Next week, Ohio State hopes to recapture at least a share of an NFL record the school once held for nearly two decades.
At the start of this month, 15 Buckeyes from last season's National Championship squad held projections that would see them selected inside the 257 picks comprising the seven rounds of the 2025 NFL Draft. That would tie the record Georgia set three years ago when the Bulldogs surpassed Ohio State's previous record of 14 picks from one school in a single draft that had stood for 18 years, and undisputed for 16 until 2020 when LSU tied it.
So how does the upcoming class compare to the record-setting one from just over two decades ago? Let's look back at 2004 to get a better sense.
Ohio State was roughly a year-and-a-half removed from its National Championship win over Miami as the 2004 NFL Draft drew near in late April. Coincidentally, the Hurricanes held the record for most picks from one school in a single year at that moment after seeing 11 players selected during the 2002 draft.
Miami had five players go in the first round that year, including two players among the top 15 overall picks. The Buckeyes did not expect as much top-heavy success, but having so many holdover players from the title-winning team a season earlier now with another year of experience on their resumes provided optimism that OSU would still see many selections.
The late Will Smith (DE) went off the board first among Ohio State's players at 18th overall to the New Orleans Saints. Despite the lofty total of Buckeyes that would ultimately hear their names called in this draft, Smith became the only member of the bunch to ever make a Pro Bowl. He would go on to start in all but 19 of his nearly 140 career games and ended his NFL career with 67.5 total sacks. He also tied as the league leader in forced fumbles during his rookie season and helped the Saints win Super Bowl XLIV.
Back-to-back Buckeyes would then see themselves selected towards the end of the first round, with Chris Gamble (CB) going 28th overall to the Carolina Panthers and Michael Jenkins (WR) heading to the Atlanta Falcons at 29th overall. Gamble started in all but six of the 123 career games he played with the Panthers, recording over 500 tackles and 27 interceptions along the way.
Jenkins would conclude his NFL career with 25 touchdown receptions, including the first thrown by Matt Ryan as a professional. His final touchdown catch of his career was also his first in the NFL Playoffs, doing so on behalf of the Minnesota Vikings in 2012.
The second round came up empty for Ohio State, but during rounds three through five, the depth of the Buckeye football program truly began to shine. Nine players saw themselves selected between picks 68 and 165, including four in the third round and three in the fifth.
Among OSU's third round selections included Ben Hartsock (TE), Tim Anderson (DT), B.J. Sander (P) and Darrion Scott (DT). The fourth round included Alex Stepanovich (OL) and Will Allen (S), while the fifth round saw Craig Krenzel (QB), Drew Carter (WR) and Robert Reynolds (LB) all find new homes in the NFL. Allen arguably had the best career out of that bunch, playing 12 total seasons and starting all 13 games he played in for the Pittsburgh Steelers during the final year of his career.
Finally, two more Buckeyes would hear their names called during the last round of the draft, both offensive linemen. Shane Olivea went 209th overall to the San Diego Chargers, while the Philadelphia Eagles chose Adrien Clarke at 227th overall. After the Chargers began the draft with an ill-fated pick of Eli Manning given his reluctance to play in San Diego, Olivea served as a bit of a silver lining from that class for the franchise by going on to start in 57 games across his four seasons with the team.
Although the 2004 NFL Draft class for Ohio State did not reach a great deal of collective high-level success among the professional ranks, it nevertheless remained the standard among deep classes from one school for nearly two decades. The upcoming class offers many similar pre-draft similarities to its predecessor.
The record-setting class consisted of six linemen along both sides of the ball, one linebacker, two defensive backs, a quarterback, two receivers, a tight end and a punter. Next week's anticipated class of Buckeyes features seven players along the line of scrimmage, one linebacker, three defensive backs, and a combination of three running backs and receivers. Will Howard rounds out the expected picks as a quarterback currently enjoying much greater draft hype than what Krenzel experienced.
Gruden's QB Class | Will Howard @BarstoolGruden @whoward_ pic.twitter.com/MMTyWFzq0Q
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) April 7, 2025
The current number of expected first-round picks for next week's class remains a subject of debate and speculation. Josh Simmons (OT) seems the most likely candidate with an expected position in the early back-half of the opening round.
From there, the matter becomes much more uncertain. Emeka Egbuka (WR), Tyleik Williams (DT), Donovan Jackson (OL), and TreVeyon Henderson (RB) have all enjoyed first-round speculation at various points during their draft preparation, but many experts still expect most of these players to fill out the second round or even drop into the third. NFL Network Insider Tom Pelissero referred to Egbuka and Williams in particular as "potential surprise first-rounders" earlier this week.
An unpredictable Round 1 of the 2025 NFL Draft awaits.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) April 17, 2025
Heres my annual look at five players who could be surprises next Thursday night: https://t.co/1aNbDf5u8w
Of course, the 2004 class appeared to only have one first-rounder poised to become a part of its legacy before the final five picks yielded an additional two for the Buckeyes. It's possible a similar late run for Ohio State players is in store next week, given all the potential candidates recognized for their talents by various analysts.
Regardless of what fate has in store for the first few days of the draft, Ohio State at least seems poised to have extremely strong middle rounds as the class of 2004 did. Roughly 11 of the 15 players anticipated to find themselves selected should go within the first five rounds. Only Jordan Hancock (DB), Cody Simon (LB), Seth McLaughlin (C) and Ty Hamilton (DT) held aggregate draft projections beyond the first 160 picks at the start of the month.
Assuming all 15 of them avoid any drops in stock and combine to tie Georgia's 2022 record, two long-shots will remain in the prospect pool and hope to hear their names called as the new record-setting 16th Buckeye in the class. Some may believe it will take a miracle for Gee Scott Jr. (TE) to avoid undrafted free agent status, but many teams picking at the end of the seventh round often find themselves grasping at straws anyway.
If a Buckeye-friendly general manager sees an opportunity to make NFL history, perhaps Ohio State could recapture the once-held glory of its 2004 class.
