How the Ohio State football team will replace Seth McLaughlin on the offensive line

The Ohio State football team has suffered another cataclysmic injury. Senior center Seth McLaughlin has suffered a torn Achilles. It's the second season-ending injury to a starting offensive lineman for the Buckeyes this season. Josh Simmons was lost for the season during the Oregon game.

Now the Ohio State Buckeyes have a big problem on their hands. They already had issues reshuffling the offensive line after Simmons went down. It's going to be even harder to reconfigure up front with McLaughlin down. Who will start up front with him lost for the year?

There has been some talk of putting Josh Padilla at center and keeping Carson Hinzman at left guard. Padilla is a sophomore who has never gotten significant snaps. He's a former four-star recruit, so he does have talent. Is it the right move to put him in the lineup?

Finding the best offensive line combination for the Ohio State football team

Putting Padilla in as the starting center at this stage of the season seems like the wrong move. The Buckeyes are playing a top-five team this weekend. They need someone who has experience calling out protections and dealing with pressure. Padilla doesn't have those things.

Hinzman is probably the right person to move to center. He had been training at center all year until he was needed to start at left guard. Putting him at center and having Austin Siereveld start at left guard. Siereveld has at least played this year, even if he hasn't been great.

Jackson, Siereveld, Hinzman, Tshabola, and Fryar is probably the right combination for what the Ohio State football team has to deal with right now. They don't have a lot of options. This is the worst possible time for this injury to occur. Seth McLaughlin has been one of the most important players on this team.

Will Howard is going to have to be even better in order to keep the Buckeyes in the winner's circle in these final games.