Ohio State's 2015 senior class has a chance to win its 50th game over a four-year period New Year's Day in the Fiesta Bowl against Notre Dame. Before kickoff in their final collegiate game, Eleven Warriors will take a brief look back at each player's time in Columbus.
WHERE HE'S FROM
When Urban Meyer arrived at Ohio State in November 2012, he quickly identified the defensive line as an area of need, and he wasted no time accumulating talent.
Adolphus Washington, a five-star DE and multi-sport star out of Cincinnati's Taft High School, was part of a 2012 defensive line haul that included fellow five-star DE Noah Spence, four-star DE Se'von Pittman and four-star DT Tommy Schutt.
After an injury his sophomore season led to freshman Joey Bosa supplanting him at DE, Adolphus Washington moved to defensive tackle—the position many recruiting analysts saw as his destiny anyway.
TOP MOMENTS
Washington leaves Ohio State as a Big Ten and national champion All-American with 142 tackles, 25 TFLs, and 13.5 sacks. Not bad for four years' work.
Washington also leaves Ohio State with one interception, and it was a play that showed all the reasons NFL scouts value him:
Washington takes on two blockers, reads a screen, makes a reception with the ease of a running back out of the backfield, and then outraces those around him to the end zone. Remarkable athleticism from the 6-4, 290-pound bruiser.
OVERARCHING CONTRIBUTION TO THE PROGRAM
Though Washington came to Ohio State as a five-star recruit and leaves as a surefire NFL pick, there was a time in 2013 when he almost walked away from football entirely.
Supplanted by freshman Joey Bosa, Washington, frustrated with what he saw as preferential treatment for his younger counterpart. It was here Adolphus' father, Adolphus, stepped in with some fatherly advice.
"I went to UC, I was good," Washington Sr. told cleveland.com in October. "I could've started, but I let so many other things cloud my mind, the coaches don't like me. From my experience, I didn't want him to miss out because I knew the stuff wasn't true. Don't walk away from a great opportunity. That's what I did and you'll end up like me, working. I believe I gave him a good life, but I'd rather his life be much better than mine. I didn't want him to end up like I did."
The younger Washington realized the coaches demanded more because unlike Bosa, he was a second-year player.
He never looked back, even when coaches asked him to move inside (a critically thin spot for Ohio State at which he would later thrive).
WHERE HE'S HEADED
Though Washington will suffer the ignominy of getting suspended prior to his last game in Buckeye uniform, it will not single-handedly affect his NFL draft stock.
"Washington has the first-step quickness and lateral agility to penetrate gaps, staying balanced with aggressive hands to work through contact," said cbssports.com's NFL Draft analyst Dane Brugler. "He plays assignment-sound and uses angles to plug run lanes. Washington will draw comparisons to Cameron Heyward, another former Buckeye who was drafted 31st overall in 2011."
Washington won't wait long to hear his name called this spring. A high second-round selection is likely but he could slip into the late first round as well.
MORE Washington
- Watching Adolphus Washington's basketball highlights with his high school coach.
- Sporting News names Adolphus Washington first-team All-American.
- How Adolphus Washington went from wanting to leave Ohio State to an elite defensive lineman.
