A series of profiles on members of the Buckeyes’ 2020 recruiting class who redshirted their true freshman seasons, including a look back at how their first year went, and an evaluation of where they stand in the program ahead of 2021.

Luke Wypler’s work ethic may not have earned him much playing time as a true freshman, but it has turned heads over the offseason for the second-year Buckeye interior offensive lineman.

No anecdote from the spring illustrates that more than the story told by Ohio State offensive line coach Greg Studrawa, wherein Wypler began sending film of individual workouts back to his position coach from the Woody Hayes Athletic Center less than a day after the team’s national championship loss to Alabama.

“It’s not 24 hours since the game ended, and he’s in the Woody doing drills, filming a drill and saying, ‘Coach, take a look at this and critique me. I want to work on this,’” Studrawa said in April. “That’s what I love. And that kid stayed here the entire time. Most guys went home for two weeks, saw their families, that’s fine. This kid’s in here doing that every single day. That’s how important it is to him.”

Has that eye-catching effort won Wypler any tangible rewards within the program just yet though?

One would surmise that the bump in the depth chart that saw the Montvale, New Jersey, native splitting first-team reps at center with fourth-year Buckeye veteran Matthew Jones this spring would certainly be an indication of that very fact.

However, it’s unclear as of now whether or not the strides he has made will pay dividends in regards to playing time this fall.

Wypler, the No. 2 center in the country in the class of 2020, has no doubt benefitted this offseason from the NFL departure of two-year starting center Josh Myers, as well as spring injury to third-year interior lineman Harry Miller, who will factor into the starting five up front in one way or another this season.

Miller backed up Myers at center as a true freshman in 2019, but slid over to start at left guard with Myers still in the program in 2020. Miller made one start in the middle this past year, but repeated issues snapping the ball against Michigan State didn’t exactly make it clear that he would have the position completely locked down in the future.

If the coaching staff opts to ride with experience up front, as is often the case in a neck-and-neck position battle, then Wypler will likely need another season of development as a second or third option at center, as Jones or Miller holds down the starting job.

But either Jones or Miller, who each started multiple games at left guard last season, could each end up lining up next to the center as well in the starting lineup, depending on how ascending redshirt freshman Josh Fryar looks in the preseason.

Wypler will log more than 15 snaps regardless this year, as Ohio State’s full regular season may allow second-half development to take place for backups in the same way that it did in 2019.

A starting spot, though, will likely elude him, unless the injury bug bites Studrawa’s top couple options at center in a major way.