The player Ohio State can’t afford to lose

Offensive linemen rarely receive the kind of attention reserved for quarterbacks, receivers or pass rushers, and centers receive even less. Carson Hinzman might be the exception.

Entering 2026, the redshirt senior is not simply Ohio State’s starting center. He is the player standing directly between Julian Sayin and the rest of the offensive line, responsible for turning five individual players into one functioning unit.

Which makes his importance difficult to capture statistically.

A center’s job begins before the ball is snapped. He has to identify fronts, communicate protections, recognize defensive movement and make sure the other four linemen understand their assignments.

Then comes the actual physical part. Snapping the football, reaching their block, handling interior pressure and creating movement in the run game. One mistake from a center can ruin an entire play.

Hinzman has earned the trust from his teammates and coaches to handle all of it. After starting 12 games at center as a sophomore in 2023, he moved between guard and center during Ohio State’s 2024 national championship season, making nine starts.

When Seth McLaughlin suffered a season-ending Achilles injury, Ohio State immediately turned back to Hinzman at center, starting him the final six games of the season, including the College Football Playoff.

Then he put everything together in 2025. The Wisconsin native started all 14 games at center, and played 841 snaps, which lead all Buckeyes on offense. He also earned first-team AFCA All-American honors and third-team All-Big Ten recognition.

PFF graded him at 73.6 overall, 10th among Power Four centers, with a 71.9 run-blocking grade and 76.0 pass-blocking grade. He allowed only one sack across 443 pass-blocking snaps.

Those numbers help explain why Ohio State’s starting center is so difficult to replace. But they still do not fully explain why losing him would be such a problem.

Consider what Hinzman allows everyone else to do when he’s playing well.

Julian Sayin can operate knowing the protection is being organized in front of him. Guards can play aggressively because they know who they are responsible for. Tackles can focus on their individual matchups instead of worrying about whether an interior stunt has been properly communicated. The running game benefits too.

Hinzman is not necessarily the player Ohio State will ask to flatten a defensive tackle 10 yards downfield. His value is often more subtle. He has to get the line moving in the same direction, execute combination blocks with the guards and keep the interior from collapsing.

That becomes particularly important under Arthur Smith, whose offense is expected to place an even greater emphasis on physicality and the run game.

Ohio State has plenty of individual talent along the offensive line. Luke Montgomery is back. Austin Siereveld is entering another season with significant experience. Phillip Daniels returns. Josh Padilla provides versatility. But having the pieces is one thing.

Making them work as one unit is another, and Carson Hinzman may be the player who ties the entire offensive line together.

That is why the possibility of losing him is different from losing almost any other offensive lineman. If a tackle goes down, another tackle can theoretically step in and the rest of the line can remain intact. If a guard gets injured, the Buckeyes can move pieces around.

At center, the consequences can spread. The replacement has to learn the quarterback’s cadence, understand the protection system, communicate with both guards, snap consistently and make the same pre-snap decisions Hinzman has been making.

Most importantly, the quarterback has to trust him. That is not something a team simply replaces in a week.

There is another reason Hinzman matters so much in 2026, experience. He enters the season with 35 career starts, the most of any returning Ohio State offensive lineman, and he is one of the few players on the roster who has experienced essentially every version of the Buckeyes’ recent offensive lines.

He has been a young starter. He has been replaced. He has moved positions. He has played during a national championship run. He has returned to the lineup after losing his starting job, and now he enters his final season as one of the leaders of the unit.

That progression is what makes Hinzman’s 2025 season so important. He wasn’t simply handed the center job and asked to keep the seat warm. He had already gone through the uncertainty, position changes and competition that come with trying to establish yourself at Ohio State. When his opportunity came back around, he was ready for it.

Now, the expectation is no longer simply to prove he belongs. It is to become the player Ohio State can build its offensive line around. He is no longer the young player trying to prove he belongs. He is the veteran everyone else can lean on.

That is also reflected in his preseason recognition. Hinzman was named to the 2026 Rimington Trophy watch list, as well as the Outland Trophy watch list. The Rimington recognition is particularly fitting. The award is specifically for the nation’s top center, and Hinzman enters the season firmly within that conversation after ranking among the country’s best returning centers according to PFF.

There is a legitimate path for him to turn 2026 into an All-American season and perhaps a serious Rimington Trophy campaign. Ohio State does not need Hinzman to win an award for his season to be successful. They need him to be the player who makes everyone else around him better.

That is ultimately what makes Hinzman such an interesting player to evaluate. If he stays healthy and plays 14 or 15 games, fans may not think about him very much, and that is probably a compliment.

They will see Sayin operating comfortably in the pocket. They will see Ohio State running the football. They will see the Buckeyes navigate defensive pressure and adjust at the line of scrimmage.

They may never associate those things directly with the center. But take Hinzman away, and suddenly every one of those areas becomes much more complicated. Ohio State has enough talent to withstand an injury at almost every position.

At center, however, there is a much greater possibility that one injury could create problems somewhere else too.

That is why Carson Hinzman’s importance cannot be measured by sacks allowed, run-blocking grades or even his 841 snaps from a year ago. His greatest contribution may be that Ohio State does not have to worry about who is making the calls in the middle.

For a team with national championship expectations, that kind of certainty is invaluable. And in 2026, the Ohio State player nobody can afford to lose might be the one wearing No. 75 in the middle of everything.