Want draft fireworks from Buckeyes? Next spring could provide them

COLUMBUS — Ohio State isn’t supposed to have this quiet of a night on NFL Draft Thursday. The Buckeyes usually help headline the entire draft.

The program with more first-round picks than any other college football program in history — the Buckeyes have 91 all-time first-rounders — is supposed to churn out first-round talent year after year. And to an extent, the Buckeyes did that Thursday night when Marvin Harrison Jr. went No. 4 overall to the Arizona Cardinals.

But after that? Well, it was quiet on the Ohio State front. Too quiet. For just the second time since 2016, the Buckeyes had just one first-round selection. The scarlet and gray fireworks that normally reign through the Thursday night of the NFL Draft just weren’t there.

They’re all waiting in storage until they can be lit next spring.

Yes, next spring when the NFL Draft moves from Detroit to Green Bay, Wisconsin, Ohio State will certainly showcase just how good this program is at developing talented, top-level recruits into true future NFL superstars. Because instead of Buckeyes heading off to the NFL Draft this offseason, most of the biggest and best from the roster returned to the roster.

It sets up national title expectations this fall — and a potential record-setting draft next spring.

And Ohio State knows it.

“I feel like we have a team that has come together for a common purpose,” Buckeyes coach Ryan Day said on April 10, the week of the Buckeyes spring game. “We talk about ‘why do you play so hard here at Ohio State?’ It’s b/c of ‘the brotherhood,’ the love of your teammates … I think guys want to be here, they want to be at Ohio State. They understand what it means to be a Buckeye. They see the opportunity this season.

“So I don’t see a bunch of guys that are just looking to run out the door.”

Ohio State has never seen a return of talent to the roster like what happened this winter. Other than potential day-two draft pick Mike Hall and the aforementioned Marvin Harrison Jr., every draft-eligible junior returned for a senior season and one more run at a national title.

Defensive linemen Jack Sawyer, J.T. Tuimoloau and Tyleik Williams were all potential top-100 picks. They’re back instead before they head to the draft next year. Lathan Ransom, Jordan Hancock and Denzel Burke in the secondary? Back. Running back TreVeyon Henderson and starting guard Donovan Jackson? They put the NFL off, too. So did star receiver Emeka Egbuka, who could have been a first-round choice.

And that’s just to name a few of the potential NFL Draft selections that thought the pro level could wait another year.

“I think a lot of us all are on the same page about, you know, we don’t want to end our Ohio State careers like this [with] two tough losses,” Sawyer said after the embarrassing December loss in the Cotton Bowl. “We all love it here. We love Coach Day. We love the staff. And sometimes unfortunate things happen, and you don’t get the outcome you want.

“I think that’s gonna play a big factor in our decisions.”

It certainly did. And Ohio State could reap the benefits of those decisions this fall. After business is handled this season, the NFL could certainly benefit once this ultra-talented group heads to the league.

Of course, winning isn’t the only reason top-level Ohio State stars returned. Some of them wanted to prove they’re better than what their draft stock said following last season. Many have reason to think they can bump their stock after this fall and head to the NFL as polished prospects ready to make an impact as a rookie.

The record for most first-round picks from one school is six. Alabama did it in 2021, and Miami did it in 2004. One too-early mock draft already has the Buckeyes breaking that record next spring. That’s how talented this roster is.

And with some players having set goals of becoming a first-round pick, we can’t just assume the record will stand after next year.

“I want to be a top-10 pick,” Burke said at Cotton Bowl media day in December. “And not only that but to have something to show for it down the road — to be able to show my kids and my family when I was at Ohio State, we won something. That’s playing a big factor for me.”

That quiet Thursday night from the Ohio State section of draft boards? Don’t get used to it — because it won’t be the normal. Yes, this draft was oddly inactive from the Buckeyes corner of draft world.

Next spring will be everything but quiet. Enjoy this fall — and then prepare for Ohio State fireworks come the 2025 NFL Draft.

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