Ohio State Football 2019 Mock Draft: Where will the Buckeyes land?
By Phil Poling
Ohio State football made it a habit of pumping elite talent into the NFL during Urban Meyer’s tenure. Where will this year’s crop of talent land in the draft?
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The Urban Meyer era in Columbus is over on the field, but there’s one final act he’ll have a hand in on the weekend of April 25th: the 2019 NFL Draft. A few of the potential picks were top grabs in recruiting, and while all of them didn’t pan out, there are nearly a dozen Buckeyes who could hear their name called at this year’s draft.
That isn’t uncommon for Ohio State, either – ushering handfuls of players into the league. In fact, 37 Buckeyes have been drafted in the last five years.
Seven were chosen in 2018, including Denzel Ward (4th overall) and Billy Price (21st overall) in the first round. The 2017 NFL Draft saw seven Buckeyes get drafted, too, including three more first-round picks, all in the secondary: Marshon Lattimore (11th overall), Malik Hooker (15th overall), and Gareon Conley (28th overall).
This year’s draft, however, could be dominated by Buckeyes at the top not seen since their 2016 draft class when five Buckeyes were taken in the first round: Joey Bosa (3rd overall), Ezekiel Elliott (4th overall), Eli Apple (10th overall), Taylor Decker (16th overall), and Darron Lee (20th overall). Seven more Buckeyes were selected in the following three rounds, totaling a dozen for the 2016 draft class.
Joey’s younger brother, Nick, is the prized pass-rusher in a deep defensive line class, and he’s where we’ll start our projections for Buckeye’s landing spots in the 2019 NFL Draft.