Monday, October 5, 2026, was a genuinely rough day for Ohio State fans tracking former Buckeyes in the NFL. Within hours of each other, two different former Ohio State offensive linemen received season-ending injury news from two separate teams — a gutting coincidence that hit the program’s NFL alumni particularly hard in Week 4.
Paris Johnson Jr. Suffers a Season-Ending Torn Biceps
The headline injury belongs to Paris Johnson Jr., Arizona’s starting left tackle and one of the top young offensive tackles in the entire NFL. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Johnson tore his biceps during Arizona’s Week 4 loss to the New York Giants and will miss the remainder of the season.
The injury actually happened on the Cardinals’ final offensive drive of the game. Edge rusher Abdul Carter beat Johnson around the edge, and as Johnson tried to recover, he grabbed at his left arm in pain. Rather than coming out immediately, Johnson attempted to gut out the injury and stayed in for a few more plays before finally exiting ahead of Arizona’s last snap of the game — a desperation fourth-down throw that was intercepted and returned for a touchdown to seal the loss. Cardinals head coach Mike LaFleur confirmed the torn biceps diagnosis Monday, saying simply, “I feel for him.” Johnson will need surgery to repair the injury, though a specific date hadn’t been set as of Monday.
This Is Now Johnson’s Third Straight Season Cut Short by Injury
What makes this particular injury sting even more is the pattern behind it. This marks the third consecutive season Johnson’s year has ended prematurely due to injury. He played all 17 games as a rookie in 2023, but has since missed eight combined games across the ends of the 2024 and 2025 seasons, mostly due to a right knee issue. Despite that injury history, Johnson has remained a true workhorse when healthy, starting in all 47 games he’s appeared in throughout his career — there’s no “part-time player” label here, just a genuinely talented tackle who keeps running into bad injury luck.
The Timing Couldn’t Be Worse for Johnson’s Next Contract
Beyond the injury itself, the timing carries real financial weight. Johnson is in the fourth of five years on his rookie contract and was playing himself into a lucrative second deal — he was off to a strong start in 2026, grading out as Arizona’s best offensive lineman in the very game he got hurt, posting an 84.2 pass-blocking grade according to PFF while two of his line mates graded below 30. Losing nearly an entire season right as he’s entering extension talks is a difficult break for a player who has clearly been trending in the right direction, and it could realistically affect the timeline of his next deal.
Ohio State Fans Got a Second Dose of Bad News the Same Day
Johnson wasn’t the only former Buckeye offensive lineman to go down Monday. Earlier in the day, news broke that former Ohio State guard Donovan Jackson, now with the Minnesota Vikings, is set to miss the rest of the regular season due to a torn meniscus suffered in Minnesota’s Week 4 win over the Dolphins. Two former Ohio State offensive linemen, on two different teams, both ruled out for the year on the exact same day — a tough coincidence for a fan base that takes real pride in tracking its NFL alumni.
Paris Johnson Jr.’s Ohio State Legacy
Before any of this, Johnson built a genuinely impressive résumé in Columbus. An Ohio native from the Cincinnati area, Johnson was a five-star recruit in the 2020 class who played at Ohio State from 2020 to 2022, appearing in 31 games overall, including 26 consecutive starts across the 2021 and 2022 seasons. He developed into a First-Team All-American and the most reliable offensive lineman on Ohio State’s roster, exactly the kind of recruit-to-star trajectory the program loves to sell to future prospects. That development paid off at the next level, too — Arizona selected him 6th overall in the 2023 NFL Draft, and he’s been a quick, consistent contributor in the pros ever since.
What’s Next for Paris Johnson Jr. and Arizona’s Offensive Line
Arizona now has a significant hole to fill up front for the rest of the season, losing a player who’s been one of the few steady, dependable presences on a line that’s otherwise struggled. The Cardinals, now 1-3 and losers of three straight, will need to figure out their answer at left tackle without their best lineman. For Johnson personally, the target is a return to full strength in time for the start of the 2027 NFL season — a recovery that will carry extra significance given the contract situation hanging over it. He’s shown more than enough through his first three-plus seasons to prove he’s one of the better young tackles in the league, and he’ll have every opportunity to prove it again once he’s back on the field.
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