With the regular season now complete, Ohio State’s top draft-eligible players who still have collegiate eligibility will soon have to decide whether they will enter the 2023 NFL draft or stay in school for another year.
If the Buckeyes don’t make the College Football Playoff, those decisions could come even sooner, as players who opt to enter the draft could also consider the possibility of skipping the Orange Bowl or whatever non-playoff bowl game Ohio State ends up in.
With that in mind, it’s time to take a look at which Ohio State starters from this season have decisions to make on whether or not they will enter the 2023 NFL draft and the impact their decisions could make on next year’s Buckeye roster.
C.J. Stroud and Jaxon Smith-Njigba have been expected to enter the 2023 NFL draft all year long, and Ronnie Hickman has already confirmed he will go pro rather than return for his fifth-year senior season. For the purposes of this article, we’re also assuming the players who participated in Ohio State’s Senior Day ceremony will not return to Ohio State, even though some of them could still return for the additional year of eligibility the NCAA gave all players in 2020.
Given that extra year of eligibility, the following eight players could all still play at least two more seasons at Ohio State if they wanted to. All of them were starters for the Buckeyes this year, though, and would likely be selected in the 2023 NFL draft – though any of them could also have incentive to stay in Columbus for another year and attempt to bolster their draft stock further.
LT Paris Johnson Jr.
Decision factors: Outside of Stroud and Smith-Njigba, Johnson seems like the surest bet to enter the 2023 NFL draft among Ohio State’s non-seniors. He’s been widely projected as a first-round pick and is on track to graduate from Ohio State in just three years. But Johnson told Eleven Warriors before the Michigan game he had not yet made a decision on his future and would do so after the season following discussions with his family.
Having started for only one season at his natural position of left tackle, Johnson still has plenty of room to grow and could benefit from another year of development at the collegiate level. But he’s already in line for a big payday if he decides he’s ready to start his NFL career now.
Decision impact: Ohio State would be thrilled if Johnson returned to lead its offensive line next season. If he doesn’t, left tackle will fall right behind quarterback as one of Ohio State’s biggest positional question marks for 2023. Assuming Josh Fryar takes over for Dawand Jones at right tackle, Ohio State will have to decide whether it has a starting-caliber left tackle (Zen Michalski?) on its roster for next season or if it needs to go transfer portal shopping for a quick fix.
RB Miyan Williams
Decision factors: Running backs tend to have a shorter NFL shelf life than other positions, and that’s especially true for contact-seeking runners like Williams. By averaging more than 6.7 yards per carry across his three years at Ohio State, Williams has shown plenty of pro potential and would likely be selected in the middle rounds of the 2023 draft. Staying at Ohio State and having a big 2023 season could give him a chance to go earlier in 2024, but that’s not guaranteed.
Decision impact: Whether Williams stays or goes, Ohio State will have several candidates to play major roles at running back with TreVeyon Henderson and Dallan Hayden returning (and Chip Trayanum if he stays on offense) and Evan Pryor coming back from injury. Williams will surely play a major role in the rotation if he’s back, but the Buckeyes have options to move forward without him, though his departure would create a back-end depth question since Ohio State does not currently have a 2023 running back commit.
Miyan Williams and Paris Johnson Jr. are among Ohio State’s offensive stars who have NFL draft decisions after their third year as Buckeyes.
TE Cade Stover
Decision factors: Stover legitimized himself as an NFL prospect this year with the most productive season an Ohio State tight end has had in the past nine years, catching 35 passes for 399 yards and five touchdowns. Stover said this offseason that his decision to play tight end rather than defense was driven partially because he believes he has more NFL potential as a tight end, and Pro Football Network’s Tony Pauline reported last week that Stover is believed to be leaning toward entering the draft.
Stover said last week, though, that his impending NFL draft decision was “the last thing I'm thinking about right now.” He’s still relatively new to playing tight end after starting his Ohio State career on defense, and his inconsistency as a blocker down the stretch of the season showed his development is still a work in progress.
Decision impact: Mitch Rossi is in his final season at Ohio State, so the Buckeyes will lose both of their top two tight ends from this season if Stover goes pro. Gee Scott Jr. would likely be the frontrunner to start at tight end if Stover leaves, while Joe Royer, Sam Hart and Bennett Christian are also candidates for increased roles next season, but tight end would become another position where the Buckeyes would have to decide between relying on unproven players or adding a transfer.
C Luke Wypler
Decision factors: Wypler has been Ohio State’s starting center for the past two years and has played well enough that he’s expected to be one of the 2023 draft’s top centers if he declares.
It’s rare for Ohio State offensive linemen to leave after just three years, and actually unprecedented for a redshirt sophomore Ohio State lineman to enter the NFL draft, so he’ll have to decide whether he’s truly ready to make the jump to the next level. The aforementioned report by Pauline said Wypler was also believed to be leaning toward going pro, though it also noted Ohio State is making an effort to sell Wypler and would-be other early entrants on the virtues of playing another season for the Buckeyes.
Decision impact: If Wypler and Johnson both leave and Matt Jones and Dawand Jones don’t use their extra year of eligibility, Ohio State would have to replace four starters on the offensive line. Jakob James is the leading candidate on the roster to replace Wypler, but that would make center another major question mark as James has not taken any snaps with the first-team offense as a Buckeye.
LB Tommy Eichenberg
Decision factors: No Buckeye has done more to raise his NFL draft stock this season than Eichenberg. While Eichenberg wasn’t talked about much as a draft prospect before this year, that’s changed with his emergence as one of college football’s best linebackers in 2022.
Eichenberg has demonstrated both the skills and the athleticism to play at the next level and would likely be drafted in the first three or four rounds. He’s been at Ohio State for four years, though he’s given no indication whether he’s thinking about leaving as a redshirt junior.
Decision impact: Eichenberg has played nearly every snap that mattered at middle linebacker this season and has been the leader of the Buckeyes’ defense, so he’ll leave big shoes to fill if he goes pro. Cody Simon would likely get the first crack at filling those shoes, but Jim Knowles would surely love to have Eichenberg back as the anchor of his defense and linebacker corps for a second year.
LB Steele Chambers
Decision factors: Like Eichenberg, Chambers is a fourth-year Buckeye who has elevated his play this season under the tutelage of Knowles. His athleticism gives him high long-term upside as a pro prospect, but he’s only played linebacker for two years at the collegiate level after starting his Ohio State career at running back. He would benefit from another year of development before going pro, and needs a year of being as consistently productive as Eichenberg has been this year to be an early-round pick, but he’d likely be a Day 3 draft choice if he chose to leave after this season.
Decision impact: As with Eichenberg at Mike linebacker, Chambers played the vast majority of snaps with the first-team defense at Will linebacker this year, so linebacker will be the Buckeyes’ biggest question mark on defense entering 2023 if both Chambers and Eichenberg leave. Simon could replace Chambers at Will if Chambers leaves and Eichenberg stays, but if both leave along with seniors Palaie Gaotoete and Teradja Mitchell, the only returning Buckeyes who played any snaps at linebacker during the 2022 regular season would be Simon and Trayanum.
S Lathan Ransom
Decision factors: Ransom is another Buckeye who didn’t look like a 2023 NFL draft prospect entering this season but has become one after a breakout year in which he was a Jim Thorpe Award finalist as one of college football’s top safeties. A physical and instinctive player who has shown he can be effective in coverage as a deep safety while also making an impact as a blitzer and as a tackler in run support, Ransom’s versatility to line up in a variety of spots should make him appealing to NFL teams.
Ransom said he was focused on the season when asked earlier this fall if he had thought about entering the NFL draft, but his performance this year gives him reason to at least think about it now. This season has been Ransom’s first season playing full-time as a deep safety for Ohio State after playing mostly in the slot for his first two seasons as a Buckeye, so he could potentially bolster his draft stock more with another productive season in college.
Decision impact: Ohio State already knows it will be losing at least two of its three starting safeties from this season in Hickman and Tanner McCalister, so Ransom will be the leader of Ohio State’s safety corps – potentially sliding over to adjuster to replace Hickman – if he’s back in 2023. If he isn’t, the Buckeyes would have a brand new trio of starting safeties next year, leaving another major position of uncertainty on defense where Ohio State would have decide if its current backups are ready to step up or if it needs to add a transfer.
Lathan Ransom began the year as a backup but emerged as a potential 2023 NFL draft prospect over the course of the year.
WR Julian Fleming
Decision factors: Fleming would be the most surprising NFL draft entrant on this list, but he has the option if he wants it. With his elite combination of size and speed, he’d surely draw interest from NFL teams.
That said, Fleming’s production waned in the second half of the regular season, decreasing the likelihood he would be better than a late-round pick if he entered the 2023 draft. After missing most of his first two seasons at Ohio State due to injuries, Fleming still has to become a more complete receiver if he’s going to be a future early-round pick. Out of all the players on this list, Fleming might have the most to gain by staying in school if he can live up to the five-star hype with another year of growth.
Decision impact: If Fleming stays, Ohio State will retain all three of its starting wide receivers from this year since Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka aren’t draft-eligible until 2024. But there are plenty of talented receivers waiting in the wings behind them – including Jayden Ballard, a quartet of current freshmen who will be looking to play more in year two and four more freshman arriving in 2023 – so the Buckeyes are well-positioned to replace Fleming if he opts to move on.
