With any potential offensive line transfer portal upgrades already committed elsewhere, Ohio State will rely on its veterans up front to take a major step in 2026.
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Ohio State Sticking With Veterans, Banking on Development for Offensive Line
Ohio State will be dependent on development from its offensive line this offseason.
The transfer portal closed 10 days ago, and the Buckeyes haven't made any additions on the offensive side of their trenches. They found potential new starters at safety, nickel, defensive tackle, defensive end, wide receiver and tight end, but this late in the cycle, adding a starting-caliber offensive lineman is all but out of the question. Dartmouth offensive tackle Vasean Washington visited Ohio State earlier this week, but he would be a depth add if he signs with OSU.
Only a handful of players from the top 500 in 247Sports' transfer portal rankings remain uncommitted at this stage, and none are offensive linemen. The Buckeyes were rarely linked to any top names.
After the offensive line emerged as Ohio State's top weakness in the final two games of the 2025 season, many of the same bodies will be back to form the front five again in 2026. Ryan Day is banking on offensive line coach Tyler Bowen and the veteran players of his unit to take massive strides this winter, spring and summer.
Left Side Locked In
There are no changes expected from the left tackle, left guard or center positions at Ohio State in 2026. Those three spots will be occupied by redshirt junior Austin Siereveld, senior Luke Montgomery and redshirt senior Carson Hinzman, respectively.
Siereveld emerged as the best part of a maligned Buckeye offensive line last season. Switching positions from offensive guard to left tackle, he was the only of Ohio State’s five starting offensive linemen not to give up a sack in 2025, per Pro Football Focus. That’s in 425 pass-block reps, and he may have been better in run-blocking. PFF gave him an overall grade of 83 for the year, almost 10 points higher than the Buckeyes’ next-highest-graded offensive lineman, Montgomery (73.7).
Montgomery, meanwhile, earned second-team All-Big Ten honors but closed the year in a fashion well below the Ohio kid's standards. Ohio State allowed 10 combined sacks between its Big Ten Championship Game loss to Indiana and College Football Playoff quarterfinals loss to Miami, and three of them were credited to Montgomery, his first three sacks allowed of the season.
On the ground, the Buckeyes had a combined 103 rushing yards on 50 carries across the two postseason tragedies that stuck midnight on their season, a meager 2.1 yards per carry, though the 10 sacks are included in that figure.
Hinzman can be considered a fourth-year starter at center. He was thrust into the role as a redshirt freshman in 2023 and struggled all year for another maligned front five, but was central to the heroics of Ohio State's 2024 national-title-winning offensive line. He took over at left guard two games after a season-ending injury to Josh Simmons, then slid back to center when Remington Trophy winner Seth McLaughlin ruptured his Achilles tendon before the Buckeyes' 11th game.
In 2025, Hinzman allowed one sack with 16 total pressures in pass blocking, per PFF. He finished with a run-blocking grade of 71.9, third behind Siereveld and Montgomery among the Buckeyes' starting five.
Hinzman has 35 games started in his career. Siereveld and Montgomery add 20 and 16. That's 71 starts of experience from left tackle through center for Ohio State, but there's certainly room to grow in consistency and ceiling from the interior tandem of the trio. They need to be true anchors as Siereveld was.
Right Side to be Sorted
Right guard Tegra Tshabola is gone. He started 29 games at right guard for Ohio State in 2024 and 2025, but never felt in full control of the position due to the inconsistencies that marred his play. Most of his starts, someone else rotated with him.
A new starter is going to need to step up on the right side in Tshabola's wake. The two positions are expected to be some configuration of four players: Phillip Daniels, Joshua Padilla, Gabe VanSickle and Ian Moore.
Daniels started at right tackle in 2025 and brought a nasty attitude that, unfortunately, didn't always translate into consistent high-level play. He inspired confidence at Michigan in Ohio State's regular-season finale, alongside the rest of the slobs, as the Buckeyes out-rushed the Wolverines 186 to 100, gouging them for a 20-play drive that effectively iced the game in the third quarter. It inspired confidence in the offensive line for the ensuing Big Ten title game and CFP – confidence that proved unwarranted.
Against Indiana, Daniels surrendered a sack. Against Miami, he allowed four pressures. PFF didn't grade him out particularly well on the season, giving him a 62 in pass blocking and 65.9 in run blocking. But he's got the mentality and athleticism to take a step with proper development and is the most likely starter of the quartet competing on the right side with his 16 starts of experience.
As much of a mauler's mentality as Daniels possesses – one that sometimes punished him against quicker defensive ends – there's a thought the offensive line could be best served moving him inside to right guard and placing right tackle on the shoulders of Moore. The redshirt sophomore Moore made his first career start at Purdue in 2025, and there's measured excitement about his potential in year three as a top-170 prospect in the recruiting class of 2024.
Padilla and VanSickle are both factors at right guard if Daniels sticks at right tackle. Padilla, a redshirt junior, rotated with Tshabola at the position for four games until he sustained an injury against Penn State that held him out until the Miami game. VanSickle took over the rotational duties in the meantime and saw a big rise until he started that very contest against the Hurricanes over Padilla with Tshabola out.
VanSickle was overwhelmed by the onslaught of Miami's defensive line. He allowed three pressures and one sack with a pass-blocking grade of zero, per PFF. Padilla replaced him on Ohio State's sixth drive and played the rest of the game, performing much better. In a limited sample size of 128 snaps, Padilla was one of the Buckeyes' highest-graded offensive linemen in 2025, at 73.7 overall, 73.3 in run blocking and 68.1 in pass blocking.
Perhaps no set of position battles will be more important for Ohio State this offseason than what needs to be sorted on the right side of its offensive front.
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