Ohio State’s projected starting offensive tackles have caught the injury bug. Returning starters Phillip Daniels and Austin Siereveld are currently sidelined with injuries, meaning backups Carter Lowe and Ian Moore are receiving first-team reps during spring practices.
Day said Siereveld and Daniels will be out for the rest of the spring with their injuries, and that Lowe and Moore will have an important opportunity to fill their shoes.
“It was good to see those guys get some reps and kind of get forced into it, and they’ll be like that for the rest of spring,” Day said. “It’s great to see both Ian and Carter have to step up in a big way. It’s one thing when you’re the second guy, or maybe the third for Carter, but now he’s getting reps with the ones and is going against the best guys over on the other side of the ball. This is a great opportunity for him, and he has to take it and run. It’s not just the physical part. It’s the mental part, being able to do it and then consistently do it over and over again. I know it happened a couple of years ago in preseason camp. We had some guys out in the offensive line. Some guys had to step up, and that paid off dividends down the road.”
In their practice open to students, fans and media on student appreciation day on Saturday, Lowe and Moore had their share of struggles in pass protection, with Buckeye defensive lineman seemingly able to pressure rising sophomore starting quarterback Julian Sayin at will.
The growing pains are somewhat to be expected. Lowe, a redshirt freshman, has only appeared in two games in his Ohio State career. But even though both Lowe and Moore are not currently projected as starters, Day said each player could earn playing time even when Siereveld and Daniels return.
“We need (Lowe and Moore) to finish with two really good weeks of work, and they’ll be right at the point of attack,” Day said. “And so they need to really step up for us, because not only are they playing for depth, but they’re playing for a starting position. Everything is on the board, and the more guys we have that can play, the more we’re going to put them in the game.”
Day added that if the Buckeyes have several offensive tackles shine in the spring, they could eventually bump one player over to guard.
“We’ll try to find the best five,” Day said. “Josh Padilla is another one that has been out this spring, so how does he fit in? That’s what we’re trying to figure out. The good news about Austin is that he has flexibility right there (to move to guard), so we’ll look at it. Josh has flexibility. So we’ll try to find the best five, the best we can, and all we can do is just keep practicing every day and evaluate what we have.”
