Some of the NFL’s best players from this past season, including several from Ohio State, will be celebrated on Sunday when the league’s all-stars from both the AFC and NFC face off in the annual Pro Bowl.
Four former Ohio State players are set to participate in Sunday’s game, with two on the teams for each conference. Pittsburgh Steelers defensive end Cameron Heyward and Cleveland Browns cornerback Denzel Ward will represent Ohio State for the AFC team, while Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott and Philadelphia Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins will be in uniform for the NFC squad. New Orleans Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas was also selected for the NFC team, but will not actually be playing in the game after the Saints’ NFC Championship Game loss last Sunday.
Those five players were Ohio State’s best of the best in the NFL this past season, and there were many others who had seasons worthy of recognition as well.
A trio of Buckeyes who are role players for their respective teams will play in next Sunday’s Super Bowl, when Nate Ebner and John Simon will take the field for the New England Patriots and Jake McQuaide will long snap for the Los Angeles Rams, but the rest of the Buckeyes’ seasons are complete.
While we await this afternoon’s Pro Bowl, which is scheduled for a 3 p.m. kickoff at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida, and will be televised on ABC and ESPN, we take a look back at the Buckeyes who made the biggest marks on this year’s NFL season.
Best of the Best
Michael Thomas, WR, New Orleans Saints
Thomas continued his historically great start to his NFL career in his third season in the league, leading the league with 125 regular-season receptions – the fifth-most ever in a single season – for 1,405 yards and nine touchdowns. He followed that up with another huge performance in the Saints’ playoff win over the Eagles, catching 12 passes for 171 yards and a touchdown to lead the Bayou Buckeyes to a comeback victory.
In his three NFL seasons, Thomas has already caught 321 passes; before this season, no player had ever caught more than 288 passes in just three years. In the process of rewriting the record books, Thomas has established himself as one of the NFL’s elite wide receivers, and arguably the best Ohio State product in the league.
Michael Thomas continued to establish himself as one of the NFL's best wide receivers in 2018. Derick E. Hingle – USA TODAY Sports
Ezekiel Elliott, RB, Dallas Cowboys
After serving a six-game suspension in 2017, Elliott re-established himself as one of the NFL’s elite running backs in 2018, leading the league with 1,434 rushing yards on 304 carries while also catching 77 passes for 567 yards and scoring nine total touchdowns (six rushing, three receiving).
His 2,001 yards from scrimmage were the second-most among all NFL players this year, and he was the clear-cut star of this year’s Dallas Cowboys offense, leading the way for his team to win the NFC East title.
Cameron Heyward, DE, Pittsburgh Steelers
Heyward is making his second straight Pro Bowl appearance this year after another excellent season leading Pittsburgh’s defensive line. He recorded 51 total tackles during the 2018 season, most among all Steelers defensive linemen, including eight sacks.
A captain for the Steelers for the past four years, Heyward has been a consistent leader of their defense and one of the league’s top defensive lineman, excelling as both a run-stopper and interior pass-rusher in Pittsburgh’s 3-4 defense.
Denzel Ward, CB, Cleveland Browns
The No. 4 overall pick in last year’s NFL draft, Ward immediately demonstrated why he was a top pick in his first season playing for his hometown NFL team. As a rookie, Ward became the Browns’ No. 1 cornerback right away and quickly emerged as one of the league’s best players at the position, recording 53 total tackles, 11 pass deflections, three interceptions and one forced fumble.
A Macedonia, Ohio, native, Ward showed he could be dominant in coverage while also coming up and making big tackles in the run game. Now, he is one of the faces of a Browns team that will be looking to snap a 16-year playoff drought in 2019.
Malcolm Jenkins, S, Philadelphia Eagles
Jenkins was a late addition to the NFC’s Pro Bowl roster, initially selected as an alternate, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t deserving in the first place. Fresh off leading the Eagles to their first-ever Super Bowl win, Jenkins was one of the league’s top safeties once again, recording 97 total tackles, eight pass deflections, three forced fumbles and an interception.
Ten years into his NFL career, Jenkins is still playing at as high a level as ever, all the while providing crucial leadership to the Eagles as one of their captains for the past two seasons.
Breakout Seasons
Gareon Conley, CB, Oakland Raiders
After being sidelined by injuries for most of his rookie season and even this past offseason, Conley overcame doubts about his ability to stay healthy to put together an excellent sophomore campaign. The 2017 first-round pick emerged as the Raiders’ top cornerback in 2018, recording 37 tackles, three interceptions and 15 pass deflections.
Cameron Johnston, P, Philadelphia Eagles
After spending the 2017 season on the Eagles’ practice squad, Johnston became the punter for the defending champions this season and established himself as one of the best in the entire league. Johnston ranked third in the NFL this season in yards per punt (48.1) and fourth in net yards per punt (42.7), putting 24 of his 61 punts inside the opponent’s 20-yard line.
Raekwon McMillan and Jerome Baker, LB, Miami Dolphins
McMillan and Baker both emerged as starting linebackers for the Dolphins in 2018. McMillan, who missed his entire rookie season in 2017 after tearing his ACL, recorded 105 total tackles with 6.5 tackles for loss and two forced fumbles in his first playing season this year. Baker, a third-round pick in last year’s NFL draft, started 11 games for the Dolphins as a rookie and recorded 79 total tackles and three sacks and returning an interception for a touchdown.
Sam Hubbard, DE, Cincinnati Bengals
Hubbard’s fall to the third round of last year’s NFL draft left many Ohio State fans scratching their heads, and his rookie season only strengthened his argument that he should been an earlier selection. While he didn’t start any games as a rookie, he rotated in on the Bengals’ defensive line to record 39 tackles, including 9.5 tackles for loss and six sacks. Much like at Ohio State, Hubbard excelled as a run defender while also making an impact as a pass-rusher.
Curtis Samuel, WR, Carolina Panthers
Following a quiet rookie season in which he didn’t score any touchdowns, Samuel started to show the big-play ability that made him a star at Ohio State in his second NFL season. Samuel caught 39 passes for 494 yards and five touchdowns while also adding 84 yards and two touchdowns on 10 rushing attempts in 2018.
Curtis Samuel started to put his big-play ability on display in his second NFL season. Philip G. Pavely – USA TODAY Sports
Other Impact Players
Corey Linsley, C, Green Bay Packers
Linsley continued to be a reliable anchor in the middle of Green Bay’s offensive line in 2018, playing every single one of the Packers’ offensive snaps for the second year in a row. He has now started 70 games in five seasons with the Packers.
Taylor Decker, LT, Detroit Lions
Decker also started all 16 games for his NFC North team in 2018, protecting Matthew Stafford’s blind side from the left tackle spot. He has now started 40 games in three seasons with the Lions since they selected him with the No. 16 overall pick.
Joey Bosa, DE, Los Angeles Chargers
Like his younger brother Nick, Joey Bosa was injured for a majority of the 2018 season but was dominant when he was on the field. In just seven regular-season games for the Chargers, Bosa recorded 23 total tackles with 5.5 sacks.
Marshon Lattimore, Vonn Bell and Eli Apple, DB, New Orleans Saints
Lattimore wasn’t as dominant in his second NFL season as he was in his Defensive Rookie of the Year season in 2017, but he was still the star in the secondary of a Saints team that would probably be playing in the Super Bowl if not for a missed pass interference call late in the NFC Championship Game. He had 53 tackles with nine passes defended and returned an interception 45 yards for a touchdown, and saved his best game of the year for the postseason, intercepting two passes in the Saints’ win over the Eagles.
The Saints had a total of four former Buckeyes in their secondary this season; Kurt Coleman’s playing time diminished over the course of the season, but Bell and Apple both made significant impacts, as well. Bell finished second on the Saints this year with 88 regular-season tackles. Apple came to New Orleans in a midseason trade after a tumultuous tenure with the New York Giants and proceeded to have the best season of his NFL career, starting opposite Lattimore and recording 52 tackles, nine passes defended and two interceptions in 10 regular-season games with New Orleans.
Malik Hooker, S, Indianapolis Colts
Hooker continued to battle injuries in his sophomore season after his rookie season was cut short by a torn ACL, but he still started 14 regular-season games for the Colts in 2018. Used primarily as a deep safety, Hooker played a crucial role on the back end of the Indianapolis defense, recording 44 total tackles and two interceptions.
