The Buckeyes have bolstered their offensive line numbers today by way of a graduate transfer in landing Jonah Jackson who was most recently at Rutgers and served as a captain while with the Scarlet Knights. The 6-foot-4, 305-pounder recently made a visit to Ohio State as one of several potential landing spots and gave Ryan Day the good news that he wanted to spend 2019 with the Buckeyes.
Oklahoma and Texas were all among other schools vying for the talented offensive lineman. The Media (Pa.) native could have had a wide choice of destinations before ultimately picking Ohio State. He ended up taking visits to both Ohio State and Oklahoma and reportedly visited Texas as well.
Jackson started in 11 games for Rutgers this past season and has played time both at guard and center, two positions that the Buckeyes are losing starters at. Ohio State lost Michael Jordan to an early NFL departure after this season and lost both guards, Malcolm Pridgeon and Demetrius Knox to graduation.
The numbers are thin in the offensive line room for Greg Studrawa and the Buckeyes. There will be opportunity both at center and guard as Ohio State has lost four starters in total from the offensive line from 2018. Josh Myers is expected to get the first crack at center while Wyatt Davis should be able to hold down one guard position with the other one being much more in the air, potentially going to Branden Bowen, who missed 2018 recovering from an injury sustained in 2017.
As a fifth-year senior, Jackson will be immediately eligible to play the 2019 season under the NCAA graduate transfer rules. He certainly would be expected to come in and immediately compete for a starting position as a former honorable mention All-Big Ten performer.
The Buckeyes added offensive linemen Harry Miller, Ryan Jacoby, Dawand Jones and Enokk Vimahi in the recruiting class of 2019. Vimahi intends on enrolling for one year before taking a church-sponsored mission for two years. Jackson gives the Buckeyes an immediate boost with his one year of eligibility while the Buckeyes look to bring many of their younger players along.
