DaVon Hamilton has officially made it to the NFL.
The former Ohio State defensive tackle was selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars with the No. 73 overall pick in the third round of the 2020 NFL draft on Friday night.
"I'm just so blessed."
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) April 25, 2020
A monster on the field, @dmhamilton53 is simply humble off of it. Relive the Hamilton family's #NFLDraft night as he got the call from the @Jaguars to make his dream come true.#GoBucks #DevelopedHere #R2X #DUUUVAL pic.twitter.com/5IIBGDoZB6
It's the second straight year an Ohio State defensive tackle has been selected in the third round of the NFL draft, as Dre'Mont Jones went to the Denver Broncos with the No. 71 overall pick in 2019.
A native of Pickerington, Ohio, Hamilton evolved into an early-round NFL draft prospect during his fifth and final season at Ohio State in 2019, in which he recorded 10.5 tackles for loss – including six sacks, the most of any Buckeye not named Chase Young last season – and earned third-team All-Big Ten honors.
Hamilton, who weighs in at 6-foot-4 and 320 pounds, projects to primarily play nose tackle in the NFL, as he did at Ohio State, though he's shown the versatility to also potentially play some snaps as a 3-technique. In Jacksonville, Hamilton could be the starting nose tackle after the Jaguars moved on from Marcell Dareus this offseason; either way, he should see substantial playing time as a rookie in a rotation with Taven Bryan and Abry Jones.
Hamilton was the sixth defensive tackle selected in this year's draft, following Auburn's Derrick Brown, South Carolina's Javon Kinlaw, TCU's Ross Blacklock, Alabama's Raekwon Davis and Texas A&M's Justin Madubuike.
He joins Young, who the Washington Redskins selected with the No. 2 overall pick, as the second Ohio State defensive lineman chosen in this year's draft. He was the fifth total Buckeye to be selected in this year's draft, also joining first-round cornerbacks Jeff Okudah and Damon Arnette and second-round running back J.K. Dobbins.
Hamilton is the first Buckeye drafted by the Jaguars since Michael Bennett in 2015. He joins one other former Ohio State player, Andrew Norwell, on the Jaguars' current roster.
