With the implementation of the early signing period for recruiting, it would have helped Ohio State to know which of its draft-eligible juniors and redshirt sophomores plan to leave for the NFL and and which ones plan to return.
Ohio State coach Urban Meyer, however, says he doesn’t know how many of his players will leave for the NFL and how many will stay for another year – and he’s OK with that.
While Ohio State signed 21 players on Wednesday, the first day of this year’s early signing period, the Buckeyes potentially could have signed a few more had they known how many roster spots they will have available.
Meyer doesn’t know that yet, however, because he has had "very little, if any, conversation about NFL entry" with his draft-eligible players – and that’s by design.
With another game still to be played against USC in the Cotton Bowl on Dec. 29, Meyer doesn’t want his players focused on whether they will declare for the NFL draft right now. And with still more than three weeks remaining until the NFL draft declaration deadline of Jan. 15, Meyer also wants his players to take their time in order to make sure they make the right decisions.
"There is not a 'Hey, I need to know.' We don't do that. These are life-changing decisions," Meyer said Wednesday. "If I ever heard a player, as we're getting ready to go play a Big Ten Championship Game against the No. 4 team in America and he comes up to me and says, 'Hey, can I send in my paperwork for the NFL?' That would be one of those where you go, 'What the hell are you talking about?' So here's a young person, finishes the Big Ten Championship, he needs to take a break for a minute and then sends off his paperwork. It takes about two weeks or so to get back, and we have a signing day already, and a lot of the paperwork is not back yet. You understand that you're squeezing very important decisions into a small time frame. So those are all the things that you have to ask."
As mentioned by Meyer, it is common practice for players considering early entry into the NFL draft to submit paperwork to the NFL’s College Advisory Committee and receive an evaluation on their potential of being drafted. That process – which is overseen in part by NFL executive vice president of football operations Troy Vincent, the father of Ohio State signee Taron Vincent – was revised in 2014, with schools now being limited to request evaluations for only five players and with the College Advisory Committee now grading players as a potential first-round pick, a potential second-round pick or otherwise recommending that they stay in school.
Meyer says the evaluations process has improved significantly as a result of those changes, and as such, Meyer wants the players who requested those evaluations to have time to take them into consideration.
"10 years ago, it was awful. You'd get these things back, and you could tell people didn't spend time at it," Meyer said. "I'd look and I’d say, 'Who watches videotape? He's not a first-rounder.' And it came back and there's a big differential. So for example, this young man was told he's going to be a third-round draft pick and he was a free agent. So he made the decision to leave and he got screwed.
"It's much better (now). They're doing a much better job, the NFL, working with the colleges and working with these players, and now they're allowed to evaluate these underclassmen."
“There is not a ‘Hey, I need to know.’ We don't do that. These are life-changing decisions.”– Urban Meyer on NFL draft decisions
So far, none of Ohio State’s potential early entrants have stated whether they will declare for the draft or return to Columbus for the 2018 season, all choosing to delay such decisions – at least publicly – until after the Cotton Bowl. Meyer said he does keep a chart of potential draft entrants and whether he believes they will leave or not, but while he thinks he has an idea of who will be back and who won’t be, he says those hunches are not always correct.
"I say that every year and I get shocked, sometimes," Meyer said.
Ohio State currently has 69 scholarship players with eligibility to return – not including tight ends A.J. Alexander (medical scholarship) and Kierre Hawkins (transfer), who Meyer confirmed Wednesday would not return to the team – so with 21 players already signed, the Buckeyes are accounting for at least five players either declaring for the draft or transferring out of the program after the season. Meyer hinted Wednesday that the Buckeyes are also "holding onto" a 22nd signing from an in-state prospect who has yet to announce his commitment, which would bring Ohio State to 91 scholarships and mean the Buckeyes are expecting at least six departures.
Should the Buckeyes end up with more early departures than they anticipate, though, they could have room to make a few additional signings on Feb. 7, the traditional National Signing Day.
Redshirt junior defensive end Sam Hubbard, who graduated this past weekend, and junior cornerback Denzel Ward, a projected first-round pick, are among Ohio State's most likely candidates to declare for early entry into the 2018 NFL draft. Other potential candidates to go pro include redshirt sophomore defensive tackle Dre’Mont Jones, junior linebacker Jerome Baker, redshirt sophomore running back Mike Weber and redshirt junior wide receiver Parris Campbell.
