Ohio State hit the trifecta on in-state offensive linemen this cycle when it landed four-star West Chester (Ohio) Lakota East product Austin Siereveld on Wednesday afternoon. The 6-foot-5, 315-pound prospect joins fellow Ohioans Joshua Padilla and Luke Montgomery in the Buckeyes’ Ohio-centric 2023 offensive line class.
What Ohio State is getting
Siereveld kept a low profile during his recruiting process which has probably caused his commitment to be a little bit less hyped than it should be, but he is a fantastic and versatile talent.
I was recently able to watch Siereveld at the Ohio Under Armour camp and he was probably one of the more surprisingly impressive prospects at the event. Coming out of a triple option offense at Lakota East, I thought he might struggle in pass protection during the 1-on-1 competition, but he was surprisingly comfortable with his pass sets and he really has tremendous quickness and ability to stay in front of interior pass rushers.
Siereveld probably has the feet to play tackle if needed, but his future will likely be as an athletic and hard-nosed offensive guard, especially if the Buckeyes can finish this class off with another tackle prospect or two.
Siereveld is also a high academic kid, which could always bring questions about potentially playing center into the fold as that position requires a cerebral player to make sure the proper protections are being called.
In terms of class fit, Siereveld fits in very well with Padilla and Montgomery. In some ways Siereveld is the yin to Montgomery’s yang. Montgomery is a tackle prospect who could move inside if needed where Siereveld is more of a guard prospect who could kick outside if needed so the two complement each other very well with Padilla being more of your traditional interior plugger.
What it means for recruiting
New Ohio State offensive line coach Justin Frye is off to a good start, securing in-state priority targets Luke Montgomery and Austin Siereveld this off-season to join Josh Padilla. The Buckeyes have to put a fence around Ohio when it comes to offensive line recruiting as it is the one position where the state seems to have a built-in advantage when it comes to talent. Frye is making good on his first major task as head of the O-Line Room and can now go Big Game Hunting out-of-state to finish his first class off.
The focus of that search will likely be at tackle. While Siereveld could probably play tackle in a pinch, he and Padilla are likely slated to play on the interior at the next level with Luke Montgomery looking to get his first shot at tackle.
The Buckeyes are now very well positioned on the interior moving forward but will need to add at least one, if not two, more tackle bodies to finish this cycle off. Finnish Import Olaus Alinen is at the very top of that wish list and will make his official visit the final weekend of June. That is currently shaping up to be an Ohio State vs. Alabama battle and one that, if the Buckeyes can win it, would certainly propel this O-Line class into being one of best nationally in 2023. Samson Okunlola is another prospect that Ohio State would love to add to this class but the odds are longer there at the moment than with Alinen.
New Jersey star Chase Bisontis and Indiana’s Trevor Lauck are two more worth keeping an eye on and if the Buckeyes would be able to land two of the above prospects, you could see them go for that and push this to a five-man O-Line class.
As always, the Spring Evaluation Period and June prospect camps could bring new names into the fold if someone jumps out to Frye.
