Podcast Summary: The Bill and Doug Show – "Ohio State's offensive line: Three injuries, plus depth, recruiting and strategy" (Nov. 5, 2025)

Main Theme

This episode dives deep into the state of Ohio State’s offensive line amid a spate of injuries, analyzes the depth of the current roster, and explores the long-term recruiting and development strategies underpinning the Buckeyes’ O-line success. Doug Lesmerises and Bill Landis leverage recent news, historical context, and their decades of reporting experience to explore why a healthy, deep offensive line remains one of the key ingredients in championship runs.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Current Injury Situation & Ryan Day's Cryptic Update

• Three interior OL injuries: Left guard Luke Montgomery, right guard Tegra Shabola, and Josh Padilla (who’d been sharing time at RG) are hurt.
  • “Ryan Day was like, ooh, this gives me a chance to give a really cryptic answer just for the heck of it.” – Doug [00:54]
• Ryan Day’s Tuesday update (read by Bill):
  “I won’t specifically mention all three of them, but I do think at least two of the three will be practicing today. One of them, we’ll have to see as the week goes on how they do, but we should be at full steam ahead.” [01:31]
• Interpretation:
  • At least two of the three should be good to go for Purdue; uncertainty lingers but as long as two are healthy, the starting five is manageable.
• Depth options if Montgomery is out:
  • Padilla likely slides to LG; Van Sickle is next in line for snaps if both are out. [03:16]

2. Perspective: Offensive Line Health, Depth, and Buckeyes' 2024 Miracle

• OL injuries can derail title hopes:
  • Doug: “It can absolutely torpedo your season.” [09:31]
  • Notable historic examples (MSU 2012; Notre Dame, OSU 2024).
• 2024’s improbable run:
  • Multiple injuries to both OT and C, yet OSU won the title.
  • “Of all the things that will be remembered and talked about from the 2024 season … I’m not sure that we’ve talked about that enough. I don’t even know that you can talk about, talk about it enough how remarkable it was for them to do that.” – Bill [09:46]
• Parallel with Notre Dame:
  • Both teams had to reconstruct OL on the fly and still made the title game.

3. Historical Context: O-Line Health at Ohio State

• 2012–2016:
  • Consistent health, same starting five almost every game. [12:12]
  • “Five straight years of nothing but offensive line health is pretty insane.” – Bill [12:12]
• 2017–present:
  • More injuries, more shuffling, but 2024 remains the most dramatic injury-challenged year. [14:31]
  • Examples: Pat Elflein, Wyatt Davis, Enoch Vamahi sudden emergency starts.

4. OL Depth in 2025: Best in a Decade?

• “Deepest OL I’ve covered”
  • “There have been plenty of years in the past where … you think to yourself, can any of these guys really play here? … I just didn’t feel that as much watching the group in this offseason.” – Bill [18:15]
• Physical maturity and body types:
  • This year’s group features 5-6 legitimate “tackle bodies,” more than usual.
  • Second-year players like Ian Moore and Gabe Van Sickle inspire confidence for depth.
  • “Just normalize believing in second year offensive linemen in November, maybe not in August.” – Doug [23:08]
• Recruiting Midwest:
  • “You want to recruit guys out of high school and develop them the way they largely have.” – Bill [27:52]
• Discussion on the pitfalls of overreliance on the transfer portal, as with the Rice transfer attempt.

5. Strategy: Roster Building & Recruitment Philosophy

• Recruiting bedrock:
  • “Get five Midwestern offensive linemen every year, and then you have it.” – Doug [32:42]
  • “That’s like the baseline and Then if you can add on top of that, great. But like that’s the minimum you’re doing every year.” – Bill [32:47]
• Evaluation is key:
  • “It’s not as simple as just saying, like, give me all the three stars in Ohio. You have to make sure you’re getting the right ones.” – Bill [34:22]
• Portal recalibration:
  • “I don’t think they want to be living in that world … there’s going to be fewer and fewer quality offensive lineman in the transfer portal. So if you’re a place like Ohio State, you don’t want to be banking on that.” – Bill [27:52]
• Occasional national/blue-chip targets:
  • Always aim for elite out-of-state prospects, but don’t build the room on uncertain “portal hits.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On O-line health and title runs:
  • “It can absolutely torpedo your season.” – Doug [09:31]
• On OSU’s 2024 O-line feat:
  • “It does feel like … some kind of minor football miracle that Ohio State was able to do that.” – Bill [17:44]
• On O-line depth in 2025:
  • “There have been years where I’ve wondered, like, they have five guys who can start or they believe in who can actually play. And I think, like, in this off season, you could tell they had like six or seven with maybe another one or two who were kind of knocking on the door to get there.” – Bill [18:15]
• Recruiting philosophy:
  • “How many Midwestern offensive linemen would Bill Landis like to see Ohio State recruit every year and land? Five.” – Bill [27:01]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:43 – 05:00: Injury news; deciphering Ryan Day’s update; initial depth chart scenarios.
• 07:07 – 10:57: How OL health (and lack thereof) shapes title seasons; 2024’s run.
• 12:12 – 17:44: Historical rundown of OSU OL injury patterns; the exceptionality of last year.
• 18:15 – 21:11: Why this is the deepest Ohio State OL room in years.
• 23:08 – 25:10: Second-year OL readiness; Ian Moore and Gabe Van Sickle highlighted.
• 25:39 – 28:00: Recruiting philosophy—Midwest focus, portal lessons, and program building.
• 32:42 – 35:51: How the 2024 “miracle” could shift recruiting, evaluation, and high school vs. portal priorities.

Conclusion

Doug and Bill present a nuanced, well-researched breakdown of the Buckeyes’ offensive line, explaining how resilience, recruiting, and calculated depth-building have turned adversity into one of the program’s greatest strengths. They argue that while portal fixes are tempting, the key remains consistent Midwestern O-line recruiting and player development—a recipe, as their stats and stories show, that’s brought both stability and championships to Columbus.

For More: Subscribe to their Substack (“billanddugosu.substack.com”) for deep dives, and catch their frequent YouTube/postgame shows for instant reactions to every Buckeye development.