Ohio State offensive lineman on watch list for Rimington Trophy

The Rimington Trophy is an award that honors the best center in the country during the college football season. On Friday afternoon, the preseason watch list for the 2024 award was announced and the Ohio State Buckeyes had a representative on the list.

Seth McLaughlin, who transferred from Alabama, was one of six Big Ten Conference representatives on the list of 40 centers. Logan Jones of Iowa, Jonah Monheim of USC, Gus Hartwig of Purdue, Iapani Laloulu of Oregon and Ben Scott of Nebraska were the other five.

This isn’t the first preseason honor for McLaughlin. The veteran center was also on the guard list for the Wuerffel Trophy just a week before being named to the guard list for the Rimington Trophy.

McLaughlin has been practicing at center for the team during fall camp and has been expected to be a regular for some time. Ohio State’s starting center from last year, Carson Hinzman, is part of the competition for the starting right guard spot.

McLaughlin’s ability to add experience to Ohio State’s offensive line could prove extremely beneficial for the Buckeyes. If he can play consistently in the middle of the offensive line, it will help everyone else around him. It could also make him a serious contender to win the Rimington Trophy.

The Rimington Trophy committee announced that it worked with Pro Football Focus to narrow the list of centers down to 40. Once the season begins, schools will still have the opportunity to nominate their centers for short-term additions based on their performance during the season.

As the list of representatives narrows to semifinalists and then finalists toward the end of the season, it will be interesting to see if McLaughlin remains on the list of top centers for this year’s award.