Ohio State’s preseason countdown is rolling into the top 10, and the first name off the board is a familiar one in the trenches: senior left guard Luke Montgomery.
Montgomery comes into 2026 with plenty of hardware already on his résumé. Last season, he earned second-team AFCA All-American and All-Big Ten honors, and this year he’s been named a second-team preseason AP All-American. For a player lining up at left guard, that kind of recognition says plenty about how well he’s been doing his job.
At 6-foot-5 and 313 pounds, Montgomery brings a rare blend of movement skills and power. He can fire off the snap with quick feet, climb to the second level in the run game and hold up in pass protection when stunts and blitzes start flying.
The tools are obvious. So is the edge.
Even with a friendly personality away from the field, he plays with a mean streak once the ball is snapped and wants to put defenders on the turf.
There’s still a piece of his game that has to tighten up, though. Montgomery is not yet the pure mauler Ohio State would love to have every snap, and his postseason stretch was uneven. According to Pro Football Focus, he gave up three sacks in Ohio State’s losses to Indiana and Miami.
Even with that rough finish, the bigger body of work is hard to ignore. Montgomery has started 16 straight games at left guard dating back to the second half of Ohio State’s College Football Playoff run two seasons ago, making him a steady presence on an offensive line that leaned on him heavily. He helped the Buckeyes win a national championship in 2024, then turned in a strong regular season in 2025 by allowing zero sacks in Ohio State’s first 12 games.
That’s why the conversation around Montgomery now is less about whether he’s good and more about whether he can become dominant. If he makes that jump in 2026, it could matter a lot for an Ohio State line that was a weakness last year and is trying to become a strength this season.
He has the frame, the movement and the power to be one of the best guards in the country. What’s left is cleaning up the pass-protection mistakes against elite competition and bringing even more force in the run game.
Montgomery said his offseason work has been centered on growth and getting comfortable in the new offense under coordinator Arthur Smith.
“I knew I had to get better in certain areas of my game and I think that went for everyone. but obviously with the new offense and stuff like that, we gotta be in the building a lot more and really understand that offense so I can get to that point where I can play free. And I think I'm doing that, so it's been a lot of fun.”
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Ohio State Freshman Legend Bey Is Starting To Look Worth The Hype
Legend Bey is already getting the kind of early buzz that follows a recruit with real upside, and the freshmans place in Ohio States 2026 class has only grown more noteworthy with the black stripe now off his helmet. Even with missed practice time because of injury and a suspension along the way, he has managed to stay part of the conversation around the Buckeyes young talent, which says plenty about how the staff views him.
Ryan Day has described Bey as a dynamic player with significant potential, and that fits the path that brought him to Columbus in the first place. His recruitment went through a twisty stretch before he signed with Ohio State, including a flip from Tennessee after he was released from his original commitment, so the Buckeyes knew they were getting a player whose story was already a little different. Now the only real question is how quickly that promise turns into a bigger role. [Read more 🡒]
Ohio State Freshman Legend Bey Is Pushing For A Real Fall Role
Legend Beys first months at Ohio State have already had a little bit of everything, from a winding recruitment that included commitments to Tennessee and the Buckeyes to an early offseason that kept him out of some spring practices. The true freshman running back is back on the field now, and the staffs interest in him has not faded. Even with two established backs ahead of him on the depth chart, Ohio State still sees room for Bey because of the way he can fit into multiple parts of the offense.
What makes Bey worth watching this fall is less about where he sits today and more about how the Buckeyes might use him if they want to get him touches. The coaching staff has looked at him as a player who could be deployed creatively on offense and on special teams, which gives him a clearer path to early playing time than a typical freshman buried on the depth chart. His return to practice has put him back in position to keep pushing for that role, and Ohio State will have to decide how much of it it wants to carve out. [Read more 🡒]
Ohio State Has One More Captain Debate Fans Will Jump On
Ryan Day has already put the 2026 Ohio State captains in place, and the list comes with a little extra intrigue because it includes seven names, not the more familiar handful fans are used to sorting through. Austin Siereveld and Brandon Inniss are back on the honor roll for a second straight year, a sign that the coaching staff sees real continuity in the leadership group as the Buckeyes turn the page to another season.
Even so, the conversation around captains does not really end when the announcement is made. There is still room for debate about whether the room should be bigger, and players such as Luke Montgomery and Earl Little Jr. naturally invite that kind of discussion as Ohio State looks for the right mix of experience, voice and presence. The official list is set, but this is the sort of decision Buckeye fans will keep revisiting because leadership on a team this size always feels like more than a formality. [Read more 🡒]