Skull Session: 15 Buckeyes Come off the Board in ESPN’s Seven-Round Mock Draft, Emeka Egbuka Follows in Terry McLaurin’s Footsteps and Meechie Johnson Breaks His Silence

Welcome to the Skull Session.

Brick by brick.

pic.twitter.com/sIZNq665cU
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) March 27, 2025

Have a good Friday.

BUCKEYES, BUCKEYES AND MORE BUCKEYES. In a seven-round mock draft (!) released Thursday, Matt Miller of ESPN predicted 15 Buckeyes will come off the board during the 2025 NFL draft. That number would tie Georgia’s record for the most picks in a single draft, which the Bulldogs set in 2022.

This one's for the NFL draft diehards @nfldraftscout's full seven-round mock draft is on @ESPNPlus https://t.co/pmSVYudLHg
— ESPN (@espn) March 27, 2025

Here’s where Miller has each of the Buckeyes landing:

No. 25 Houston Texans: Josh Simmons
No. 34 New York Giants: Emeka Egbuka
No. 37 Las Vegas Raiders: TreVeyon Henderson
No. 42 New York Jets: Tyleik Williams
No. 45 Indianapolis Colts: Donovan Jackson
No. 51 Denver Broncos: Quinshon Judkins
No. 84 Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Jack Sawyer
No. 93 New Orleans Saints: JT Tuimoloau
No. 106 New England Patriots: Lathan Ransom
No. 114 Carolina Panthers: Denzel Burke
No. 143 Las Vegas Raiders: Will Howard
No. 158 Los Angeles Chargers: Ty Hamilton
No. 160 San Francisco 49ers: Cody Simon
No. 220 New England Patriots: Jordan Hancock
No. 238 New England Patriots: Seth McLaughlin

A couple of questions, comments, concerns, points of interest, other:

Five top-50 picks and eight top-100 picks… is that good?
TreVeyon Henderson and Will Howard joining Chip Kelly in Las Vegas would be incredible.
Donovan Jackson as an Indianapolis Colt makes a lot of sense. He and three-time All-Pro Quenton Nelson would make a fantastic duo on the interior offensive line.
Jack Sawyer and JT Tuimoloau feel undervalued here. Would you agree?
Apologize to Ty Hamilton, Mr. Miller.
If Sawyer and Tuimoloau feel undervalued, then so does Hancock. Did you see the numbers he recorded at Ohio State’s pro day? He’s one of the most athletic (and versatile) defensive backs in the class!
It looks like Vrabel will rebuild the Patriots with Buckeyes, Buckeyes and more Buckeyes. Drafting Ransom, Hancock and McLaughlin in year one?! Come on!

OL’ ONE-LEGGED WILLY. It’s been over 24 hours and I’m still thinking about Will Howard’s throwing session on Wednesday. That man – that 6-foot-4, 239-pound national champion – he was dialed.

Howard completed 65 of 67 throws at Ohio State’s pro day. Both of his incompletions bounced off the receiver's hands.

“I think I showed I can throw the ball at every level,” Howard said of his performance. “I feel like my leadership, my intelligence and my arm strength (stand out). I believe in myself. That’s not a knock on any other quarterback in the draft. I think I’m the best, and if you don’t feel like you’re the best to come out this year, then why are you doing this? I feel like I have what it takes to be a QB1 in the NFL, and whatever franchise takes me is not going to regret it.”

Howard’s quote reminds me of something Ohio State quarterbacks coach Billy Fessler said last week.

“When it came to intangibles – and I can’t say I’ve been doing this for 35 years or anything crazy – but Will was by far the best I’ve ever seen do it,” Fessler said. “I think that having such a complete understanding of the offense from the run game to the pass game, the protections, understanding the ins and outs, the little details, everybody’s job, where certain conceptions, protections and play styles were weak and how to adjust to them if we were going to see something that made us weak there…

** inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale **

… He had total command. A big part of trust is showing that you’re competent and understand. Will built that trust in his teammates by showing that he was extremely competent. He understood everything – all the ins and outs – and he could tell everybody on the field what to do. From there, he grabbed the trust of all of his teammates, and then he could start to lead. The biggest thing (he did as a quarterback) is tough to say, but everything that he did was built off his total understanding of what we were trying to do offensively.”

Which reminds me of something Ryan Day said after the national championship game.

“When Will’s feet are right, he’s as good as anybody I’ve been around. His accuracy, his ability to see (the field), the way he commands the team, the work he puts in,” Day said. “The thing nobody will probably understand is how much credit he deserves for how much he can take on. I don’t think there was – to say 90 percent of the calls that went in the other day had two of three plays into it, he’s calling a play or two in the huddle and then checking the play at the line of scrimmage. That’s NFL material right there. That’s special. Whichever organization decides to draft Will is going to get a pro day one walking through the door.”

Yeah, I think this Will Howard guy will be just fine at the next level.

EMEKA EGBUKA → TERRY MCLAURIN? Peter Schrager of FOX had an interesting social media post on Wednesday.

While at the NFL combine, Schrager asked an NFL GM which prospect had the best interview at the event. His answer was Emeka Egbuka. And according to Schrager, that GM told him the same thing about Terry McLaurin before the 2019 NFL draft.

Coincidence?

I think not!

I spoke to a GM I trust and asked him who he thought had the best interview at the Combine. He said Emeka Egbuka. The same GM told me the same thing about Terry McLaurin many years ago. Here's Egbuka speaking with @StaceyDales . Who wouldn't want this guy? pic.twitter.com/HXrhEaxVin
— Peter Schrager (@PSchrags) March 27, 2025

Like Schrager said, who wouldn’t want this guy?

MEECHIE BREAKS HIS SILENCE. In Johnson’s first public comments since Nov. 22, 2024, Johnson told Adam Jardy of The Columbus Dispatch that he left the team because of off-court issues, including a prolonged mental health battle.

“I was just going through a lot mentally,” Johnson said. “Mental health is serious. It’s something I’ve dealt with my whole life. It was something that was definitely affecting me. It was my life. There was a lot going on, and basketball being something you use to be an outlet, I just didn’t feel like myself mentally. … I just had to focus on my mental health. That was that.”

Johnson also denied rumors that a potential conflict with Jake Diebler and his teammates caused his absence.

“Nothing that coach Diebler or any of the coaches or anybody in the program did wrong,” he said. “Everybody was super, super supportive through this time. The university’s obviously been great to me, and I was thankful to have them on my side and supporting me. I would never want people to think that I just quit on the program.

“All I’d say is this: If it was up to me, something would’ve been said about what I was going through.”

Before he bless you. He test you.

RIP Pops
— Meechie Johnson (@MeechieJohnson0) March 27, 2025

In another appeal to his Ohio State allegiance, Johnson noted that he remained enrolled at the school in the autumn and spring semesters, becoming one of five men’s basketball players to earn Academic All-Big Ten honors in the winter. He also acknowledged that leaving after 10 games, while convenient for him to receive a mental health hardship waiver (or redshirt), did not factor into his decision to leave the team.

“That had nothing to do with it,” Johnson said. “It was me talking to my therapist and doctors and family. I wasn’t getting sleep. I was going through a lot. Doctors were like, take a step back for a second and prioritize the right things that matter.”

Later, he added: “My therapist, if you talked to her, I was disappointed in a lot of things, not from an Ohio State standpoint but just within myself in how a lot of things went and how I wasn’t able to be there on the court with my team. … I’ve seen a lot of things: ‘Oh, he quit.’ Nah, that’s just not what happened at all.”

SONG OF THE DAY. "Willy's Song" - Rayland Baxter.