It’s hard to argue that Ohio State’s unsung hero of the 2024 season wasn’t Donovan Jackson.
The Buckeyes’ offensive line suffered a major blow when Josh Simmons suffered a season-ending injury against Oregon, then backup Zen Michalski was injured one game later against Nebraska.
With OSU’s season at a crucial point with a daunting road matchup looming against Penn State, former Buckeyes offensive line coach Justin Frye had a frank conversation with the offensive line anchor. Throughout the season, Frye would commonly rib Jackson and jokingly suggest he was going to play offensive tackle, to which Jackson would laugh and retort “No, I’m not.