Where will the Lakota East graduate be on the Buckeyes’ offensive line?
That remains to be seen.
“I don’t think we’re in a position to really get into, like, who’s starting and who isn’t, but Austin Siereveld is going to be a starter for us,” head coach Ryan Day said Tuesday in his first interview since the end of spring football practice.
“He’s an excellent player. Really had a good spring for us, and we can talk about (positions) as we get closer to preseason.”
Siereveld was a three-star prospect as an interior lineman in the class of 2023, but he has climbed the depth chart despite Ohio State changing offensive line coaches twice since he verbally committed in May of 2022.
He ended up being a part-time starter last season at guard, but his emergence as an option at tackle in the eyes of new position coach Tyler Bowen came as a surprise to outsiders despite that being an obvious position of need for the Buckeyes.
With starters Donovan Jackson and Josh Fryar graduating, the coaching staff brought in transfers Ethan Onianwa from Rice and Phillip Daniels from Minnesota to compete with the players returning to Columbus.
While Onianwa was a multi-year starter for the Owls, Daniels was just a redshirt freshman for the Golden Gophers so he is still in more of a developmental phase of his career.
Inside, Ohio State has returning starters Tegra Tshabola of Lakota West High School and Carson Hinzman, who played both guard and center.
Luke Montgomery also started games for the Buckeyes inside last season, and Wayne High School graduate Joshua Padilla received steady praise for his work in his third spring in Columbus.
“I thought Tegra, Carson, Luke and Ethan got better,” Day said of spring practice. “Josh Padilla got better. There’s a lot of guys there that I felt like were really improving on a day-to-day basis.”
The coach admitted having to weigh how they looked against a younger group of defensive lineman as opposed to seniors J.T. Tuimolau, Jack Sawyer, Tyleik Williams and Ty Hamilton, who were all picked in the NFL Draft last weekend, but Day still felt good overall.
“Overall, the offensive line probably won more than they lost over the spring,” Day said.
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