After a heartbreaking loss to Michigan on Saturday the Buckeyes ended the regular season 11-1. All hope for the season isn’t lost just yet as with some luck on conference championship Saturday the Buckeyes could still get a spot in the College Football Playoff, but the loss is certainly demoralizing for Buckeye nation.
With the regular season in the rearview mirror, now is a good time to take a step back and evaluate the team.
This Ohio State team was built differently than recent Ohio State teams as they were led by an elite defense and good, but not great offense, as opposed to the other way around.
Averaging 32.6 points per game this season the Buckeyes sit at No. 25 in the FBS which isn’t bad by any means, but is a big step back from the last two seasons when the Buckeyes averaged 45.7 points in 2021 — No. 1 in college football — and 44.2 points in 2022, which was second in the FBS behind only Tennessee.
After losing C.J. Stroud to the NFL it was expected the Buckeyes wouldn’t have quite the same firepower on offense, but the unit was inconsistent throughout this season and those inconsistencies showed up in the biggest game.
In this article we dive deeper to break down each offensive position group’s performance this season using Pro Football Focus grades for each player. Though not the ultimate measuring stick, PFF is a good tool because it grades every player on every play.
Quarterbacks
Starter: Kyle McCord
PFF Grade | 76.6 (703 snaps, 12 games)
Stats | 229-of-354 (64.7%), 3,169 Yards, 24 TD, 6 INT, 13 Attempts for 37 Yards
Other: Devin Brown
PFF Grade | 67.0 (72 snaps, 5 games)
Stats | 12-of-22 (54.5%), 197 Yards, 2 TD, 1 INT, 14 Attempts for 45 Yards, 1 TD
Other: Lincoln Kienholz
PFF Grade | 65.0 (20 snaps, 2 games)
Stats | 4-of-5 (80.0%), 25 Yards, 0 TD, 0 INT
Running Backs
Starter: TreVeyon Henderson
PFF Grade | 89.4 (351 snaps, 9 games)
Stats | 137 attempts for 854 Yards (6.2 avg.), 11 TD, 22 targets, 19 receptions, 229 Yards
Other: Chip Trayanum
PFF Grade | 73.4 (252 snaps, 12 games)
Stats | 85 attempts for 373 Yards (4.4 avg.), 3 TD, 14 targers, 9 receptions, 53 Yards
Other: Miyan Williams
PFF Grade | 66.3 (107 snaps, 6 games)
Stats | 49 attempts for 158 Yards (3.2 avg.), 3 TD, 4 targets, 4 receptions, 42 Yards
Other: Dallan Hayden
PFF Grade | 71.7 (59 snaps, 3 games)
Stats | 20 attempts for 107 Yards (5.4 avg.), 1 TD, 1 target, 1 reception, -2 Yards
Other: Evan Pryor
PFF Grade | 70.0 (31 snaps, 4 games)
Stats | 19 attempts for 49 Yards (2.6 avg.), 0 TD, 1 target, 1 reception, 2 Yards
Wide Receivers
Starter: Marvin Harrison Jr.
PFF Grade | 89.9 (649 snaps, 12 games)
Stats | 114 targets, 67 receptions, 1,211 Yards, 14 TD, 2 Attempts for 26 Yards, 1 TD
Starter: Julian Fleming
PFF Grade | 61.4 (552 snaps, 12 games)
Stats | 41 targets, 26 receptions, 270 Yards, 0 TD
Starter: Emeka Egbuka
PFF Grade | 72.0 (397 snaps, 9 games)
Stats | 52 targets, 35 receptions, 451 Yards, 4 TD, 5 Attempts for 25 Yards
Other: Carnell Tate
PFF Grade | 68.0 (239 snaps, 10 games)
Stats | 24 targets, 17 receptions, 260 Yards, 1 TD
Other: Xavier Johnson
PFF Grade | 69.3 (210 snaps, 12 games)
Stats | 14 targets, 11 receptions, 147 Yards, 23 Attempts for 155 Yards
Other: Jayden Ballard
PFF Grade | 44.7 (53 snaps, 7 games)
Stats | 2 targets, 0 receptions
Other: Brandon Inniss
PFF Grade | 78.7 (23 snaps, 5 games)
Stats | 2 targets, 1 reception, 58 Yards, 1 TD
Other: Noah Rogers
PFF Grade | 56.4 (14 snaps, 4 games)
Stats | 0 targets
Other: David Adolph
PFF Grade | 56.6 (9 snaps, 3 games)
Stats | 1 target, 0 receptions
Other: Bryson Rodgers
PFF Grade | 59.3 (6 snaps, 2 games)
Stats | 0 targets
Other: Kojo Antwi
PFF Grade | 58.3 (5 snaps, 1 game)
Stats | 0 targets
Tight Ends
Starter: Cade Stover
PFF Grade | 77.8 (581 snaps, 11 games)
Stats | 51 targets, 41 receptions, 576 Yards, 5 TD
Other: Gee Scott Jr.
PFF Grade | 49.5 (316 snaps, 12 games)
Stats | 12 targets, 9 receptions, 62 Yards, 1 TD
Other: Joe Royer
PFF Grade | 56.2 (44 snaps, 4 games)
Stats | 2 targets, 1 reception, 5 Yards
Other: Patrick Gurd
PFF Grade | 60.4 (39 snaps, 5 games)
Stats | 1 target, 1 reception, 9 Yards
Other: Jelani Thurman
PFF Grade | 80.7 (22 snaps, 2 games)
Stats | 2 targets, 2 receptions, 18 Yards
Offensive Line
Left Tackle: Josh Simmons
PFF Grade | 68.0 (768 snaps, 12 games)
Stats | 64.7 run block grade, 74.0 pass block grade, 0 sacks and 12 pressures allowed on 415 pass block snaps
Left Guard: Donovan Jackson
PFF Grade | 69.2 (768 snaps, 12 games)
Stats | 66.6 run block grade, 72.0 pass block grade, 1 sack and 10 pressures allowed on 415 pass block snaps
Center: Carson Hinzman
PFF Grade | 52.5 (758 snaps, 12 games)
Stats | 55.8 run block grade, 41.6 pass block grade, 0 sacks and 17 pressures allowed on 411 pass block snaps
Right Guard: Matthew Jones
PFF Grade | 70.8 (762 snaps, 12 games)
Stats | 71.8 run block grade, 66.9 pass block grade, 0 sacks and 5 pressures allowed on 412 pass block snaps
Right Tackle: Josh Fryar
PFF Grade | 75.9 (768 snaps, 12 games)
Stats | 77.2 run block grade, 71.2 pass block grade, 5 sacks allowed and 12 pressures allowed on 415 pass block snaps
Other: Luke Montgomery
PFF Grade | 55.0 (27 snaps at RT, 17 snaps at ITE, 9 games)
Stats | 61.5 run block grade, 66.5 pass block grade, 1 sack and 1 pressure allowed on 7 pass block snaps
Other: Enokk Vimahi
PFF Grade | 56.9 (43 snaps at RG, 4 games)
Stats | 59.3 run block grade, 21.1 pass block grade, 0 pressures allowed on 12 pass block snaps
Other: Victor Cutler Jr.
PFF Grade | 61.2 (21 snaps at C, 4 games)
Stats | 59.5 run block grade, 76.9 pass block grade, 0 pressures allowed on 5 pass block snaps
Other: Zen Michalski
PFF Grade | 77.7 (21 snaps at LT, 4 games)
Stats | 74.5 run block grade, 80.8 pass block grade, 0 pressures allowed on 5 pass block snaps
Other: Jakob James
PFF Grade | 57.8 (6 snaps at C, 3 games)
Stats | 57.6 run block grade
Other: George Fitzpatrick
PFF Grade | 59.3 (6 snaps at LT, 3 games)
Stats | 58.9 run block grade
