Dawand Jones is staying in Ohio.
A projected second-round pick entering the 2023 NFL draft, Dawand Jones fell to the fourth round but was finally selected with the No. 111 overall pick by the Cleveland Browns.
Daand it is! #NFLDraft | #DawgPound pic.twitter.com/GUKbPKaETG
— Cleveland Browns (@Browns) April 29, 2023
.@dawandj79 is stayin’ home O-H… pic.twitter.com/GzAvGeLv6U
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) April 29, 2023
Jones is the second Ohio State offensive tackle selected in this year’s draft, joining Paris Johnson Jr., who was selected by the Arizona Cardinals with the No. 6 overall pick.
He is the fifth overall Buckeye selected in this year’s draft, joining C.J. Stroud (No. 2 overall, Houston Texans), Johnson, Jaxon Smith-Njigba (No. 20 overall, Seattle Seahawks) and Zach Harrison (No. 75 overall, Atlanta Falcons).
Jones was the first of two former Ohio State offensive linemen drafted by the Browns on Day 3, as they later took center Luke Wypler in the sixth round (No. 190 overall). They join former Ohio State defenders Denzel Ward and Tommy Togiai on the Browns’ roster.
Jones offers as much physical upside as any offensive line prospect in the 2023 draft class, measuring in at over 6-foot-8 and 374 pounds. He was the largest player at the NFL Scouting Combine and also had the longest wingspan ever recorded of any Senior Bowl participant at 89 1/2 inches (nearly seven-and-a-half feet). That said, he participated in just one day of practice at the Senior Bowl before suffering a head injury and opted not to participate in any drills at Ohio State’s pro day, which may have impacted his standing with NFL teams.
The Ohio State standout was named an All-American by four news outlets after the 2022 regular season, including first-team recognition from Pro Football Focus and CBS Sports and second-team honors from the Associated Press and Sporting News. A two-year starter for the Buckeyes, Jones wasn‘t even ranked within the top 1,000 prospects nationally in the 2019 recruiting class after focusing on basketball for most of his high school career, but went on to become a two-time second-team All-Big Ten performer at OSU.
