Seth McLaughlin came from Alabama to Ohio State for one season to win a National Championship with the Buckeyes. He did just that, but he also ruptured his Achilles tendon late in the season. He was likely the best center in the country for much of his career, right up until the injury. You can usually expect a player like that to be pretty high on the draft boards, and we already saw three interior offensive linemen taken in the first round (including Ohio State’s Donovan Jackson).
Seth McLaughlin, Center
Draft Projection: Round 4-7
McLaughlin’s draft stock was always curiously lower than you’d expect from one of the best linemen in the country, and the Achilles injury has only exacerbated concerns. How much are NFL teams willing to risk on a center currently rehabbing an injury that often takes over a year to heal? In fact, some late mock drafts had McLaughlin perilously close to falling out of the draft entirely.
To me, such concerns seem exaggerated. McLaughlin is too talented to let completely slip by. Even if he spends part (or all) of his rookie season rehabbing the tendon, he will be a stalward offensive lineman someday. It makes sense that no one wants to risk an early round draft pick on him. But by the time we get to the sixth round of the draft? He just has way too much upside to pass up, even if it’s only building for the future.