Cross-training along the offensive line saved Ohio State’s national championship run in 2024.
When Josh Simmons went down with a season-ending injury in Week 7 at Oregon, the offensive line struggled with his replacement, Zen Michalski, against Nebraska the next game. The Buckeyes barely beat their inferior foe 21-17 in that contest. What salvaged the season? Donovan Jackson moved from left guard to left tackle, where he’d never played before in his collegiate career.
Then there was Carson Hinzman, who started at center in 2023, plugged in at left guard when Jackson slid out in 2024 and moved back to center after Seth McLaughlin sustained his own season-ending injury.
With that in mind, it was no surprise to see offensive guard Austin Siereveld working at left tackle as Ohio State opened spring practice on Monday.
“Now that we're going to a roster of 105, it looks like that's where we're headed, we have to have versatility,” Day said. “Guys have to be able to play multiple positions. You saw that happen with Donovan, you saw it happen with Carson this year, you've seen it happen with a lot of our guys. And so we wanna be able to teach guys in dual roles this year. I think it's important, and not just on the offensive line.”
Day said that Ohio State will expect its tight ends to know how to play receiver and have receivers that can play out of the backfield in 2025, particularly slot wideout Brandon Inniss. Cross-training will be a team-wide affair.
“At 105, that's tough, because when you look at the NFL, people are gonna say, well, they have a 56-man roster,” Day said. “But the truth is, when they bring guys in and send guys onto waivers, most teams are in the north of 115, 120 of guys in the building and out of the building. Well, if you only have 105 guys to work with, and some of those guys are young freshmen, then you have to have versatility in all those positions.”
But the impetus is especially there along Ohio State’s front five, and it makes additional sense in Siereveld’s case as the Buckeyes have a potential offensive tackle depth issue if one or two players get hurt in 2025.
Ethan Onianwa transferred in from Rice to play left tackle and Phillip Daniels projects as Ohio State’s starter at right tackle after he transferred in from Minnesota, though redshirt freshman Ian Moore will compete with him for that job. Moore worked opposite Siereveld with the Buckeyes’ first-team offensive line on Monday as all of the team’s transfer portal acquisitions were kept out of the first team as they acclimate to Columbus.
Beyond Onianwa, Daniels and Moore, the only other listed tackles on the Buckeyes’ roster are redshirt freshman Deontae Armstrong and midyear-enrolled freshman Carter Lowe. So taking a guard like Siereveld with six starts of experience – two in the College Football Playoff – and preparing him for some tackle makes great sense.
“Being here the last three-and-a-half, four weeks, whatever it's been, and diving into the cut-ups and seeing how many different guys came in and played integral roles on the way to the championship, I think it's a very unique situation,” new offensive line coach Tyler Bowen said on March 7. “We got a lot of guys, particularly on the interior, that have played a lot of football, rotated through. So that should help us as we go into spring.”
Bowen’s noticed his line’s capability for flexibility since first watching their film after he took the Ohio State job.
“I'd say the thing that stands out to me is the athleticism in the room,” Bowen said. “The guys that can pull and kick out and get on the perimeter and do things. I think there's a general level of athleticism that sticks out. And guys that have experienced different spots, you hope as we get in the spring, and hope's a bad strategy, but as we go through spring, we're able to create some flexibility up front.”
Day would obviously love it if his offensive line stayed healthy all season and the group’s original starting five carried the team through the entire year. But he and the Buckeyes are preparing for the worst in hoping for the best.
“We've seen Austin play guard,” Day said. “We want him to play some tackle. We want Luke to play guard. We want him to play some center. We want Tegra to be able to move around. It'll give us more versatility, especially late in the season.”
