The NFL Draft is still more than two months away, but the NFL Mock Draft industry is already in midseason form.
Most major outlets have already put out one or more mock drafts, and while they will undoubtedly change before the picks are made for real, it’s interesting to see where some former Buckeyes could be headed.
Many mocks just cover the first round of the draft, but a few others go well beyond that, with at least one reaching the fifth round. If history is any indication, once you get much past the first round, specific team projections are basically a crapshoot, but it’s at least interesting to see roughly when guys are projected to go.
It’s no big surprise that former Buckeyes Joe Burrow, Chase Young, and Jeff Okudah are all projected to go near the top of the first round in all of the major mock drafts.
However, it’s starting to look like it’s entirely possible that those three players, all of whom played together on the 2017 Buckeye team, could be the top three players picked overall.
A handful of older OSU teams have come close to pulling something like that off. Orlando Pace and Shawn Springs went No. 1 and No. 3 overall in 1997. Joey Bosa and Ezekiel Elliott were the No. 3 and No. 4 overall picks in 2016. But no OSU team has ever included players who went as the top three overall picks in a single draft.
There is at least one mock draft out there with five different former Buckeyes being picked in the first round. That would tie the program record from 2016. That year, Bosa, Elliott, Eli Apple, Taylor Decker, and Darron Lee were all first-round selections.
Another features six different Buckeyes going in the first 50 selections overall, and nine former OSU players going in the first four rounds.
There are 12 different former Ohio State players projected to get picked in the first five rounds of the 2020 NFL Draft in at least one of the major mock drafts listed below.
Here’s a look at where former Buckeyes are projected to go in a handful of the major publicly-available mock drafts right now.
QB Joe Burrow
Charley Casserly: Round 1, Pick 1 to Cincinnati Bengals
Chris Trapasso: Round 1, Pick 1 to Cincinnati Bengals
Draftwire: Round 1, Pick 1 to Cincinnati Bengals
Walter Football: Round 1, Pick 1 to Cincinnati Bengals
Bleacher Report: Round 1, Pick 1 to Cincinnati Bengals
NBCSports.com: Round 1, Pick 1 to Cincinnati Bengals
DE Chase Young
Charley Casserly: Round 1, Pick 2 to Washington Redskins
Chris Trapasso: Round 1, Pick 3 to Detroit Lions
Draftwire: Round 1, Pick 2 to Washington Redskins
Walter Football: Round 1, Pick 3 to Detroit Lions
Bleacher Report: Round 1, Pick 2 to Washington Redskins
NBCSports.com: Round 1, Pick 2 to Washington Redskins
CB Jeff Okudah
Charley Casserly: Round 1, Pick 3 to Detroit Lions
Chris Trapasso: Round 1, Pick 7 to Carolina Panthers
Draftwire: Round 1, Pick 3 to Detroit Lions
Walter Football: Round 1, Pick 5 to Washington Redskins (trade down)
Bleacher Report: Round 1, Pick 3 to Detroit Lions
NBCSports.com: Round 1, Pick 3 to Detroit Lions
RB J.K. Dobbins
Charley Casserly: Round 1, Pick 26 to Miami Dolphins
Draftwire: Round 2, Pick 45 to Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Walter Football: Round 2, Pick 37 to Los Angeles Chargers
NBCSports.com: Round 1, Pick 26 to Miami Dolphins
CB Damon Arnette
Charley Casserly: Round 1, Pick 31 to San Francisco 49ers
Draftwire: Round 2, Pick 48 to New York Jets
Walter Football: Round 2, Pick 55 to Atlanta Falcons
LB Malik Harrison
Draftwire: Round 2, Pick 50 to Chicago Bears
OL Jonah Jackson
Draftwire: Round 3, Pick 94 to Green Bay Packers
WR K.J. Hill
Draftwire: Round 4, Pick 107 to Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Walter Football: Round 3, Pick 92 to Baltimore Ravens
DT DaVon Hamilton
Draftwire: Round 4, Pick 128 to Kansas City Chiefs
SAF Jordan Fuller
Walter Football: Round 4, Pick 97 to Cincinnati Bengals
WR Binjimen Victor
Walter Football: Round 5, Pick 141 to New York Jets
OL Branden Bowen
Walter Football: Round 5, Pick 154 to Houston Texans