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Dan Hope and Andy Anders of Eleven Warriors bring you inside the Ohio State beat every Wednesday with a podcast covering everything you need to know about the Buckeyes.
Note: This transcript was AI-generated and has not been edited for errors.
[Dan Hope]
Welcome into Real Pod Wednesdays. I'm Dan Hope joined by Andy Anders as a historically deep Ohio state NFL draft class heads to Indianapolis for this week's NFL scouting combine. By the time you're listening to this, I'm already going to be in Indianapolis alongside Garrick Hodge.
Uh, so, uh, stay tuned, uh, for much more content, uh, from Indianapolis this week on 11 warriors.com on the 11 warriors YouTube channel. We'll have interviews with all 15 of Ohio state's NFL combine invitees, assuming they all show up as scheduled, uh, for media interviews, lots more to come there from Indy. And as combine week gets started, uh, media interviews starting today in Indianapolis, uh, workouts starting on Thursday and continuing through Sunday.
We thought we would take a look at Ohio state's NFL draft class on this week's episode of Real Pod Wednesdays, because it is a loaded NFL draft class for the Buckeyes Ohio state has 15 NFL scouting combine invitees the most it's ever had. And personally, I would be very surprised if any of them didn't get drafted. And if we assume that all of them will get drafted, Ohio state would tie Georgia's record for the most picks from one school in a seven round draft.
Georgia having 15 players selected just a couple of years ago. Now Ohio state having a chance to do the same thing, a group of players that played a massive role in bringing a national championship back to Columbus. And now they're going to reap even more awards from that, as it looks like a very large group from last year's Ohio state football team is going to be playing in the NFL, uh, later this year.
[Andy Anders]
Right. And we even talked about it, I think last year, kind of coming off the draft, it was a sort of side note in the fact that, you know, you have all these seniors returning all these great pieces. You know, the first objective is to go do stuff on the field, win the national title, but then it was like, we knew coming into the last season that this team was going to have a lot of guys taken in the NFL draft, and this is just all these combine invites, like you said, are just proof of that.
And I too would be surprised if all 15 of those guys didn't get drafted at some place and Ohio state tied that record. I mean, it's, uh, it's incredible to think of the talent that was assembled on this past year's roster. Um, and it really stacks up with some of the great rosters Ohio state has assembled in school history.
And, uh, NFL draft stock, NFL draft picks is sort of the best, uh, quantifier of that when you talk about just evaluating how special and talented this roster was for Ohio state and how much they'll have to replace going into next year, even.
[Dan Hope]
There's a lot of times where I think we have that conversation a year before. And we overestimate how many draft prospects Ohio state is going to have, because you kind of do the best case scenario for each guy and you project out what certain guys are going to be. And then inevitably some guys don't quite reach the heights that you think they're going to reach.
And, uh, you know, a lot of times, you know, those very lofty projections one year out don't live up to the hype. But this year, I think it actually has where, you know, all of those guys who were seniors this year, who we expected to be NFL caliber players for Ohio state this year, they all were. So that's why Ohio state's now in this position where you look at them having 15 players most likely drafted in April.
And we'll run through that list of players quickly. Uh, those players, all of whom are in Indianapolis this week are quarterback Will Howard, running back Travion Henderson, running back Quenshawn Judkins, wide receiver Emeka Buka, offensive tackle Josh Simmons, uh, offensive tackle slash guard Donovan Jackson center, Seth McLaughlin. Defensive ends, Jack Sawyer and JT to him.
All the while defensive tackles, Ty Hamilton and Ty Leak Williams linebacker, Cody Simon, cornerback Denzel Burke, cornerback, Jordan Hancock and safety Leif and ransom. The, the only draft bound starters from last year's team who aren't at the combine are tight end G Scott Jr. And right tackle Josh Fryer. So, you know, that just really tells you how talented that Ohio state football team this past season was now.
It's an interesting group because the one thing that this draft class doesn't have that most other recent draft classes have had for Ohio state is that sure fire early first round pick. You think back to last year, it was a much smaller class because so many of these guys who could have entered the draft a year ago came back for another year, but you had Marvin Harrison, Jr. That surefire top five pick who ultimately went number four overall. Obviously the year before that you had CJ Stroud, you had Paris Johnson, Jr. I think really the last nine years, I believe Ohio state has had a top 11 pick. And so there's the possibility that Ohio state won't continue that streak. But what we do know is that over the course of a three days of a draft, Ohio state is going to have a lot of players drafted, and I think there's a lot of players who are kind of right in that range where they could be a first round pick, maybe they're a second round pick. I mean, you look at the mock drafts that are out there.
I I've seen eight guys who have drawn first round projections and multiple mock drafts. Those players being Josh Simmons, Emeka Abuka, Donovan Jackson, Jack Sawyer, JT Tuamolo, Tyleek Williams, Travion Henderson, Quenshawn Judkins. Josh Simmons, Emeka Abuka seem like the most solid first round picks.
Josh Simmons even coming off of that injury because of a position he plays. Left tackle is such a high value position in the NFL, and this is not a particularly strong offensive tackle draft. And so, you know, Josh Simmons, you know, we don't expect him to work out of a combine this week, but if he, if his medical exams show that he's healing well from that season ending knee injury he had in a, he has a chance, I think, to go as high as the top 10 in this draft, just because there aren't many prototypical left tackles in this draft.
And he's the guy who has all those physical tools, all that upside to be a great left tackle in the NFL. Emeka Abuka is a guy who seems to be very consistently mocked in that late first round range. And then you have a lot of other guys there who, you know, some of those guys, a guy like a Donovan Jackson or a Jack Sawyer or a JT Tuamolo probably weren't drawing a lot of first round projections before the CFP, but now they're drawing more of them because of how well they've played in Ohio State's national championship run.
[Andy Anders]
And speaking of that national championship run, I think the fact that all of these guys are going to have extended film, extended looks, a lot of them were multi-year starters at Ohio State. You talk about guys like there's so much film out there on them that they're not going to have a whole lot to prove, I think, through this draft process, this combine process, all of that. And that's why I think, you know, we've discussed like they're not all of them are going to be, and probably most of them even aren't going to be full participants, go through the entire combine, do all the work, all the testing that's done, again, because there's so much known about them.
And you can look back at their collegiate careers and their collegiate productions and make a sage decision. Now, still go through important things like interviews with teams and some of those testing, mental testing that a lot of prospects go through. And you figure that out, kind of get some more intel on that for prospective teams, but that's going to be, I think, even the more important side of this combine process for these guys, because again, you know, what's out there, you know what they can bring to the table physically.
And to your point, I also expect Josh Simmons to be the highest pick of the group for that reason, with the physical tools that he has, even coming off that injury, a guy at a position, offensive tackle, you know, like you said, it is a thin tackle draft, but a lot of drafts are thin tackle drafts, because as you also said, offensive line is such a premium position, and it's so hard to find high quality O-line prospects that already made, but Simmons has all the physical gifts you want, and he was a mid-season All-American, probably would have been an All-American if he had finished the season healthy, so I expect him to go very high, but with that national championship run in mind that gave all those guys extra exposure, extra chances to showcase their talents on the biggest stages of college football, Dan, who do you think drafted, boosted their draft stock the most throughout Ohio State's college football playoff run?
[Dan Hope]
Have to start with Donovan Jackson, to do what he did, you just talked about how important it is, that tackle position, to do what he did, sliding out to left tackle, and then to have the run he did in the CFP, where he went up against the likes of James Pierce Jr., who's going to be a first-round pick out of Tennessee, Jordan Birch and Mateo Uyanglule from Oregon, Colin Simmons from Texas, it was a stretch there where he was going up against a lot of guys who were going to be future NFL pass rushers, and he dominated playing a position that he was not super familiar with, and so I think for him to show that versatility, I will personally be surprised if he's not ultimately a first-round pick, because I think as well as he played, there's the possibility that he gets drafted now to play tackle, because of the fact that this is a thinner tackle draft, and it's such a valuable position.
I still think guard is probably his best position in the NFL, and I think that's probably still where he most likely ends up playing in the NFL long-term, but the fact that he's proven that he has that versatility, I think that's absolutely huge for him. Now, I think there's a lot of guys, I mean, I think you could really, and I actually did this on 11warriors.com on Monday, you could really go through the entire list of guys and point out things that they did well in the college football playoff to boost their draft stock, because every single one of them that was on the field played well, and that's why Ohio State won a national title, beat four really good teams to win a national title, but I think in terms of draft stock, Donovan Jackson is certainly the guy who stands out at the top of my list, Will Howard is certainly up there as well.
I think there were a lot of pros that he made in the CFP run that dispelled some notions about his arm strength, about his ability to make all the pros, and so he's still a guy that it's kind of hard to pinpoint where he might end up getting drafted, but to me, if I was an NFL GM, I would really like what I saw from Howard in that CFP run, and I certainly think that that helps his chances of being an early round pick, and then you got to look at the defensive end tandem too, as dominant as Jack Sawyer and JT Tuamolo was in that CFP, you know, both of those guys, if you were just going off the CFP, they both played like first round picks in that national championship run, and so we'll see if they ultimately end up going in round one, but I think both of them have a strong case to do so, because of how well they played in that CFP. Anyone else stand out in your mind, Andy?
[Andy Anders]
Well, I was going to go with the defensive end tandem after Donovan Jackson there, because, you know, again, you talk about Donovan Jackson, he was maybe one of the best left tackles in the country by the end of the year, and this is a guy who had been playing card all his college career. It's just insane what he did, and we praised it many times on this podcast, but I almost can't praise it enough, what was done there. I also think a guy underratedly who boosted his draft stock is Jordan Hancock, because the way he was used in this Jim Knowles defense this season, the ability to slide back and play deep safety and do it well to allow Caleb Downs to come down around the first down marker, play the center of the field, and really fully utilize his talents in the Ohio State events.
It was huge for Ohio State, but you talked about versatility with Donovan Jackson, and that is something NFL teams love in this era of kind of almost like position lists in certain areas of football. You want guys who can plug in at multiple spots, and especially in the secondary against the wide variety of passing attacks and the elite NFL receivers that are out there, and the different looks you can see in a week-in, week-out basis. You're talking about the most elite level of schematics in football.
So many NFL defenses are multiple these days, and I think Jordan Hancock can fit great into that system, and that nickel spot has become more and more and more important with the progression of spread offenses, of passing attacks. And so the skill set that Jordan Hancock brings to the table, and he was kind of an unsung hero for that defense, but I think someone's going to get a bit of a steal there if you get him late day two, early day three especially. I really like what Jordan Hancock brings to the table and think the versatility he showed in the college football playoff, NFL teams are going to look at that and say, okay, this is a guy who's not getting enough acclaim.
[Dan Hope]
Yeah, there's always kind of been a perception in the NFL draft world where it's like, oh, he's just a slot corner, that's not as valuable as an outside corner, but to your point, just like in college now, you don't see a lot of NFL teams playing four threes on every play anymore. You're seeing most teams use a lot of nickel now, and you've seen guys to that point, I mean, Tyron Matthews, a guy that comes to mind, he was a third round pick and he goes on to become an all-pro. Even a year ago, Mike St. Russell was a guy that I think a lot of people weren't talking about a ton in the draft process coming out of Michigan, ends up going in the second round and is an immediate star for the Washington Commanders. And so I think Jordan Hancock has some of those same traits there as that kind of versatile nickel safety kind of player that I agree with you. He's probably a third, fourth round pick range kind of guy, but I won't be surprised if he ends up being a steal for whichever team drafts him. As you mentioned before, probably not going to see most of these guys go through full combine workouts, I would guess.
I think particularly when we talk about the combine, typically the event that gets the most attention is the 40-yard dash. I would guess we're not going to see a lot of Buckeyes run the 40, and that's kind of been common often where a lot of guys wait until the pro day anyway. But I think especially this year, I mean, these guys just got done playing in the national championship game a little over a month ago.
Most of the time in past year, guys have had two full months almost to train specifically for the combine. And the 40-yard dash is the kind of thing where just training technique very specifically, that can make a difference of one or two tenths of a second on your time, which that can make a massive difference in terms of how NFL scouts evaluate you. So my guess is most of these guys, because they've only had a few weeks to train specifically for a combine and draft stuff, you're probably not going to see these guys doing a lot of the 40-yard dash or the other combine measurable kind of drills.
Maybe you see more of them do position drills. Certainly, a guy like Will Howard, you'd love to see him go through a throwing workout, see how he does in that setting. I think you're probably more likely to see guys do more of a position drill stuff than the measurable stuff, because the position drill stuff, that's football.
They're prepared to play football. They're maybe not as prepared to do the combine-specific stuff, just because they were playing football into the late January, whereas a lot of other guys had already been out at training facilities for weeks, focusing specifically on the combine. And so we'll see how that ultimately plays out this week in terms of who all does what among those 15 guys.
But if we scrap that for a minute and just assume that all these guys will participate in the combine, Andy, who is the guy that jumps out in your mind as the guy who could be the biggest combine star of this group?
[Andy Anders]
I think Emeka Buka, for me, when you talk about the things that are highlighted at the combine—speed, agility—assuming, again, that he were to go through all those tests, to me, I think is the guy who can put on the best physical display of this group. I think Emeka is obviously a guy, his entire career, he was the number two receiver at Ohio State, whether that was behind Marvin Harrison Jr. or behind Jeremiah Smith this past season. And I don't think that that's going to get him overshadowed in terms of his NFL draft stock.
We talked about it before. He's probably going to be a first-round pick. But I do think that sometimes people forget just how ridiculous of an athlete Emeka Buka is.
This guy was a five-star prospect for a reason. This guy set Ohio State's career receptions record for a reason. He is truly a complete receiver, not only in terms of his experience and his route running and his catch radius and the finer points that he's developed technically over his career working with Brian Hartline, but also on the physical side and those tools—the speed, the agility, the explosiveness—things you look for at that receiver position.
I think if he were to go through all of the combine events, testings, he would test very well.
[Dan Hope]
That's a good choice. I'm going to go with Travion Henderson. I hope we get to see him run the 40, because I think if he runs the 40, he'll run it really fast.
I mean, I would think a sub-4.4 would be on the table for Travion with how fast we have seen him run for the past four years as a Buckeye. Again, don't know how much he'll do, but you would think if Travion goes through combine drills, he's going to put up some phenomenal numbers. I think the position drills could be big for him as well, especially that receiving out of the backfield.
I think that's an area we saw him improve over the course of his Ohio State career, but maybe wasn't a big focal point for him at Ohio State. I think if he could perform well in those drills, show off his ability as a pass catcher, that could help him continue to bolster his NFL draft stock. Who do you view as the guy, Andy, who would benefit from most?
You talked about Emeka Abuka's already probably a first-round pick. Travion's already in the first-round conversation. Who's maybe a guy who's not in that first-round conversation right now, but you think could elevate himself with a strong combine showing this week?
[Andy Anders]
I don't know about elevating himself to a first-rounder per se, but I think Denzel Burke is a guy who could use a really good combine week. Just when you talk about, he had some ups and downs in his final year at Ohio State. I think his draft stock was pretty high coming off of 2023, and then, like I said, you look back at that Oregon game, and he had a really good playoff run, had a really good close to the season overall, but I think there were some moments throughout the year that kind of stick in your mind of Denzel didn't quite play to the same level at times as he did in 2023.
And he's got a lot of really good mental attributes, a lot of good physicality when he plays. But I think if you're an NFL team, you are curious to see how he tests, how fast he runs, the agility again, and those sorts of things. So to me, I think Denzel Burke is a guy who can boost his draft stock if he participates and has a really good combine, just based on that.
[Dan Hope]
I think Cody Simon's a guy for me who I think can answer some questions about himself this week if he goes through all the drills, because I think there's still probably the question with him about, you know, does he have that top-end speed? Does he have that athleticism to be an every-down linebacker in the NFL? I think he showed this past season at Ohio State that he was more athletic than maybe he had shown in previous years.
I think he played a lot faster, played by far his best football as a Buckeye this past season, and I think he will get drafted as a result. But for him to be that, you know, third, fourth-round pick type of guy, I think he does need to have a good on-field workout, whether it be at the combine or at the Pro Day, to check some boxes and show that he does have that speed, he does have that agility to be, you know, an every-down linebacker in the NFL. And so I think he's another guy that even though he had a phenomenal season this past year at Ohio State, he could answer some questions about himself if he goes out, does a full workout this week, and performs well in that regard.
It's such a deep draft class for Ohio State, and the thing about this draft class is, you bottom of it, you're talking about these 15 guys. There's no clear one right answer of like, this is the best prospect in the group, or this is the worst prospect in the group. There's so many different orders that you could put these guys in, and I would think you could look at 32 NFL draft boards after the draft, and the order of these 15 guys would probably be different on every single one of them, because that's how many good prospects Ohio State has, and how closely matched some of them are in terms of where they could ultimately be drafted.
So for a little bit of fun here, I'm going to do a little quick exercise where we're going to draft the Ohio State draft class. We will pick the players in order of who we would draft first if we were NFL GMs. 15 combine invites to choose from, so we'll each pick 7 players for a total of 14 selections. We'll do it in a snake draft format.
Andy, I'm going to flip a coin to determine who gets to choose the first pick. Andy, heads or tails?
[Andy Anders]
Tails, only sometimes fails.
[Dan Hope]
We are flipping, and it is heads, so it did sometimes fail. This scenario, and that means I get my choice of the first pick or the second and third picks. I'm going to go ahead and take the first pick, and you know, there's so many different guys that I could choose here, but you know, I'm going to go with a guy who I've just always been a big believer in, and I just really believe is going to be a really good NFL player, and that guy is Jack Sawyer.
I just think Jack Sawyer is a guy who's peaked at the right time at Ohio State, played his best football to end his senior season, and I just really believe he's going to be a great NFL player. Maybe he's not going to be that 15 sacks a year kind of guy, but I think he's going to be a guy who's going to be a really good NFL starter for a really long time, and so I would draft him in the first round, and he's my top pick from this year's draft class for the Buckeyes.
[Andy Anders]
That's a good snipe. You know how much I appreciate some Jack Sawyer. I was definitely going to take him in the next two picks, and just I think also his NFL game, his game I think translates well to the NFL level, just with the strength he has, the frame he has.
But moving on to my two picks, I think I'm going to go with the two highest projected guys in the draft, because I think they're also going to have really good careers, and that's Josh Simmons to start with the number two pick, left tackle. I know coming off an injury and also you're not playing the most gaudy position of all time, we're not going to be able to look back when Josh Simmons' career is over and say he had this many yards or this many tackles, because offensive linemen don't have that sort of thing. But I really think Josh Simmons is the kind of guy who will be a multi-time pro bowler with those physical tools, with the development he got over the course of his Ohio State career, and NFL team, assuming he can stay healthy, an NFL team is going to be very happy with what he provides.
But then with the number three pick, I'm going to go with Emeka Buka. When you talk about just the receiver factory Ohio State has put into the NFL, all of Brian Hartline's protégés that are doing really big things right now, whether that's Terry McLaurin, whether that's Jackson Smith and Jigba, whether that's Garrett Wilson, whether that's Marvin Harrison Jr., all these guys, their game has translated. And I think it's as safe to assume with Emeka as almost any of them that his game will translate because he's such a dedicated individual, serious about his craft, really grounded human, just I think he's going to do very well at the next level and be a consistent producer for whoever takes him in the draft.
So that's my number three pick is Emeka.
[Dan Hope]
I'll go with Donovan Jackson next, just the way that he played in the CFP. I think he made himself a first round pick. And I think, again, that versatility that he has now where you feel like he could play four positions along the offensive line.
I mean, we saw it in the Super Bowl. You see it in the NFL. It's like there's a lot of teams are struggling to find five really good offensive linemen.
So if you can find a guy who can play multiple positions really well, he has a ton of value. And so I'll take Donovan Jackson next. And then I'm going to take Travion Henderson.
I think Travion's a guy that, you know, there's always the constant debates about how valuable are running backs in the NFL. But you saw it with Saquon Barkley this past year. You see it with the elite running backs.
When you have a guy who has that special skill set, he can be a major difference maker for your offense. And I think the explosiveness Travion has, that home running hitting ability, and then you pair that with how much better he got as a pass walker this past year. I think he's a guy who can be a three down difference maker for an NFL offense.
So give me Travion Henderson.
[Andy Anders]
I think it says something that this guy fell to number six now that we're on it. I'm going to take JT to Imola right here, because this is someone who always had all the physical gifts in the world. And really, I mean, we saw consistent flashes from him, whether it was one of the greatest individual defensive performances in Ohio State history back in 2022 against Penn State, whether it was some other big games he's had over the years.
But this playoff run, JT to Imola, wow, his production was ridiculous. I mean, just the sacks, the pressure, and really, he had a great senior year as a whole. But especially that playoff run was inoculate for JT.
And I think too, I'll be curious to see how exactly he's utilized at the NFL level. I think most likely probably as a true defensive end. But he did some two point stuff this year for Ohio State.
Not a lot of it, but some of it. And I do think he has a skill set where if you wanted to stand him up on the end, you could. Because he's got a lot of speed off the edge, a lot of burst and agility, good hand fighting skills, which Larry Johnson products usually do.
So that to me, I think JT is going to have a great NFL career. And I'll be excited to see exactly how he plugs into a defense. I think when you talk about physical tools too, right there along the defensive line, I think with my seventh pick, I'm going to go with Tyleek Williams.
Because his strength, his first step off the line, that's a pretty dastardly combo to have. And he'll definitely be a three tech at the next level, I think. But a really good one and make some defensive coordinator in the NFL very happy.
So back-to-back D-line picks for me there with JT, Tui Mo, Lao, and Tyleek Williams, who I both expect them to have very good NFL careers.
[Dan Hope]
Give me Will Howard next. I think Will Howard, I continue to believe he's being underrated as an NFL prospect. I think the growth we saw from him over the course of his one year at Ohio State to me makes me think he is capable of being an NFL quarterback.
Is he a franchise quarterback, early first round pick type like a CJ Stroud was? Probably not. But do I think that he is capable of potentially becoming a starter in the league?
I really do. And I think he's got all the intangibles you look for. He's got the size.
He's got the running ability. Not an elite arm by NFL standards, but I think he showed in the CFP that it was good enough. And I think at worst, I think with Will Howard, you're getting a really good backup who's going to be a great team guy.
And so that's why I would take Will Howard next. And then I've always been a believer in Denzel Burke. You talk about those positions that are really highly valued.
You think about quarterback. You think about left tackle. You think about corner.
Corner is another position. It's really tough to find really good players. I still believe Denzel Burke is a guy who is capable of being a very good NFL starting cornerback.
So I'll take Denzel Burke next.
[Andy Anders]
I called him underrated earlier, and I'm going to stick with it here. I'll take Jordan Hancock in this next spot. And again, just to reiterate what I said, that nickel spot keeps growing in importance in the NFL.
If it's where he plays, because he showed he can play some safety too. He can do a lot of different things in a defense. But he showed the willingness over his two years starting there for Jim Knowles to stick his face in the fan, to really be willing to embrace the run game and the physicality of that, and still just be excellent covering the slot.
You have to work in space so much at that position. It's so difficult to play. And he was exemplary at it for the time he played it at Ohio State.
And I really think he's going to be a chess piece for an NFL defensive coordinator that you can deploy at a variety of positions. And hey, he's got outside corner experience too. So if you need him out there, I don't even think he would perform badly.
I think he would hold his own at an outside corner spot if that's where you needed him even. So a lot of things you can do with Jordan Hancock in a defense. And I think that's what makes him valuable here.
Next, I think I'm going to stay in the defensive backfield still, because I think Lathan Ransom is a guy that, to me, was another really underrated piece of that Ohio State defense. He's not a flashy... Strong safeties aren't going to be as high a priority, I think, for NFL teams as free safeties.
And Lathan, I think, definitely qualifies as a strong safety at the next level. But man, just big hitter physicality. You talk about a guy that can make a name for himself just with some bone clattering hits.
I mean, he did at Ohio State. And that run support, but also just steady and knows the assignment, knows his role. A very heady football player in pass coverage too.
And so I think he's going to have a sneaky good career just as a dependable, solid, really good run support, especially strong safety at the next level.
[Dan Hope]
Quenshawn Judkins is being projected as a first-round pick by some people, and he's still on the board. So I feel like I got to take him here. I mean, I think I picked Travion earlier than Quenshawn because I think Travion has a more unique skill set, in my opinion, that I think can make him...
can set him apart. I think there's more backs in the NFL who are like Quenshawn Judkins, but I think Quenshawn Judkins is going to be a really good NFL running back. I don't know that I ever see him becoming an all-pro type running back, but I think he can be one of those guys who can carry the load and can be a really good number one, number two running back.
I think the perfect thing for both of those guys really is to do what you just did at Ohio State this past season. Pair of them both with another really good running back and use them in a committee like that, keep them fresh. And I think Quenshawn's a guy who can have a really good NFL career.
And so I'll take Quenshawn Judkins next. And then with my final pick, we've already talked about the value of the offensive line, so I'll take one more. I'll go Seth McLaughlin.
I mean, you just saw what he did coming in at Ohio State this past season. Won the Remington Trophy in 10 games, even though his season was cut short. He was so good.
He was the best center in college football last year. I think he's another one of those guys who just has phenomenal intangibles, is going to come in and be a phenomenal team guy from day one, and plays a really hard position and has shown he can play it really well as both a pass blocker and run blocker. And so that's another guy I think is being a little bit underrated right now, probably because of that Achilles injury.
Obviously not going to be able to do much in the pre-draft process because of that injury. But I think Seth McLaughlin is very capable of becoming an NFL starting center. So I'll take Seth McLaughlin.
[Andy Anders]
I believe that leaves Ty Hamilton for me. And I think Ty is very capable of having a good NFL career. I'll be interested to see where he factors in, whether it's at nose or free tech, because he packed on some size and he was very strong in the middle and played that nose guard position very well for Ohio State this year.
But I don't know if he's going to have the size to be an NFL nose guard, or if he's going to slide back out to three tech and play more of that stout, run defending, plug in the middle type of three tech where he's very capable of having a good NFL career. And I think that he's another guy that could be a steal. I'll be interested to see where he comes off the board.
And again, where he factors in at the next level, whether it's the nose or the three tech spot.
[Dan Hope]
I'm getting on the phone now to call Cody Simon's agent and pick him up and undraft his free agent before Andy can get him. Because I would have loved to draft Cody Simon too. I mean, again, that's why we did this exercise.
It's so tough. How do you leave Cody Simon out of this? But that's how good I think this draft class is.
I mean, logically, we know it's not going to happen. But I truly believe, I'm not just saying this to sound good. I truly believe all 15 of these guys can be very good NFL players.
I truly believe that. Logically, we know the odds would tell you probably half of them will have really good NFL careers. But I truly believe all 15 of these guys can be really good NFL players.
And that's what makes this NFL draft class so exciting to watch for Ohio State this year. Over the next couple of months, we'll certainly be watching them closely in Indianapolis at the NFL Scouting Combine this week. And then, of course, a couple months from now, when the NFL draft takes place from April 24 through 26, we expect it to be a very busy weekend of draft coverage for us at 11 Warriors.
Because I think a lot of Ohio State players are going to hear their names called. Just a couple minutes left here on Real Pod Wednesdays. We haven't talked a lot about Ohio State men's basketball, but certainly an interesting time for them right now as they have lost three games in a row.
Another very important game coming up for the Buckeyes tonight as they play USC in a 10.30 p.m. game out there on the West Coast. Just want to get your quick thoughts before we get out of here, Andy. With this Ohio State basketball team, what do you make of what's happened here over the last couple of weeks?
And do you think this team can turn things around and still make the NCAA tournament?
[Andy Anders]
You look back at this season, Jake Deuber's first season, and the expectation with the roster he assembled with some of the pieces they went out and got was rightly and should have been to make the NCAA tournament. They've had a really tough schedule, and you get snakebitten at a kind of bad time in some ways, this illness. And I don't think it's an excuse for playing how they did against Northwestern, for blowing some opportunities at UCLA, I think, where you shot 31.7% from the field and just didn't get that offense going. I think the illness that's gone through the team right now is impacting things a little bit, but they haven't had the front court presence to match some of the Big 10's physicality. They're getting out rebounded. Sean Stewart has been a solid defensive, he hasn't lived up to his five-star potential at any stretch, but he's at least been a really good rebounder and defender down low, except that he is constantly in foul trouble.
I mean constantly in foul trouble, averaging over three and a half fouls a game. They need more guys, they need more out of that front court right now, especially the center position. Aaron Brabshaw needs to stay available.
He's missed another two games here with illness. They don't know if they're going to have him back against USC tonight yet. At least as of recording this, they don't know whether we might find that out by the time the episode goes live, I don't know.
But USC tonight, they're in must-win territory now. You're running out of time to get... They were for a long time solidly in the NCAA tournament.
Now this three-game losing streak, you pick up easily your worst loss of the season against Northwestern, and now you're in a position where without a really good run in the Big 10 tournament, you kind of need to win each of these last three regular season games. Easier said than done when you're going to USC. Nebraska at home, who beat you earlier in the year, but I think Nebraska is much better at home than on the road, so that should be a winnable game for Ohio State.
And then closing the season on the road against Indiana, who beat you at home earlier in the year, who's riding a lot of momentum right now, just beat Purdue. They're not in a good spot when it comes to the NCAA tournament, and I think it would be an extremely disappointing year in for them not to make it. Jake Debor, talking to him after that UCLA game, actually really appreciated the way his team battled at the end, which they did.
They kept it close in a defensive battle. I think there were a lot of things to pick apart from that game for Ohio State, but Jake is confident they can go on a run. As a coach, I mean, you're not going to come out and say like, oh no, I have no faith in my team, but it was like really emphatic, which surprised me a little bit.
Jake's always been super authentic with us, and I think that he really believes that his team is going to make a run at some point. But I think too, with that front court increase, with more from that center position, you need your four stars to be playing on a consistent level. Not that all four of those guys, and I'm talking about Bruce Thornton, John Moby Jr., Micah Parrish, and Devin Royal need to be dropping 20 points every night, but John Moby Jr.'s had some, and he's been dealing with illness, but you have a 2 of 15 stretch of shooting in there at one point between the Northwestern and the UCLA games. Devin Royal scored 26 points against Michigan, but had a really bad outing against Northwestern. Micah Parrish was really bad against Michigan, but had other really good performances recently. Not all of those guys, again, you don't need all four of them to be firing on all cylinders every night, but you need all four of them to be consistent threats, because it's just hard for this team to get a lot of scoring production from other places right now.
I mean, they're definitely not getting it at center. Bradshaw's had a couple of games here and there, but just hasn't been that consistent producer, and again, has availability issues. Sean Stewart, again, defense and rebounding, but he's not that offensive weapon, and they don't have a whole lot coming off the bench for that either.
Like Evan Mahaffey, Quest Glover, they haven't been big offensive threats off the bench. So you need those four guys to be consistent down the stretch of the season, and for it to click with a reliable center play. And so that's the formula, I think, for Ohio State to make a late season run and try to make it into the NCAA tournament in Jake Diebler's first year.
I don't know that I see it happening at this point, because not only do you need all that to click, it all has to go right. College basketball is such an unpredictable sport, and now you've dug yourself in a hole with these last three losses to where you're battling to try and get kind of back in to the NCAA tournament, where you were in a good, you were in a great spot a couple of weeks ago, but now things have kind of fallen off, and you have to make a run. And it's a bad position to be in, but I'm not writing it off either.
[Dan Hope]
I'm not either. I think, to me, there's two big problems that this team has had, and I think one is what you said. They really have four scorers.
Outside of those four players, Bruce Fortin, Devin Royal, Micah Parrish, and John Mobley Jr., nobody else is giving them much scoring on a consistent basis. And so if two of those guys have a bad game, they lose, because they really need at least three of those guys to have a productive game for them to win. And so I think that you have that problem of you're overly reliant on that quartet of players, and it goes in tandem with the fact that you came into this year, you were expecting four transfers to really play big roles for this team.
And really, I think one of them has actually exceeded expectations, at least in terms of scoring, and Micah Parrish. But Aaron Bradshaw and Sean Stewart have not lived up to expectations, and Meachie Johnson Jr. isn't with the team. It doesn't seem particularly likely at this point that Meachie Johnson is going to come back, because he's been away from the team for multiple months now.
And so you built a team expecting that quartet of transfers, along with Bruce Fortin, Devin Royal to give you a really strong core, and then John Mobley having the potential to provide that spark as a freshman. But because you really only got what you expected out of one of those four transfers, it's putting a lot on a freshman's plate in John Mobley. It's putting a lot on Bruce and Devin to really carry this team.
And I think for this team to have a realistic chance of making a run here, and not just making the NCAA Tournament, but winning in the NCAA Tournament, they're going to really need more from outside that quartet, or they're going to need that quartet to really consistently play at a high level. And so we'll see how it goes over the next few weeks. We'll be continuing to cover that over on 11warriors.com.
And of course, we'll also be continuing to look forward to the start of Ohio State spring practice, as we're now just a few weeks away from the 2025 Ohio State football team returning to the field to start their spring practices. So we hope you'll join us again next week for another episode of Real Pod Wednesdays. For Andy Anders, I'm Dan Hope.
We'll catch you next time.