COLUMBUS, Ohio – The NFL Draft starts on Thursday evening and the eyes of the football world will descend upon Dallas and the three-day event that will welcome the newest group of rookies to the league, once they sign their deals of course.
There is no shortage of former Ohio State players who will be waiting over the seven rounds to hear their names called. For players like Denzel Ward, the wait will be short with the Ohio State corner projected as a top-half of the first-round type of player.
But what about guys like Sam Hubbard and Billy Price. Each have been projected in the first round at various times. Price was seen as the first center to come off the board before the NFL Scouting Combine and then Price suffered a pectoral injury and that created concern for the draft watchers.
For Hubbard, he is an intriguing prospect that projects as an end of the first-round type of player or maybe an early second round player. Make no mistake however, Hubbard won't be around for long in this draft.
The Buckeyes will have more than a handful of players drafted with guys like Tyquan Lewis, Jalyn Holmes, Jerome Baker and Jamarco Jones all looking like certain draftees. But, it only takes one team to like a player and guys like Damon Webb, J.T. Barrett, Marcus Baugh and Chris Worley all will be near their phones over the three-day event.
Tracy Sprinkle, Michael Hill and Erick Smith may or may not hear their names called during the draft, but they will almost assuredly will hear from their agents as undrafted free agent deals are handed out all three should be in a camp, as a draftee or an UFA as teams hold rookie camps.
Facts about which schools have produced the top number of players drafted all-time and all-time first-rounders get thrown out there all the time. We are going to take a look at a few other fast facts that may not get talked about as much as the NFL Draft is just a day away.
* The first player ever drafted in the NFL from the Buckeyes was center Gomer Jones in the 1936 draft. Jones was selected in the 2nd round with the No. 15 overall pick by the Chicago Cardinals. Jones was named the Ohio State team MVP after both the 1934 and 1935 seasons. Jones opted to get into coaching rather than playing professional ball and was an assistant at Ohio State from 1936-1940 under Francis Schmidt but Jones' biggest coaching success would take place at Nebraska where he would coach on the line from 1947-63 and then would be elevated to head coach after Bud Wilkinson retired in 1964.
* Ohio State has had at least one player selected in every NFL Draft except for one, the 1998 draft. The year before in 1997, the Buckeyes had the No. 1 overall player selected with offensive tackle Orlando Pace and had a total of seven players picked in that draft including Shawn Springs and Mike Vrabel. The 1999 draft saw three Buckeyes go in the first round with David Boston, Antoine Winfield and Andy Katzenmoyer.
* Since 2000, the Buckeyes have had 25 first-round picks and seven of those picks came within the top-10 of the draft. In that time, 17 teams have taken a former Ohio State player in the first round with Buffalo, Arizona, Dallas, Indianapolis, NY Jets and Pittsburgh all taking two Buckeyes. One team has taken three, the New Orleans Saints (Will Smith, Malcolm Jenkins, Marshon Lattimore).
* It appears to be a safe bet that Denzel Ward will go in the first round for the Buckeyes. If this does happen, it would be the third straight year that Ohio State has had a cornerback that has gone in the first round (Marshon Lattimore, Eli Apple). This would also be the first time that a school has put first round corners into the league in three straight years since? Ohio State in 1999-2001 (Antoine Winfield, Ahmed Plummer, Nate Clements).
* It is also a safe bet to say that Ohio State will have at least five players drafted in the 2018 NFL Draft. That will mark five straight years that Ohio State has had at least five players drafted in consecutive drafts. Ohio State only has two streaks that run longer with six from 1999-2004 and eight from 1971-1978.
* Only one former Ohio State player has ever been named "Mr. Irrelevant" an award that is given to the last pick of the draft. Everett Ross was selected with the 335th pick of the 1989 draft by the Minnesota Vikings. Ross never played a down in the NFL.
