It has been a tremendous journey for wide receiver Terry McLaurin who went from being right on the line between getting an Ohio State offer or not to NFL Draft pick. His NFL dreams came true as the Washington Redskins picked him with the No. 12 pick of the third round. He joins teammate Dwayne Haskins, who was selected by the Redskins eariler with the 15th overall pick in the first round as members of the newest crop of NFL players.

McLaurin’s path to Ohio State has been told and retold. He camped with the Buckeyes and then-coach Urban Meyer was not quite sold on the four-star receiver from Indianapolis in the class of 2014. He told McLaurin that he needed to go home and catch 200 balls a day and work on a number of things. Many players with offers in their pocket would have brushed that off and just picked a different school but McLaurin did what was asked of him, caught those passes, from anyone who would throw to him, including his mom and came back to Ohio State and earned that offer.

That did not mean that the path to the field was immediate with a redshirt year in 2015 and then only 11 receptions in 2016 for the Buckeyes.

Business started to pick up in 2017 when McLaurin had 29 catches for 436 yards and six scores during that season and had a decision to make after that year. With degree in-hand, he could have left with the players that he came in with and taken his chances with the NFL Draft after a pretty solid season. Or come back for one more year with a yet-to-be proven quarterback in Haskins and see where things might land.

He made the right choice as he had 11 touchdowns in his final season including two in his hometown during the Big Ten Championship game against Northwestern. All of this was part of a 35-catch, 701-yard campaign for the Buckeyes.

What makes McLaurin stand out is not only his work as a receiver however, he is a special teams guru and was described as one of the best ‘gunners’ ever under Urban Meyer. McLaurin helped keep the Buckeyes in a game against Michigan State in East Lansing (Mich.) with his work helping down punts. McLaurin and the rest of the Ohio State gunners along with Drue Chrisman kept Michigan State inside its own 10 for most of the game in terms of starting position and drives started at the six, five, three, two and one-yard lines during the game, many of those stops had McLaurin’s fingerprints on them.

In a league with only 53 players on the roster, it is McLaurin’s ability to do so many varied things that will help him make and stay on a roster.