One year is all it takes.

One good year, or even a few standout games is often all that is required for a Buckeye to change their narrative or emerge from relative national obscurity to land on the draft boards of NFL scouts –– just ask Damon Arnette, DaVon Hamilton and Jashon Cornell.

But if the words of Ohio State President Michael V. Drake and athletic director Gene Smith are to be taken at face value, this will be no normal year.

What impact might a shortened season and fewer opportunities have on the Buckeyes that need it most to bolster their draft standing? Quite possibly a huge one.

Jonathon Cooper’s big break was supposed to come in 2019. The senior defensive end and one-time five-star high school prospect waded through wave after wave of stacked talent on the Ohio State line before finding his clearest path to stardom in what was to be his final season in scarlet and gray.

Not only slated to begin the year as a starter for the first time, Cooper would have reaped the benefits of the attention that Chase Young was sure to garner from opposing teams. But the Gahanna, Ohio, native turned up in the Buckeyes’ injury report a day before the season opener, and he remained there for much longer than he spent in opponents’ backfields in 2019.

An ankle injury kept Cooper out of all but four games for the Buckeyes, choosing the Michigan matchup as his final exhibition before sitting out the postseason to retain redshirt eligibility for a redo at his last go in Columbus.

Cooper was limited in the Buckeyes’ lone open spring practice in March, but lingering injuries will likely now come second to COVID-19 in threatening his ability to finally unleash his full potential if he is to become the seventh Ohio State defensive end since 2015 to get his name called in the draft.

The top of the draft order has been littered with Ohio State cornerbacks in recent years –– seven first-round selections since 2014 to be exact –– and redshirt junior Shaun Wade is all but penciled in as the next in line.

Despite a stellar campaign that saw Wade turn in two sacks, two forced fumbles and an interception, his most lasting image was the game-changing targeting call for which he was ejected in the Fiesta Bowl.

Wade took a page from Arnette’s playbook in the offseason by electing to return to the program and make sure that was not his final moment on the field for the Buckeyes, and he’ll look to follow Arnette once more by shooting up the draft board for a high first-round selection.

However, Wade will need the season to make the improvements necessary to do so, as he’ll need to show scouts he can flourish in the outside corner role that Arnette and Jeff Okudah largely locked down for Ohio State in 2019.

Justin Fields’ favorite home run target wants a fresh coat of paint in 2020.

Not that junior wide receiver Chris Olave’s team-leading 840-yard, 12-touchdown production requires one per se, but after assuming responsibility for the longball mixup that may have cost the Buckeyes a national title berth in December, all indications point to a shift in Olave’s demeanor.

The California native switched his number from No. 17 to No. 2 in the offseason, rebranding as “CO2”, and upon being listed as the No. 10 returning wideout in the nation by Pro Football Focus in January, Olave had a simple message on Twitter.

“Not good enough. Back to work,” he wrote.

It appears Olave is leaning into the new role of veteran leader on the receiving corps, following the departure of K.J. Hill, Binjimen Victor and Austin Mack, who combined for 1,570 yards and 19 touchdowns a season ago.

Add on the absence of Ohio State single-season rushing-record-holder J.K. Dobbins, and the Buckeye offense will likely rely on a much heavier diet of Fields to Olave connections than it did a year ago.

The monster season that seems in the cards for Olave could propel him to an early exit from the program and a much higher draft spot than his 2019 stablemates, but any setback could stall those plans.