Browns take Togiai with No. 132 pick in fourth round
Tommy Togiai is onto the next level, and he won't be going too far from Columbus.
Coming off a breakout season at Ohio State in his first as a starter on Larry Johnson’s defensive line, the former Buckeye defensive tackle was selected No. 132 overall with a fourth-round selection by the Cleveland Browns Saturday in the 2021 NFL Draft.
Long touted as possibly the strongest player on the Buckeye roster, Togiai impressed NFL scouts at Ohio State Pro Day in March when he mustered 40 reps of 225 pounds on the bench press. Togiai, who measured in at 6-foot-1, 296 pounds, also ran a 4.97-second 40-yard dash at the event.
Togiai entered Ohio State as part of the program’s heralded 2018 recruiting class, and the four-star prospect from Highland High School in Pocatello, Idaho, was the No. 76 overall player and No. 4 defensive tackle.
Before he became a starter, Togiai waited behind NFL draftees like Dre’Mont Jones, DaVon Hamilton and Jashon Cornell on the interior of the vaunted Ohio State defensive line in 2018 and ‘19, but everything click for “Big Tom” once he entered his true junior season in 2020.
After playing in all five games of the regular season for the Buckeyes, a slate that was cut well short due to COVID-19 circumstances, Togiai was named second-team All-Big Ten by both the conference media and coaches.
Togiai registered a career-high 23 tackles this season, with 4.5 of those going for loss –– the second-most on the team.
With three sacks this season, Togiai was second only to redshirt senior defensive end Jonathon Cooper's total of 3.5. All three of Togiai's sacks came against Penn State in Week 2, a game in which he notched a career-high seven tackles to boot.
Togiai was credited with a tackle for loss and a forced fumble against Clemson in Ohio State's Sugar Bowl win, but the Idaho native was kept out of the national championship game with a presumed case of COVID-19.
Alongside senior defensive tackle Haskell Garrett, Togiai helped establish the interior of Johnson's defensive line as a strength of the Ohio State defense, which finished the season with the No. 6 rush defense in the country.
Many thought there was a possibility Togiai would return for Ohio State for one additional season given that his first as a starter spanned just seven games, but Togiai opted to turn pro, which he said in a social media statement was one of the hardest decisions of his life.