No unit on an adversity-overcoming 2024 Ohio State football roster fought through more fires than its offensive line.
The unit lost midseason All-American (Josh Simmons), then Rimington Trophy winner (Seth McLaughlin) to season-ending injuries during the campaign. The base starting five received several shuffles, both from those absences and a few failed attempts to stitch a new quality front together. But the offensive line gelled one last time in December and pushed the Buckeyes to a national championship during a gritty four-game College Football Playoff run.
All but one player from last year's starting five is gone, but four contributors from that CFP climb return to fill three starting positions. An excellent two-man transfer portal haul will flank the starting trio that emerges from that group on the interior, barring any surprises.
The pieces are there for the room to be a real strength for Ohio State in 2025, especially if its younger players take another step this spring. Offensive tackle depth is a concern, however, and will need building throughout March and April.
In Line to Start: Ethan Onianwa, Carson Hinzman, Phillip Daniels
There’s a good bit of prognosticating here as to who is in line to start and who is in a position battle, especially as new offensive line coach Tyler Bowen arrives at Ohio State from Virginia Tech. But the center and flanks of the Buckeyes’ offensive line war plan seem the most established.
Onianwa, arguably the most important transfer portal addition Ohio State made during the winter window, is being brought in to play left tackle, replacing Simmons and national championship hero Donovan Jackson, who slid out from guard after Simmons’ injury and became one of the best tackles in college football.
A 6-foot-6, 345-pound behemoth, Onianwa brings 34 starts of experience with him from Rice to Ohio State. He allowed just one sack and nine pressures on 350 pass-blocking snaps last season, per Pro Football Focus. That's one pressure for every 38.9 pass block reps.
Hes the best offensive lineman in the portal and its not even close. Cant believe he didnt declare. https://t.co/6NMc1U1zbm
— Tom Luginbill (@TomLuginbill) December 24, 2024
Opposite Onianwa at right tackle figures to be the Minnesota transfer Daniels, though the redshirt sophomore only has four career starts under his belt. Standing 6-foot-5, 315 pounds, Daniels was ranked as the No. 5 offensive tackle and No. 45 player in the portal by 247Sports. He allowed one sack and nine total pressures in 158 pass-blocking snaps in 2024, per PFF. His overall grade of 58.7 was firmly below Onianwa’s mark of 74.6, so his development will be crucial in spring practice.
While position battles might brew around him at offensive guard, Hinzman is the clear successor to McLaughlin at center, starting the final nine games of the season for the Buckeyes, the first three at left guard and the final six at center after McLaughlin’s injury.
Hinzman also started at center for Ohio State in 2023 but struggled much of the season as a mere redshirt freshman and was benched for that year’s Cotton Bowl. He struggled again at the position in his first two games after taking over for McLaughlin but found his footing in the CFP as with the rest of the Buckeyes’ offensive line.
“Big 75, Carson Hinzman, the things he’s done this season, the adversity he’s gone through, it makes him a stronger person and I know for a fact in my heart, next season when he comes up he’s going to be the best center in college football,” now-former Buckeye right tackle Josh Fryar said after Ohio State’s national title win. “I know that in my heart.”
Competing to Start: Luke Montgomery, Austin Siereveld, Tegra Tshabola
Where Ohio State’s right guard competition at this time last season felt like a battle of unproven assets with growth still to do, the Buckeyes enter 2025 with a trio of guards that have invaluable CFP experience under their belts.
Tshabola and Sierveld rolled at right guard much of the regular season for Ohio State, and then Montgomery got involved in a three-man rotation at both guard spots come CFP time. Montgomery proceeded to overtake both men and become the Buckeyes’ full-time left guard in the final two games of the playoff run.
That leaves him in the best position to lock down a starting job heading into this spring, summer and fall, though there will be renewed competition from Tshabola and Siereveld as Bowen works to establish his best starting five. Still, Montgomery was the highest-touted recruit of the trio as a composite top-100 recruit. Plus, the junior has a long list of clips like these from the CFP:
Luke Montgomery HOLY COW pic.twitter.com/xS86qYc4O9
— Anand Nanduri (@NanduriNFL) December 22, 2024
Tshabola enters his redshirt junior year aiming to take another leap after some third-year inconsistencies, though his rotation with Siereveld seemed to benefit both players in the CFP. If Montgomery capitalizes on his postseason momentum to seize the left guard position, right guard will come down to a contest between Tshabola and the redshirt sophomore Siereveld.
There’s also a fringe option for Tshabola to slide out to right tackle – where he briefly competed to start in spring 2023 before Ohio State landed Simmons from the portal and Fryar took over at RT – if Daniels proves further behind than anticipated.
The Depth
Assuming Tshabola remains at guard, the player who doesn’t start between him, Montgomery and Siereveld will give the Buckeyes fantastic depth on the interior. Redshirt sophomore center Joshua Padilla took some great strides in 2024 and even has a remote possibility to push for a starting job with a massive leap this spring, especially since Hinzman looked great at guard during his games there.
Those two pieces join redshirt freshmen Devontae Armstrong and Gabe VanSickle as backup options on the interior offensive line, with freshmen Jake Cook and Jayvon McFadden entering the fray as midyear enrollees. There will be good guard and center options if starters go down for the Buckeyes. It’s unclear whether that’s the case at tackle.
With the transfers of Zen Michalski (Indiana) and George Fitzpatrick (Kansas State), Ohio State enters spring with a group comprised exclusively of first- and second-year players to back up Onianwa and Daniels. Redshirt freshman Ian Moore was a composite top-200 prospect and the first freshman offensive lineman to shed his black stripe last year, and as the odds-on favorite to be the top backup at the position, his progression at OT this spring will be key to monitor. Perhaps he can even make Daniels sweat out the right tackle job a little bit.
Fellow redshirt freshman Deontae Armstrong will compete with him for reps, as will freshman midyear enrollee Carter Lowe. But a mere five scholarship players, with three being true or redshirt freshmen, isn't an ideal depth situation at OT for the Buckeyes as things stand.
Freshman to Watch: Carter Lowe
Lowe, an in-state prospect, easily enters with the most recruiting hype of the Buckeyes’ three 2025 offensive line signees. It’s for a good reason.
The Toledo product has a near-prototypical frame for the offensive tackle position at 6-foot-5, 325 pounds, with long arms. He’s got quick feet to handle speed off the edge, and those tools landed him as the No. 74 prospect and No. 11 offensive tackle in the 247Sports composite.
Offensive line is one of the most developmental positions in football, hence why a true freshman hasn’t started up front for Ohio State since Michael Jordan in 2016. Lowe is unlikely to make an impact in year one but could set himself up to compete for a job come 2026, starting by getting his feet on the ground in Columbus this spring.
