Round: 1
Pick: 21
Height: 6′ 3″
Weight: 305
Billy Price, the standout Ohio State offensive lineman who won the 2017 Rimington Award, was selected by the Cincinnati Bengals with the 21st pick of the first round of the NFL Draft.
Respected both for his play on the field and his leadership, Price was a two-time all-American and a two-time captain for the Buckeyes.
Price arrived at Ohio State as a defensive tackle, but quickly earned a spot on the offensive side of the ball.
He set a school record by starting 55 games in his career.
After a redshirt season in 2013, Price won a starting spot at guard as a redshirt freshman and never missed a game for the rest of his time with the Buckeyes.
He was named a Freshman All-American during the Buckeyes’ 2014 national title season.
Price spent three seasons as a starter at guard, before moving to center for his final year. He replaced Pat Elflein, who won the 2016 Rimington Award and was picked in the second round of the 2017 NFL Draft by the Minnesota Vikings.
Price filled Elflein’s role admirably last fall, also taking home the award the nation’s best collegiate center.
Projecting Price As A Pro
Inside The Pylon broke down Price and hundreds of other prospects from a statistical and film-based perspective. What you see below is just a small portion of Price’s player profile. You can get the rest by buying their incredible 431-page Draft Guide.
Overall Rank: No. 20
Position Rank: No. 5 Interior OL
Technically sound and athletic center who finished his career as one of the most decorated linemen in Ohio State history and can provide value at any interior line spot at the next level.
PROJECTIONS
One-Year Projection: Starter you can win with that utilizes very good athletic ability, good pad level and very good mental processing to engage and drive at point of attack. Best fit in a Zone scheme that allows him to maximize his athleticism, short-area quickness and lateral movement to move defenders. Possesses a good anchor in pass protection. Will need development in his hands and shows a tendency to lunge at times/become impatient.
Three-Year Projection: Starter you can win with that displays Pro Bowl level traits. Zone blocker possessing the athletic ability to reach the 2nd level to clear LBs & DBs. Lower/Core/Upper body strength to win at point of attack. Anchors well in pass protection and clears throwing lanes. Has the mental processing to read defense pre-snap to make blocking adjustments and pick up delayed blitzes/twists.
You can get an extended profile of Billy Price’s NFL projection here.
Ohio State Release
C Billy Price Selected in 1st Round of NFL Draft
Rimington Award winner and unanimous All-American is sixth Meyer OL drafted from Ohio State
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State now has multiple first-round draft picks for the fourth time in coach Urban Meyer’s six seasons as center Billy Price, from Austintown, Ohio and Fitch High School, was selected with the 21st overall pick of the first round by the Cincinnati Bengals.
Price, the 2017 Rimington Award winner, unanimous All-American, two-time team captain and Big Ten Conference offensive lineman of the year, joins an impressive corps of Buckeye offensive linemen who were first-round NFL Draft picks, including Taylor Decker, Orlando Pace, Korey Stringer, Nick Mangold, Jim Lachey, John Hicks and Chris Ward.
Price is the sixth Ohio State offensive lineman drafted in the Urban Meyer coaching era. Those players:
- 2018 – C Billy Price, 1st round selection by the Cincinnati Bengals;
- 2017 – C Pat Elflein, 3rd round by the Minnesota Vikings;
- 2016 – OT Taylor Decker, 1st round by the Detroit Lions;
- 2014 – OG Jack Mewhort, 2nd round by Indianapolis;
- 2014 – C Corey Linsley, 5th round by the Green Bay Packers; and
- 2013 – OT Reid Fragel, 7th round by the Cincinnati Bengals.
Price is the third Ohio State center drafted in the last five years, and the other two are starters in the NFC North: Linsley is in his fifth season with Green Bay and Elflein completed his rookie year with Minnesota last season.
More on Price at Ohio State
Price is one of the great offensive linemen in Ohio State’s storied history. A two-time All-American, including a unanimous All-American in 2017, Price is one of just six Buckeye offensive linemen to win a major national award, joining Jim Parker, John Hicks, Orlando Pace, LeCharles Bentley and Pat Elflein with that honor when he was named the recipient of the Rimington Trophy in 2017 as the nation’s outstanding center. Price also was named the Big Ten’s Rimington-Pace offensive lineman of the year in 2017. The two honors capped an outstanding career for Price, who not only was a two-time team captain, but who also set the record for starts and consecutive starts as a Buckeye with 55, respectively. He joined Elflein and Tyquan Lewis for the school record for games played, as well, at 55, meaning Price played in 55 games and started 55 times as a Buckeye.
Price graduated in May 2017 with his degree in business administration with a specialization in operations management.
Typo, should have said Kiper not Kiter.
After reading the comments by James Mills on Billy Price and Denzel Ward leads me to wonder why he has not been asked to replace Mel Kiter. Don’t know his background but he certainly has a high regard for his point of view.
Billy started the season looking unprepared. It was tough watching him get pushed around early in the season. By mid-season he started to fire on all cylinders and finished the season as one of the premier offensive linemen in the Country.
If they can get him to open the seasons where he tends to finish them, he’ll be an All Pro really early in his career.