Ohio State football: Who's the most important person on both sides of the ball?

Ohio State’s hopes of winning its third consecutive Big Ten championship in 2019, not to mention its ambitions of making the College Football Playoff, depend on a lot of things going right.

If the Buckeyes are to rack up their first B1G three-peat since 2006-08, they will need new coach Ryan Day to mesh together new coaching staff members with returning assistants, succeed at breaking in a new starting quarterback and win in unfriendly confines such as Evanston, Lincoln and Ann Arbor.

But mostly they will need to reestablish some old-fashioned — dare we say Woody Hayes-era old-fashioned — principles of winning football.

Sure, OSU lit up scoreboards last season with Dwayne Haskins at quarterback. But the Buckeyes were a shocking seventh in the B1G and 63rd nationally in rushing offense at 171.3 yards per game. On defense the story was even worse in 2018 as the Scarlet and Gray ranked 11th in the 14-team conference in pass defense (245.2 yards per game) and 10th in total defense (403.4 ypg).

So who are the most important players on each unit? We asked the same question regarding Michigan State and Michigan last week and now we’ll turn to Ohio State.

Offense: Thayer Munford, left tackle

The offensive line will need to be better at run blocking than last season, when J.K. Dobbins saw his average drop to 4.6 yards per carry from 7.2 ypc in 2017. Day says that Dobbins shoulders responsibility for making explosive plays, according to an Associated Press story. But the line has to clear a path for Dobbins as well.

And new starting quarterback Justin Fields, as athletic as he is, won’t be able to shake off bruising defenders all by himself.

Which is why we’d argue that Thayer Munford, the only returning starter on Ohio State’s offensive line, is the most important player on the offense.

Left tackles bear primary responsibility for a right-handed quarterback’s well-being with every dropback. That’s why top-notch left tackles are usually the highest-paid offensive linemen in the NFL (seven of the top 10, according to overthecap.com numbers).

The good news is, OSU was 17th in the nation in sack rate in 2018 and sixth in sack rate on passing downs, all with a less mobile quarterback than Fields. The bad news is, a lot of the offensive line’s responsibility this season will rest on the brawny shoulders of younger players including whoever starts at right tackle, a spot which is still up for grabs.

Munford has been working his way back after back surgery. He said he felt only about 75 percent healthy last season but said that now, “I do feel 100 percent … a lot better than I did last year,” according to the Columbus Dispatch.

Defense: Malik Harrison, linebacker

New linebackers coach Al Washington said there are six LBs who could play a lot on his unit this season, according to Cleveland.com.

But Harrison, second on the team in tackles last season and a preseason Butkus Award watch list candidate, might be the most explosive linebacker on the team.

Harrison’s interception sealed the victory over TCU early last season:

But there also were times when Harrison missed some assignments and tackles last season — endemic of some struggles on the whole defense.

OSU brings a deep defensive line and what should be a solid secondary into 2019, so the linebackers might be the unit most under the microscope should this defense give up big numbers again.

OSU brings back Tuf Borland, also a preseason Butkus Award watch list nominee, and veterans like Pete Werner and Brandon White. But Harrison is the linebacker to watch and the most important player on the Buckeyes defense in 2019.