It’s officially NFL draft season.
The Kansas City Chiefs’ win over the Philadelphia Eagles in Sunday’s Super Bowl brought the 2022 NFL season to an end, which means all 32 teams around the league have now turned their focus to how they will retool their rosters this offseason.
That also means the selection order is now set for the 2023 NFL draft, except for compensatory picks and any trades that might still happen. As such, this week is one of the most popular weeks of the year for NFL draft analysts to release projections for how this year’s draft will play out.
A bevy of mock drafts have been released over the past week following the Super Bowl, and there are multiple former Ohio State players included within all of them. We rounded up 27 different mock drafts – all of which were published within the last two weeks – from various media sources to get a feel for where NFL draft analysts currently believe each of Ohio State’s top prospects could end up.
The full list of mock drafts included in this roundup:
- Bleacher Report Scouting Department (1 round)
- CBS Sports’ Josh Edwards (1 round)
- CBS Sports’ Tom Fornelli (1 round)
- CBS Sports’ Chris Trapasso (1 round)
- CBS Sports’ Ryan Wilson (1 round)
- Draft Countdown’s Brad Menendez (1 round)
- Draft Countdown’s Shane Hallam (7 rounds)
- Draft Tek (7 rounds)
- Draft Wire’s Luke Easterling (3 rounds)
- ESPN’s Matt Miller (2 rounds)
- ESPN’s Todd McShay (1 round)
- NBC Sports Chicago’s Glynn Morgan (1 round)
- NFL.com’s Cynthia Frelund (1 round)
- NFL.com’s Chad Reuter (3 rounds)
- Pro Football Focus’ Mike Renner (1 round)
- Pro Football Network’s James Fragoza (3 rounds)
- Pro Football Network’s Joe Broback (1 round)
- Pro Football Network’s Ian Cummings (1 round)
- San Diego Union-Tribune’s Eddie Brown (2 rounds)
- Sports Illustrated’s Kevin Hanson (1 round)
- Sporting News’ Vinnie Iyer (1 round)
- Tankathon (3 rounds)
- The Athletic’s College Football Staff (1 round)
- The Athletic’s Diante Lee (1 round)
- The 33rd Team Scouting Department (2 rounds)
- The Draft Network’s Brentley Weissman (2 rounds)
- Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar (2 rounds)
C.J. Stroud is unanimously projected as a top-10 pick, Paris Johnson Jr. is a consensus choice to be a top-15 pick and Jaxon Smith-Njigba is also projected as a first-rounder in almost every mock draft. Dawand Jones is also projected as a first-round pick in several mock drafts, while Ronnie Hickman even drew a first-round projection. Zach Harrison and Luke Wypler are both widely projected as Day 2 draft choices, while Cameron Brown and Taron Vincent have a chance to be late-round selections.
Let’s take a closer look at where the mocks currently have the Buckeyes going.
QB C.J. Stroud
No. 1, Indianapolis Colts: 3 (Bleacher Report, Broback, Fornelli)
No. 1, Houston Texans: 1 (Cummings)
No. 2, Houston Texans: 7 (Draft Tek, Easterling, Farrar, Lee, McShay, Morgan, 33rd Team)
No. 2, Indianapolis Colts: 2 (Reuter, Edwards)
No. 3, Carolina Panthers: 1 (Fragoza)
No. 4, Indianapolis Colts: 6 (Brown, Hanson, Iyer, Menendez, Tankathon, Wilson)
No. 7, Las Vegas Raiders: 2 (Athletic Staff, Weissman)
No. 8, Atlanta Falcons: 1 (Frelund)
No. 8, Baltimore Ravens: 1 (Trapasso)
No. 9, Carolina Panthers: 3 (Hallam, Miller, Renner)
Every single post-Super Bowl mock draft we found has Stroud becoming just the second Ohio State quarterback ever selected in the top 10 picks, joining 1982 No. 4 overall pick Art Schlichter.
Four mock drafts have Stroud becoming Ohio State’s fourth-ever No. 1 overall pick with either the Colts or Texans trading up to select him. Those two teams are by far the most popular projected landing spots for Stroud, who was matched to the Colts (who currently hold the No. 4 overall pick) in 11 different mocks and the Texans (who hold the No. 2 overall pick) in eight different mocks.
Everyone agreed Stroud will fall no further than the No. 9 overall pick, where the Carolina Panthers – if they don’t trade up to get him or another quarterback sooner – would almost certainly snap up Stroud if he fell into their lap. Other projected landing spots for Stroud include the Raiders and Falcons, who hold the seventh and eighth picks, and the Ravens, who could theoretically trade up for Stroud if they don’t strike a long-term contract agreement with Lamar Jackson.
OT Paris Johnson Jr.
No. 7, Las Vegas Raiders: 3 (Fragoza, Renner, Reuter)
No. 8, Atlanta Falcons: 2 (Iyer, Tankathon)
No. 9, Arizona Cardinals: 1 (Lee)
No. 9, Carolina Panthers: 1 (Menendez)
No. 9, Chicago Bears: 1 (33rd Team)
No. 11, Tennessee Titans: 11 (Athletic Staff, Broback, Brown, Farrar, Fornelli, Hallam, Hanson, McShay, Trapasso, Weissman, Wilson)
No. 12, New England Patriots: 1 (Easterling)
No. 13, New York Jets: 5 (Bleacher Report, Cummings, Frelund, Morgan, Miller)
No. 13, Green Bay Packers: 1 (Draft Tek)
No. 17, Pittsburgh Steelers: 1 (Edwards)
Mike Vrabel and the Tennessee Titans selecting Johnson with the No. 11 overall pick has been a very popular mock draft projection. They’re likely to be in the market for a new left tackle to replace Taylor Lewan – who expects to be released by the Titans – and could draft Johnson with their first-round pick to pair with 2022 third-round pick Nicholas Petit-Frere for an All-Buckeye offensive tackle duo.
If the Titans don’t draft Johnson, another popular projection has him going two picks later to the New York Jets, who could draft a Buckeye in Round 1 for the second year in a row and add stability to their offensive line. Other mock drafts have the Patriots trading above the Jets to take Johnson before their division rival can and the Packers taking Johnson after acquiring the 13th pick from the Jets as part of an Aaron Rodgers trade.
Just under a third of the mock drafts we found have Johnson going in the top 10 picks. The Raiders and Falcons are seen as the most likely teams to draft Johnson in the top 10, while one mock has the Bears drafting Johnson after trading Justin Fields to the Panthers. Every mock in our roundup except one has Johnson being selected within the top 13 overall picks, which would make him Ohio State’s highest-drafted tackle since Orlando Pace went No. 1 in 1997.
Paris Johnson Jr. is projected to be Ohio State’s first Round 1 offensive tackle since Taylor Decker went 16th in 2016. (Photo: David Banks – USA TODAY Sports)
WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba
No. 12, Houston Texans: 1 (Fornelli)
No. 14, New England Patriots: 1 (Menendez)
No. 15, Green Bay Packers: 2 (Bleacher Report, Reuter)
No. 20, Seattle Seahawks: 3 (Cummings, Miller, Wilson)
No. 21, Los Angeles Chargers: 1 (Hanson)
No. 22, Baltimore Ravens: 6 (Athletic Staff, Farrar, Fragoza, Iyer, Lee, Tankathon)
No. 23, Minnesota Vikings: 2 (Brown, Trapasso)
No. 24, Jacksonville Jaguars: 1 (McShay)
No. 25, New York Giants: 5 (Draft Tek, Easterling, Hallam, Renner, Weissman)
No. 26, Dallas Cowboys: 1 (Edwards)
No. 28, Cincinnati Bengals: 1 (Morgan)
No. 29, New Orleans Saints: 1 (Broback)
Round 2, No. 37, Seattle Seahawks: 1 (33rd Team)
The vast majority of mock drafts we surveyed (21 of 27) have Smith-Njigba being selected in the twenties. The two most popular projected destinations for JSN are the Ravens, who could certainly use a No. 1 receiver after none of their wideouts reached the 500-yard mark last year, and the Giants, who also have a need to add a premier pass-catcher.
All but two of the mock drafts in this roundup have Smith-Njigba going in the first round, but only four of them have Smith-Njigba going in the top 20 – though all four of those mocks have Ohio State’s single-season receiving record-setter going in the top 15.
OT Dawand Jones
No. 11, Tennessee Titans: 1 (33rd Team)
No. 24, Jacksonville Jaguars: 1 (Wilson)
No. 28, Cincinnati Bengals: 1 (Farrar)
No. 31, Kansas City Chiefs: 3 (Broback, Hallam, Hanson)
Round 2, No. 32, Pittsburgh Steelers: 2 (Brown, Tankathon)
Round 2, No. 34, Arizona Cardinals: 1 (Reuter)
Round 2, No. 38, Las Vegas Raiders: 1 (Weissman)
Round 2, No. 47, Washington Commanders: 1 (Easterling)
Round 2, No. 60, Cincinnati Bengals: 1 (Draft Tek)
Round 3, No. 69, Los Angeles Rams: 1 (Fragoza)
The most likely Buckeye to join Stroud, Johnson and Smith-Njigba in the first round is Jones, who received six first-round projections in the mock drafts we gathered. Three of those mocks have Jones going at the very end of the first round to the Super Bowl champion Chiefs, which makes sense considering Jones has been compared to current Kansas City left tackle Orlando Brown Jr., who the Chiefs could lose in free agency.
With 7-foot-5 reach & light feet like this, how are rushers supposed to get around Ohio States Dawand Jones? Weve had numerous NFL scouts tell us hes a better version of Chiefs 4x Pro Bowler Orlando Brown Jr. (and we agree). Sounds like 1st rounder.#TheDraftStartsInMOBILE pic.twitter.com/vfS3zlhVvS
— Jim Nagy (@JimNagy_SB) February 16, 2023
Jones was included in all but one of the mock drafts in our roundup that included at least two rounds, and only one of those mock drafts had Jones falling into Round 3. While one mock draft had the Titans taking Jones at No. 11 (with Johnson already off the board in that mock), the sweet spot for Jones in most projections falls between the final eight picks of the first round and the first half of the second round.
S Ronnie Hickman
No. 30, Philadelphia Eagles: 1 (Reuter)
Round 4, No. 112, Atlanta Falcons: 1 (Draft Tek)
Round 5, No. 146, Carolina Panthers: 1 (Hallam)
The biggest outlier projection for any Buckeye across the mock drafts in this roundup – by far – was Chad Reuter’s projection for Hickman, who he has going to the Eagles in the first round. Reuter envisions Hickman as a replacement for impending free agent safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson, saying “Hickman lines up all over the field and brings a physicality to the position that will endear him to Philly fans.”
No other mock draft we found has Hickman going in the first three rounds, so it still seems more likely Hickman will be a Day 3 draft pick than a first-round pick. That said, it only takes one team to view Hickman as highly as Reuter does for the Ohio State safety to end up coming off the board in the early rounds.
DE Zach Harrison
Round 2, No. 49, Pittsburgh Steelers: 1 (33rd Team)
Round 2, No. 50, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 1 (Brown)
Round 2, No. 53, Chicago Bears: 1 (Miller)
Round 2, No. 61, Carolina Panthers: 1 (Draft Tek)
Round 3, No. 66, Arizona Cardinals: 1 (Hallam)
Round 3, No. 69, Los Angeles Rams: 1 (Tankathon)
Round 3, No. 80, Pittsburgh Steelers: 1 (Easterling)
Round 3, No. 94, Philadelphia Eagles: 1 (Reuter)
While Harrison appears in all but three of the mock drafts we surveyed that include at least two rounds, he wasn’t projected as a first-round pick in any of the post-Super Bowl mocks we found. The consensus is that Harrison will be selected on Day 2, with four mocks projecting him as a second-round pick and four other mocks forecasting he’ll be a third-round selection.
No two mocks have Harrison landing at the same pick, but two mocks have Harrison joining Cameron Heyward on the defense of the Pittsburgh Steelers as either a second- or third-round choice.
Zach Harrison is projected to be a Day 2 draft pick.
C Luke Wypler
Round 3, No. 64, Chicago Bears: 1 (Draft Tek)
Round 3, No. 73, Chicago Bears: 1 (Reuter)
Round 3, No. 74, New York Jets: 1 (Hallam)
Round 3, No. 79, Indianapolis Colts: 1 (Tankathon)
Round 3, No. 91, Buffalo Bills: 1 (Easterling)
Wypler is included as a third-round pick in all but one of the mock drafts we found that include at least three rounds. Two of those mocks have Wypler going to the Bears, where he would reunite with Justin Fields to bolster an offensive line that allowed the fourth-most sacks in the NFL this past season, while Tankathon has Wypler continuing to snap the ball to Stroud in Indianapolis.
CB Cameron Brown
Round 6, No. 180, Arizona Cardinals: 1 (Hallam)
DT Taron Vincent
Round 7, No. 202, Las Vegas Raiders: 1 (Draft Tek)
Considering they each appeared in one but not both of the two recently updated seven-round mock drafts we found, Brown and Vincent both currently look to be fringe draft picks who could either come off the board in the late rounds or go undrafted.
Brown’s lone current mock draft projection has him going to the Cardinals, who have a need for cornerback depth behind starters Byron Murphy (an impending free agent) and Marco Wilson. Vincent’s lone projection has him going to the Raiders, who need more beef on the interior defensive line after trading fellow former Ohio State defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins to the Dallas Cowboys this past season.
Other Ohio State Draft Hopefuls
Other members of Ohio State’s 2022 football team who are hoping to land with NFL teams as late-round draft picks or undrafted free agents include safety Tanner McCalister, defensive tackle Jerron Cage, fullback/tight end Mitch Rossi, kicker Noah Ruggles and long snapper Bradley Robinson. So far, however, none of them have been projected to be selected in any mock drafts.
