Carson Hinzman will be the the Buckeyes starting center for the second time in three years. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
This week’s practices might be enough to determine who starts at left tackle, who starts at right tackle and who is in place to back up both starters. And still no word on which quarterback they will be blocking for against Texas.
By Marcus Hartman for Press Pros
Columbus, OH – Ohio State football coach Ryan Day did not surprise reporters Monday and declare a starting quarterback.
He found another way by using a position group nearly as important to the Buckeyes’ chances of repeating as national champions — or just opening 1-0 with a win against Texas.
Whatever we thought we knew about the offensive line heading into the preseason seems to be getting turned on its head.
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Yes, Carson Hinzman appears to be in line to return as the starting center, and Luke Montgomery and Tegra Tshabola are back at guard, where they shared time with Austin Siereveld last season.
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Tackle is where speculation gets interesting.
Siereveld put together a fantastic offseason and was penciled in as the right tackle at the end of spring practice despite being primarily regarded as a guard since arriving from Lakota East High School in 2023.
Last week, Day let it slip he moved to left tackle, which was eye-raising, but the plot thickened again Monday. Siereveld, it seems, has solidified his hold on left tackle while Phillip Daniels is getting a long look at right tackle.
That is most curious because it could leave Ethan Onianwa, a fifth-year senior transfer from Rice, as the swing tackle backing up both sides.
The 6-foot-7, 331-pound Onianwa might even end up at guard, though Ohio State appears much deeper there than tackle.
“It’s important as we get closer to this first game for guys to really dig in and get the majority of the snaps at where they’re going to play,” Day said. “We’re seeing Austin take a lot of snaps at left tackle, and we’re seeing Phil take a lot of snaps at right tackle. Ethan is swinging and doing a good job.
“We’ll see. By the end of this week, we’ll have more and more snaps, more and more information, and go from there.”
So, what to make of all that?
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As is usually the case in August, this situation could be viewed in multiple ways.
On the positive side, Siereveld has been riding a wave of momentum since this time last year when he took advantage of an illness that sidelined many veterans on the offensive line. He gained valuable practice reps that convinced the coaching staff he was worthy of early playing time. He played 499 offensive snaps as a redshirt freshman for a team that won the national championship.
This summer, Siereveld apparently impressed new offensive line coach Tyler Bowen and his assistants enough to be counted on to protect the blind side of the as-yet-unidentified first-year starting quarterback.
Even if he lacks the ceiling of a player like Paris Johnson Jr. or Josh Simmons, perhaps Siereveld has a high floor.
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Daniels was not as highly regarded coming out of Cincinnati Princeton High School two years ago, but projecting offensive linemen as teenagers is about as inexact as science gets. He took a year to develop physically then broke into the starting lineup late last season at Minnesota. If Siereveld and Daniels are both ascending, then these developments can be taken as good news.
“We’ll see this week,” Day said. “There’s enough on film to lead us to believe that we can win with both guys.”
Onianwa, who started 25 games at right tackle and nine at left for Rice, could be a solid Plan B. At a place like Ohio State, that might be a good sign overall for the unit.
On the other hand, if Onianwa isn’t what Day and his staff were hoping he would be when they signed him out of the portal and they are starting five guards this fall as a result, then that might not be so good.
For now, Day expressed confidence in the depth of the offensive line room overall, but the starting lineup is still being sorted out.
“The most important thing is that the five starting guys are executing at a high level and doing their job,” Day said. “But I do think the depth is strong, which is great. It’s great for competition, but the guys who are the starters have to perform.”
Options are good, but having an elite starting unit is better — at least as long as no one gets hurt.
Last year offered a great example of all this for the Buckeyes.
They weathered the loss of left tackle Simmons in the middle of the season, but the season-ending Achilles tendon injury to center Seth McLaughlin likely played a mammoth role in the embarrassing loss to Michigan.
Nonetheless, the Buckeyes worked Montgomery into the rotation during the playoffs, got more snaps for Siereveld and found a way to play well enough (with Hinzman returning to center, where he struggled as the starter in 2023) to win a national championship.
All that experience should pay off this fall. Nothing replaces time on task when it comes to offensive line play in the Big Ten, and even five-star recruits usually struggle until they have a year or two to put on their man strength during many long days in the weight room.
Ohio State is short on five-star talent up front this year, but the Buckeyes have more experience than usual.
That could be even more valuable in the end, but this is all made even more interesting with the quarterback decision still looming.
Not that many expected Day to name a starter before next week, but if Julian Sayin or Lincoln Kienholz had knocked his socks off since camp started at the end of July, perhaps the coach would have done so.
In the 12-team College Football Playoff era, teams are allowed some time to develop. No longer is the visit from the Longhorns a must win, or anything close to it.
There is time to break in a new quarterback, but the offensive linemen can only age so much before January, so the machinations revealed Monday might be most important in the long run.
“You know, sometimes it’s hard to tell,” Day replied when asked about the overall state of the team after its first big scrimmage of the preseason. “I think that we’re growing. I think we still have work to do. There were things that I felt like we definitely improved with last week. There’s still things that we’ve got to get fixed, we’ve got to get addressed. Coming out of the weekend, I felt like we were able to identify some guys that built some depth. Some position battles are still going to go on.
“This is a big week to take the next step for us. I think the effort’s there. I think the overall execution’s got to improve. Each side of the ball has their things that they need to grow upon.”
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