Ohio State suffers a devastating injury that they couldn’t really afford with a College Football Playoff run approaching
Ohio State has suffered an injury to a player that they just could not really afford to go down. Back in the game against Oregon, Ohio State lost left tackle Josh Simmons for the season. Now, the Buckeyes have lost another key player in the trenches. Seth McLaughlin transferred in from Alabama after last season […]
Ohio State has suffered an injury to a player that they just could not really afford to go down. Back in the game against Oregon, Ohio State lost left tackle Josh Simmons for the season. Now, the Buckeyes have lost another key player in the trenches.
Seth McLaughlin transferred in from Alabama after last season and locked down the starting center job. McLaughlin has been a leader for the Buckeyes and he will now miss the rest of the season.
McLaughlin suffered a serious injury in practice on Thursday and the Buckeyes will now be without their starting center for the final two regular-season games, and then whatever postseason games the Buckeyes can reach. It is a torn achilles for McLaughlin, first reported by the Columbus Dispatch.
The Buckeyes have now lost two key starters along their offensive line and both are likely NFL draft picks. A tough blow for the Buckeyes offense that they will try to patch up and make work down the stretch run of the season. Losing McLaughlin is losing the player who sets up their protection on the field and is a leader on the offense.
"He's been a pro. Calms everything down inside. He just has a calming presence. That's a good feeling as a coach,” Day said earlier in the season. “I do think having that tablet on the sideline is very helpful. I think it's really helpful in terms of our coaching. He gives us great information and he can help us with that, in terms of seeing something in the game."
McLaughlin made 24 starts on 35 career games at Alabama before coming to Columbus. Since arriving in Columbus, McLaughlin has proven to be a big get in the transfer portal.
Now, the Buckeyes must decide who starts at center going forward. Moving Carson Hinzman from left guard to center could be an option since Hinzman was a starter there last season. Perhaps the Buckeyes don’t want to move Hinzman from guard though, where he is playing well. Ohio State could also look to redshirt freshman Joshua Padilla as well if they think he is ready.
All in all, this is a big loss for the Buckeyes and they will have to heavily test their offensive line depth for however far they go in 2024.
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