Reviewing Pro Careers of Former Buckeye Defensive Linemen as Joey Bosa and Adolphus Washington Prep to Join the Club

Having left respective legacies in Columbus including the first ever College Football Playoff National Championship, defensive linemen Joey Bosa and Adolphus Washington will be NFL players in very near future. 

Bosa, a former Scout five-star prospect out of Fort Lauderdale, has taken some shots lately but is currently a lock for a top-10 draft slot while Washington, who recently saw a solicitation charge against him dropped, is probably poised to hear his name called somewhere in the third round. 

A lot can happen between now and draft day but the chances of both guys having long and productive professional careers look favorable leading up to the Draft. 

So what kind of NFL career will it take for each to rank among former Buckeye greats? For perspective, below is a summary of pro resumes turned in by former defensive linemen to come out of the Ohio State football factory. 

Already boasting a decorated collegiate career that saw him star on both the offensive and defensive lines on the way to becoming the first African-American to win All-American honors (twice) at Ohio State, Bill Willis was even more impactful at the professional level. 

In eight seasons with the Cleveland Browns, Willis earned three Pro Bowl nods and eight All-Pro selections helping Paul Brown's outfit win four straight AAFC titles. Willis is a member of both the College Football Hall of Fame and Pro Football Hall of Fame. 

A Pro Football Hall of Fame finalist in 2004, Jim Marshall is somehow not enshrined in Canton after a 20-year career including 19 years of dominance with the Minnesota Vikings after being drafted by the Browns in 1960 only to be traded after just one season. 

A one-time NFL champion and three-time NFC champ, Marshall earned two Pro Bowl selections. As part of Minnesota's famed Purple People Eaters, the Columbus East High School product started every game from 1961-1979, good for an NFL record 270 consecutive games started by any non-punter. 

Marshall's 30 fumble recoveries are still the NFL benchmark and his 127 sacks are second-most in Vikings team history. 

A little known fact, Marshall actually left Ohio State before his senior season and played one year in the CFL for the Saskatchewan Roughriders before moving on to the NFL the following season. 

The second-tier of former Buckeye defensive linemen features four players with at least 100 NFL starts. 

The Fresh Prince, Will Smith, leads the group with 67.5 sacks and 20 forced fumbles, earning one Pro Bowl appearance during a 10-year career. A 1st-round selection in 2004, Smith started 86% of the games he played in before an ACL tear effectively ended his career during the 2013 preseason. 

Smith ranked fifth in the league in sacks in 2009 (13.0) and his 67.5 career sacks rank 84th in NFL history. 

A lesser-known Buckeye thanks to playing the often thankless position of defensive tackle, Ryan Pickett carved out an impressive 14-year career as a big-time starter for St. Louis, Green Bay and Houston. 

A 1st-round pick in 2001, Pickett logged 185 starts in 207 career appearances earned a Super Bowl ring in 2011 as a key member of Green Bay's defense. 

"Big Daddy" Dan Wilkinson struggled to live up to the hype of being the top pick of the 1994 Draft but still produced a solid 13-year career as a member of the Cincinnati Bengals, Washington Redskins and Detroit Lions and Miami Dolphins. Wilkinson's 54.5 sacks are 134th all-time and his 182 starts stand 162nd. 

A 5th-round pick in 1981, Keith Ferguson forged a productive 10-year career with his heyday coming during a three-year stint in Detroit as he tallied 24.0 sacks between 1986-1988.

A couple of 1st round selections make up the next section of the list in Alonzo Spellman and Cameron Heyward. 

Spellman, selected 22nd overall in 1992 by the Chicago Bears, was a full-time starter for five of his 10 years in the league and tallied 43 sacks. Spellman was destined for much more success but struggled to get a handle on his bipolar disorder resulting in numerous run-ins with the law. 

As for Heyward, all signs point to him climbing this list in the coming years. During what is now a five-year career, Heyward has been a full-time starter over his last three seasons in Pittsburgh logging 19.5 of his 22 career sacks. 

The final grouping all saw between 15-30 NFL starts with careers spanning anywhere from three to seven years with Johnathan Hankins still in the early stages of his NFL tenure. 

Darrion Scott, a 2002 national champ with the Buckeyes, leads the grouping with 28 starts, 134 tackles and 9.5 sacks after a six-year career that saw him serve as a full-time starter for Minnesota in 2005 and 2006. 

Hankins, like Heyward, will climb this list in the years to come. The 49th overall pick of the 2013 Draft, Hankins became a full-time starter in his second year in the league and carried that over into year three before suffering a season-ending pectoral muscle tear in week nine. 

Fellow starters alongside Scott for Ohio State's 2002 championship squad, Tim Anderson and Kenny Peterson went on to be 3rd round selections and lasted a combined 11 years in the NFL. 

A host of other guys saw limited time in the NFL, failing to log at least 10 starts including a pair of 1st round selections in Vernon Gholston (6th overall pick, 2008) and Eric Kumerow (16th, 1988). A handful of other players lined up along the defensive line in college but moved to linebacker in the pros including Mike Vrabel, Bob Brudzinski and John Simon, to name a few. 

In case you missed our previous looks at other positions, we've already covered running backs, receivers and linebackers.