Ohio State is now down two offensive linemen for the rest of the 2024 season.
According to multiple reports, star center Seth McLaughlin suffered a torn Achilles during practice on Tuesday. McLaughlin has been one of the best centers in the country this season.
McLaughlin’s injury comes as Ohio State had shuffled its offensive line around following a knee injury to left tackle Josh Simmons at Oregon. Guard Donovan Jackson, who had an early-season injury of his own, has played left tackle in Simmons’ absence.
A fifth-year senior, McLaughlin transferred to Ohio State over the offseason. He came from Alabama, where he was the team’s starting center during Nick Saban’s final season. McLaughlin made 24 starts in his career at Alabama and appeared in 35 games in four seasons before arriving in Columbus.
His injury means No. 2 Ohio State will be doing more moving around on its offensive line ahead of Saturday’s big game against No. 5 Indiana. According to Rivals’ Dotting the Eyes, Carson Hinzman “seems like the best option” to take McLaughlin’s spot at center.
Hinzman has been starting at guard with Jackson at tackle. He was the team’s starting center as a redshirt freshman in 2023.
If Hinzman moves to the center, second-year guard Austin Siereveld could slot in as left guard. Siereveld started the first two games at left guard in place of the injured Jackson and then subsequently rotated in some at right guard with Tegra Tshabola. In the last few weeks, Siereveld has been used as a reserve late in games, but he at least has starting experience at left guard.
Another option would be to keep Hinzman at left guard and start redshirt freshman Josh Padilla at center. Padilla didn’t play at all last year and has logged 29 snaps this year, including three last week against Northwestern.
Ohio State’s offense is averaging 5.3 yards per carry this season and over seven yards a play. The Buckeyes have been powered by a run game that features both TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins. The Ole Miss transfer is the team’s leading rusher with 121 carries for 723 yards and Henderson has 89 carries for 662 yards. No other player on the team has at least 200 yards.
