Ohio State Pro Day was a zoo.
Urban Meyer's showcase of NFL muscle—which went down March 11 at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center—was a mess of talent. It was a mess of national media. It was a mess of local media. It was a mess of friends, family and teammates watching 22 former Buckeyes work out in arguably the most public job interview on the planet.
The event came fewer than two weeks after the NFL Combine in Indianapolis. NFL Network and SportsCenter broadcasted live from the WHAC's indoor turf. Big Ten Network did too. Scouts, general managers and even a handful of head coaches attended, which caused the school to place more bleachers near the center of the field than usual.
Like we said: A zoo.
Meyer roamed about as a billboard for his program, smiling as he watched Cardale Jones whip footballs to Ezekiel Elliott, Braxton Miller and others. Meyer saw potential No. 1 overall pick Joey Bosa shred through drills while talked to Bosa's little brother, Nick, and his parents.
Reporters tried to get their hands on any and all of the talent for a quote or a brief interview, because the Buckeyes appear to have more draft-ready players than any other school this draft season. There's a reason 14 members from the 2015 squad—nine early entrants and five seniors—received combine invites.
The Buckeyes should tie their own record of 14 players selected from one school in a single draft class set in 2004 and have an excellent chance at topping it.
But can Ohio State tie or top the 2004 Miami Hurricanes (six) for most first rounders from one school? Possibly, and as evident in our latest mock draft roundup, analysts think it has a shot.
Like we've done three times already, below is a table with a host of draft projections for Ohio State players. It is timely because with the calendar flipped to April, pro days are mostly complete across the country for college programs.
For this roundup, we took information from Mel Kiper Jr. and Todd McShay from ESPN, Will Brinson, Rob Rang, Pete Prisco and Dane Brugler of CBS Sports, Daniel Jeremiah of NFL.com, Josh Norris of rotoworld.com, Nate Davis of USA Today, Matt Miller of Bleacher Report and Chris Burke from Sports Illustrated.
The number in parenthesis is where each analyst had the player in our last roundup, March 2. Only Miller has not updated his mock draft in the last month, of which he projected the first two rounds. McShay and Burke did the same in their latest mocks.
| Prospect | BRINSON | DAVIS | Rang | Brugler | Kiper | PRISCO | McShay | MILLER | Jeremiah | Norris | Burke |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JOEY BOSA, DE | 6 (3) | 4 (4) | 9 (5) | 4 (4) | 4 (6) | 6 (4) | 4 (4) | 6 | 4 (4) | 6 (2) | 5 |
| EZEKIEL ELLIOTT, RB | 8 (22) | 8 (8) | 8 (10) | 8 (22) | 6 (22) | 13 (22) | 13 (10) | 18 | 8 (20) | 4 (18) | 8 |
| TAYLOR DECKER, OT | 23 (NR) | 18 (18) | 23 (26) | 18 (18) | 18 (31) | 16 (26) | 16 (16) | 14 | 26 (18) | 20 (23) | 16 |
| ELI APPLE, CB | 14 (NR) | 19 (23) | 14 (25) | 28 (14) | 26 (14) | 14 (11) | 25 (14) | 25 | 13 (30) | NR (NR) | 28 |
| DARRON LEE, LB | NR (NR) | 17 (10) | 12 (12) | 13 (11) | 13 (NR) | 13 (10) | 17 (17) | 11 | 27 (21) | 17 (11) | 23 |
| BRAXTON MILLER, WR | NR (NR) | NR (NR) | NR (NR) | NR (24) | NR (NR) | NR | 59 (NR) | 24 | NR (NR) | NR (NR) | 50 |
| VONN BELL, S | NR (NR) | NR (NR) | NR (NR) | NR (28) | 28 (NR) | NR | 44 (23) | 55 | NR (NR) | NR (NR) | 53 |
| MICHAEL THOMAS, WR | NR (NR) | NR (NR) | NR (NR) | NR (NR) | NR (NR) | NR | 53 (NR) | 12 | NR (NR) | NR (NR) | 24 |
| JOSHUA PERRY, LB | NR (NR) | NR (NR) | NR (NR) | NR (NR) | NR (NR) | NR | NR (NR) | 63 | NR (NR) | NR (NR) | NR |
2016 NFL Draft order:
- 1. Tennessee Titans
- 2. Cleveland Browns
- 3. San Diego Chargers
- 4. Dallas Cowboys
- 5. Jacksonville Jaguars
- 6. Baltimore Ravens
- 7. San Francisco 49ers
- 8. Philadelphia Eagles
- 9. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- 10. New York Giants
- 11. Chicago Bears
- 12. New Orleans Saints
- 13. Miami Dolphins
- 14. Oakland Raiders
- 15. Los Angeles Rams
- 16. Detroit Lions
- 17. Atlanta Falcons
- 18. Indianapolis Colts
- 19. Buffalo Bills
- 20. New York Jets
- 21. Washington Redskins
- 22. Houston Texans
- 23. Minnesota Vikings
- 24. Cincinnati Bengals
- 25. Pittsburgh Steelers
- 26. Seattle Seahawks
- 27. Green Bay Packers
- 28. Kansas City Chiefs
- 29. Arizona Cardinals
- 30. Carolina Panthers
- 31. Denver Broncos
*Note: There are only 31 picks in the first round of the 2016 NFL Draft. New England forfeited its first round selection, which would have been 29th. You can see the second and third round orders here.
The biggest mover from previous mocks is easily running back Ezekiel Elliott, who finds his name often among the top-10 picks. He appears to be a trendy pick to head to Philadelphia and team up in the backfield with Ryan Mathews and Darren Sproles for new head coach Doug Pederson. Whether or not Elliott comes off the board that high is an interesting proposition considering running backs have slowly devalued in what is now a passing league.
If Elliott does come off the board among the first 10 picks, he'll likely join All-American defensive end Joey Bosa as the only Buckeyes in the category. No analyst pegged anyone else with a top-10 grade.
Somewhat surprisingly, Kiper joined Burke in putting six Buckeyes in the first round after holding steady at four or five in his earlier mocks. Miller has seven, including Michael Thomas at 12th to the New Orleans Saints.
Vonn Bell's name has bubbled up among analysts in recent weeks, in a similar breath as Darron Lee and Eli Apple. All three exhibit the speed, athleticism and playmaking ability to make an early impact for a franchise.
Cardale Jones displayed his skill set at Ohio State's pro day March 11, which became an imperative day for his future after he pulled his hamstring running the 40-yard dash at the combine and didn't throw. Jones is a wild card in this draft due to his terrific physical attributes but limited tape, but anything can happen in the quarterback-thirsty league that is the NFL.
Teams will meet with prospects either in a formal setting or for a personal workout, much like Houston Texans head coach Bill O'Brien and the entire Dallas Cowboys staff did two weeks ago at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.
Plenty can change in the final 20 days before the draft either due to off-field issues causing character concerns for a prospect or anything in between, but this is where top draft analysts believe the Buckeyes will fall.
The draft runs April 28-30 at Chicago's Auditorium Theatre.
