’s not.
“Regardless of the situation I just really wanted to focus on going and getting it one way or another, and so that’s been a focal point for me throughout camp so far.”
What he’s doing meets the approval of offensive line coach Greg Studrawa.
“Josh Myers is becoming a great player, working his tail off,” Studrawa said. “His attention to detail is unbelievable. He’s becoming exactly what I think he would become.”
With center locked down, Studrawa can concentrate on figuring out who else will join the starting lineup and keep an eye on the future.
He seems to like what he sees in both cases.
Wyatt Davis, who like Myers was a five-star recruit in the class of 2017, has maintained the starting spot at right guard he held at the end of last season when Demetrius Knox went down with an injury at the end of the Michigan game.
Jonah Jackson was penciled in at left guard after announcing he would transfer from Rutgers and has impressed since arriving during the summer.
Thayer Munford, the only returning starter on the line, is being worked back in slowly after missing spring to recover from surgery on an unidentified injury, so he is splitting time with senior Josh Alabi at left tackle.
That leaves right tackle, where senior Branden Bowen and redshirt freshman Nicholas Petit-Frere battling for the No. 1 spot.
With Bowen hoping to regain the form that made him a starter two years ago before a gruesome leg injury that cut short his sophomore year and Petit-Frere showing hints of why he was a fivestar recruit, there may not be a wrong answer there.
“Last year we had to get his weight up,” Studrawa said of Petit-Frere. “That was a bit of a struggle at times to get him up to where he needed to be. He’s there now. I mean every single lift he had in the weight room is up 20-25 pounds, so he’s big and strong and physical now. He’s had the time to learn the position, and now he’s starting to take off.”
Aside from that, Harry Miller has been the talk of camp, looking far advanced for a freshman who just arrived from Buford, Ga., in June.
“Harry being a center and Harry being Harry — he just learns,” said Studrawa before referencing the virtual meetings he had with Miller via video chat regularly in the spring,” so he’s so far ahead mentally. He’s out there making the checks today in a blitz pickup period and I don’t think I’ve ever had a freshman do that. Ever.”
Studrawa also praised junior Gavin Cupp for solidifying a post in the two-deep, but there was a gleam in his eye when the conversation shifted farther into the future.
Although Studrawa can’t talk about the members of the 2020 Ohio State offensive line recruiting class by name, he can confirm he’s excited to see them in scarlet and gray in the future.
Parris Johnson Jr., a fivestar prospect from Cincinnati Princeton, headlines the group which also consists of four-stars Luke Wypler and Grant Toutant and three-stars Josh Fryar, Jakob James and Trey Leroux.
With Miller and fellow 2019 signees Enokk Vimahi, Dawand Jones and Ryan Jacoby already in the fold, Studrawa has a strong nucleus to build around for the future.
“I don’t know how much you’ve been out there, but you’ve watched Harry Miller perform with the (second team) against our defense as a true freshman,” Studrawa said. “Enokk came in here at 270 pounds, he’s 295 right now, and wow, does he look like a million bucks and Dawand Jones, I mean you can’t miss him. He’s as big as a house. And he runs around at 375 pounds runs around like an athletic guy. And those guys, I can’t even get in the twos to get reps right now. So yeah...
“And then with the guys coming in, I’m so excited about those guys.”
He confirmed the longterm vision for the offensive line is as clear as he has ever seen, a significant fact not only to someone whose job depends specifically on making sure that is the case but also anyone who remembers annual debates about whether or not Jim Tressel was reserving enough spots for The Big Uglies in his recruiting classes.
“It’s absolutely awesome, and that’s how it should be,” Studrawa said. “That’s how it should be. You should have athletic young cats that are ready to go take over. We had that lab for a lot of those guys that were here before that. Those guys are gone now. We’re building that depth to be exactly where it should be at Ohio State.”