Buckeyes freshman tackle Luke Montgomery sheds black stripe
COLUMBUS — Luke Montgomery showed signs of why he was a top-level recruit in his first spring at Ohio State.
He started to show he wasn’t just a freshman with potential during summer workouts. Now in his first training camp, Montgomery is giving reason to believe he could shock folks and crack the Buckeyes starting offensive line.
Montgomery, a former top-50 recruit from in-state Findlay, shed his black stripe on Saturday after the Buckeyes scrimmage. The black-stripe removal is a sign that he’s officially a member of the Ohio State football program.
But he’s not just in the throws of a developmental first year on campus. Montgomery is pushing for a role in the two-deep — and potentially even in the starting lineup. Ohio State head coach Ryan Day even said as much just a few weeks ago.
“He’s in the competition right now,” Day said last month at Big Ten Media Days. “I told him the other day: ‘I know you’re a true freshman, but you came here to play.’ So that should be your mentality. Whether you play in the first game or not, I don’t know. Maybe you don’t play this year. But we see things in him that are very encouraging. And I think everything you invest in Luke, you’re going to get back. He has all the traits that you look for in a really good offensive lineman.”
“Maybe it’s Game 3, maybe it’s Game 4, I don’t know when it’s going to be. But he’s got a huge upside.”
Luke Montgomery was the No. 89 overall prospect in the 2023 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking. The 6-foot-4, 298-pound lineman showed out at Findlay High School, where he started his career as a tight end before demonstrating his versatility across the offensive line.
Right now for Ohio State, Montgomery is a candidate to replace the two departed tackles along the offensive line. That’s where he spent most of the spring season practicing and impressing.
Montgomery always had the mindset that he could come into the Buckeyes program and play early in his career. This early? Well, it helped that he showed up in January and was a part of the spring with Ohio State. That gives him an advantage of a full offseason before taking the field in September.
“All those guys who came in mid year, I told them they’re not a freshman anymore at their exit meetings coming out of the spring,” he said. “So all those guys are now considered sophomores in my eyes.”
Luke Montgomery is clearly making the most of his first batch of training camp practices this August. He already has his black stripe off, a sign that he’s not backing down in the battle to start at right tackle this season for Ohio State.
