Sorry to see anyone leave, but Tanner was a nice story. He is not an elite OL if you just watch any amount of the bowls games. I realize he was 2nd team Pac12 and more importantly an experienced starter. However, even more importantly he did not want to be here, so his talent level and discussion of the potential "loss" is really a moot point.
But, the more I watched the bowls the more I see OL play as a Pac12 weakness. There is no big "bag" waiting for him at any rate as the big $ schools have better potential talent in the 2 and 3 deep. More NIL $ than OSU will offer, probably!?
Other than a probable 1st rd. pick and some publications that probably never saw OSU play, all you have to do is look at the top 5-10 bowl games to see what elite OLs look like. OSU did well with the level of recruits it landed, but our OL was not "one of the best in the country" even having (4) on the 1st/2nd team Pac12 team.
I know there will be huge disagreement based on some national publication(s) and All-Pac12 awards, but recent draft history shows the OL has not been the Pac12's strength. The draft is one measure but pretty telling (DraftHistory.com... not sure of it's accuracy as I've seen it before today?):
Tackles drafted from the Pac12... ('23) 1 of 19; ('22) 2 of 22; ('21) 2 of 27; ('20) 3 of 21; ('19) 4 of 19; ('18) 3 of 19; ('17) 4 of 15; ('16) 2 of 18; ('15) 2 of 19;
Guards drafted from the Pac12... ('23) 4 of 15; ('22) 0 of 21; ('21) 2 of 11; ('20) 1 of 18; ('19) 0 of 15; ('18) 1 of 10; ('17) 2 of 12; ('16) 2 of 17; ('15) 2 of 21;
Centers drafter from the Pac12... ('23) 1 of 10; ('22) 1 of 6; ('21) 1 of 10; ('20) 2 of 10; ('19) 0 of 7; ('18) 1 of 12; ('17) 1 of 7; ('16) 1 of 7; ('15) 1 of 8;
I stopped at 2015 cuz I was bored! But that is (46) total OL drafted in the last 9 drafts.
OSU has had (3) OL drafted in that span, (15) total players... just out of curiosity which has zero meaning intended:
WSU... (4) and (12) total;
MWC teams...San Diego State... (3) and (13) total;
Boise State... (2) and (17) total;
Fresno State... (2) and (8) total;
Wyoming... (1) and (8) total;
San Jose State... (1) and (6);
Nevada... (2) and (4) total;
Air Force... (1) and (2) total;
Colorado State... (0) and (7) total;
Utah State... (0) and (5)
Hawaii... (0) and (4) total;
UNLV... (0) and (0) since 2010!?
Pac12 teams...Arizona... (0) and (6) total;
ASU... (3) and (20) total;
California.. (0) and (16) total;
UCLA... (7) and (37) total;
Colorado... (3) and (10) total;
Oregon... (6) and (29) total;
USC... (6) and (37) total;
Stanford... (5) and (35) total;
Utah... (6) and (30) total;
Washington... (3) and (30) total;