Some of the best college football players in America play for the Ohio State Buckeyes.
On Thursday, ESPN ranked the top 100 players in college football. Eight Buckeyes made the cut: Caleb Downs (No. 11), Emeka Egbuka (No. 28), Jack Sawyer (No. 33), Quinshon Judkins (No. 34), TreVeyon Henderson (No. 35), Donovan Jackson (No. 57), Tyleik Williams (No. 58) and Denzel Burke (No. 80).
Downs leads all Ohio State players as the No. 11 player in ESPN's top 100. He is the top-ranked sophomore, the second-ranked safety behind Georgia's Malaki Starks (No. 10) and the third-ranked defensive back behind Colorado's Travis Hunter (No. 3), Michigan's Will Johnson (No. 4) and Starks.
Egbuka is the next Buckeye to appear, coming in at No. 28 behind wide receivers Hunter, Missouri's Luther Burden III (No. 5), Arizona's Tetairoa McMillan (No. 13) and Oregon's Tez Johnson (No. 18). Sawyer, Judkins and Henderson then appeared in succession between No. 33 and No. 35. Sawyer is the fourth-ranked defensive end behind Tennessee's James Pearce Jr. (No. 1), Texas A&M's Nic Scourton (No. 29) and Georgia's Mykel Williams (No. 30). Judkins and Henderson are the fourth and fifth-ranked running backs behind Oklahoma State's Ollie Gordon II (No. 8), Boise State's Ashton Jeanty (No. 25) and North Carolina's Omarion Hampton (No. 27).
Jackson, Williams and Burke round out Ohio State's representation on the list. Jackson is the sixth-ranked offensive lineman, Williams is the fifth-ranked defensive tackle and Burke is the seventh-ranked cornerback.
In addition to its top 100, ESPN also revealed its preseason All-American teams this week. Downs was the lone Buckeye to appear on the first team, while Judkins, Jackson, Williams and Burke all appeared on the second team.
