The worst fears were confirmed for the Ohio State Buckeyes on Tuesday as one of their star players will be out for the year.
During his press conference on Tuesday, Ohio State head coach Ryan Day announced that left tackle Josh Simmons will officially miss the rest of the season with a knee injury he sustained during the team’s loss to Oregon.
Simmons was perhaps the most important player on Ohio State’s roster and one of the top offensive linemen in the country.
Needless to say, this is a major blow for Ohio State and their national title chances.
It’s also an unfortunate bit of bad luck for Simmons as he was set to be one of the top offensive line prospects in the upcoming NFL Draft.
Simmons suffered a non-contact knee injury during the final play of the first quarter against Oregon. He was carted off the field and did not return to the game. Now, it’s been confirmed that he will miss the remainder of the season.
Following his injury, backup left tackle Zen Michalski filled in for Simmons in the game and he is expected to start in his place for the remainder of the season.
“That’s why you have to build depth,” Day said according to On3. “You knew this was going to happen midway through the season. So couple guys, we’ll get back for sure, other guys like Josh and Will [Kacmarek], it’ll be a while.”
Michalski finished the game with the lowest pass-blocking grade of any of Ohio State’s offensive linemen, according to PFT.
We’ll have to see how Michalski fares in Simmons’ place the rest of the season.
[On3]
