Seth McLaughlin
American football player (born 2001)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Seth McLaughlin (born August 27, 2001) is an American professional football center for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Alabama Crimson Tide and Ohio State Buckeyes.
Alcoa, Tennessee, U.S.[1]
McLaughlin at the 2025 CFP National Championship | |
| Detroit Lions | |
|---|---|
| Position | Center |
| Roster status | Active |
| Personal information | |
| Born | August 27, 2001 Alcoa, Tennessee, U.S.[1] |
| Listed height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) |
| Listed weight | 304 lb (138 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Buford (Buford, Georgia) |
| College | Alabama (2020–2023) Ohio State (2024) |
| NFL draft | 2025: undrafted |
| Career history | |
| |
* Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |
| Awards and highlights | |
| |
| Stats at Pro Football Reference | |
Early life
McLaughlin attended Buford High School in Buford, Georgia. He held offers from schools such as Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Clemson, and Florida State.[2] McLaughlin was rated as a three-star recruit and committed to play college football for the Alabama Crimson Tide.[3]
College career
Alabama
As a freshman in 2020, McLaughlin he played in two games.[4] That season, he was part of Alabama's national championship run. In 2021, he took over as the team starting center in the Iron Bowl and started in the 2022 SEC Championship Games as one of his two starts on the year.[5] In 2022, McLaughlin played in 11 games while making eight starts.[6] He entered the 2023 season on the Rimington Award watchlist, awarded to the nation's best center.[7] McLaughlin had issues with snapping the ball all season. This culminated during the 2024 Rose Bowl, in which McLaughlin struggled, making three bad snaps including on the final play of the game which resulted in quarterback Jalen Milroe being tackled short ending the game for the Crimson Tide as they lost to Michigan.[8][9] After the conclusion of the 2023 season, McLaughlin entered the NCAA transfer portal.[10]
In McLaughlin's career with the Crimson Tide he appeared in 35 games with 24 starts.[11]
Ohio State
McLaughlin transferred to play for the Ohio State Buckeyes.[12] On November 19, 2024, McLaughlin ruptured his Achilles tendon in practice and missed the remainder of the season.[13] As a Buckeye, McLaughlin won his second National Championship after Ohio State defeated Notre Dame 34-23.
Professional career
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | Wingspan | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 304 lb (138 kg) | 31 in (0.79 m) | 9+1⁄2 in (0.24 m) | 6 ft 6+1⁄4 in (1.99 m) | ||||||||
| All values from NFL Combine[14][15] | ||||||||||||
Cincinnati Bengals
On May 9, 2025, Seth signed with the Cincinnati Bengals as an undrafted free agent.[16] He was the best available player not to be drafted in 2025 according to ESPN (ranked as the 135th best player and 2nd best center).[17] On July 30, McLaughlin passed a physical and was cleared to practice. He had been on the Active/Non-Football Injury list since July 19 while recovering from the ruptured Achilles he suffered in November 2024 at Ohio State.[18] McLaughlin was waived on August 26 as part of final roster cuts and re-signed to the practice squad the next day.[19][20]
Detroit Lions
On January 6, 2026, McLaughlin signed a reserve/future contract with the Detroit Lions.[21]
