Former Buckeye middle linebacker Raekwon McMillan should be hearing his name called tonight at the NFL Draft, which will leave a sizable hole in the Ohio State linebackers room.
Despite that void, however, new starting middle linebacker Chris Worley was impressed by what he saw from his position group this spring.
“I feel like we’re even deeper than we were last year honestly,” he said. “Just as far as guys ready to go in there and play. We had guys that were ready but they were in spot situations sort of, but right now we’re like two or three deep at every position. I don’t think we had that last year. Guys like Justin (Hilliard), he was hurt. Last year he didn’t play as much, (Dante) Booker, he got hurt first game, they’re coming in to sort of let the world know that at points they were at the top. Justin, I believe was a 5-star, Book was starting, he had to watch his starting spot sort of slip out of his hands. They look hungry, and that’s a good thing.”
Former Buckeye cornerbacks Marshon Lattimore and Gareon Conley were both selected in the first round of last night’s NFL Draft, which created a very important position search this spring for the Buckeyes.
There were eight different cornerbacks vying for a starting spot this spring for Ohio State, so it was a story every day during camp. As such, all of the defensive coaches were asked at various times what they had seen from the position. The one guy who didn’t have any thoughts on the matter was defensive line coach Larry Johnson. Why?
“I try not to look behind (the defensive line),” he said. “I tell my D-line that anything that goes over our head and is completed is on us. That’s the personal pride that we have to have. If a ball gets thrown and a guy is wide open, we didn’t get to the quarterback. We don’t say, ‘Oh…’ We don’t do that. I really believe that we have to affect the throw to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
Ohio State had three players drafted in the first round of the NFL Draft last night, as safety Malik Hooker joined Conley and Lattimore. More Buckeyes will be selected tonight as the draft continues with the second and third rounds. Saturday will cap it with rounds four through seven.
Earlier this spring, senior defensive end Jalyn Holmes was mentioning a couple of second-year teammates who will eventually be first-round picks, which prompted him to then be asked if Ohio State recruits any second rounders, or do they only recruit first-round picks.
“All first,” he said. “We don’t recruit second round. Sometimes it happens, but that’s not the goal. The goal around here is to be first round, and that’s what we’ve got, potentially first-round guys.”