Scarlet Sunrise: Four Buckeyes land in too-early 2025 mock draft

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Four Buckeyes land in too-early 2025 mock draft

Ohio State has one of the two best rosters in college football this season. And the Buckeyes have NFL talent littered throughout the roster. Just ask the experts.

ESPN NFL insider Field Yates released his early first round predictions via his 2025 NFL Mock Draft on Wednesday morning, and four Buckeyes land in the first round of the NFL Draft in the upcoming spring.

The first Buckeyes star off Yates’ board is senior cornerback Denzel Burke, who returned to the program for one final season in order to become a first-round draft choice. Yates has Burke going No. 15 overall to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Yates then has senior defensive end J.T. Tuimoloau off the board at pick No. 17 to the Chicago Bears.

Later in the first round, Yates has a pair of Buckeyes going in back-to-back picks. He slotted senior wide receiver Emeka Egbuka going No. 25 overall to the Cincinnati Bengals and then senior left guard Donovan Jackson going No. 26 overall to the Buffalo Bills.

That’s two defensive stars in the middle of the first round and two offensive stars in the back half of the first round. Bottom line: this roster has so much talent.

Pair of first-year Buckeyes shed black stripe

Ohio State had only two wide receivers signees in its 2024 class. Both are former top-10 overall prospects: Jeremiah Smith and Mylan Graham. Smith, the top recruit in his cycle, is already a household name, but Buckeyes fans better get to know Graham, too — especially now that the New Haven, Indiana, native has shed his black stripe.

Graham was one of two Buckeyes players to earn the post-practice honor Wednesday, along with true freshman safety Leroy Roker. Like Roker, Graham is also a summer arrival, and he really flipped a switch down the stretch of training camp, according to head coach Ryan Day.

As for Roker, he’s flashing in practice too.

“Roke, had had a pick today, been flying around getting to the ball,” Ohio State senior safety Lathan Ransom said Tuesday about the young safety.

Roker may have been the No. 956 overall player, No. 99 safety and No. 132 player in the state of Florida for his recruiting class, but he certainly is making a good first impression. He shed his black stripe Wednesday to officially become a member of the Ohio State program.

Greg McElroy picks Ohio State over Oregon in Big Ten Championship

Ohio State-Oregon headlines a finger-lickin’-good slate of college football on Oct. 12. ESPN analyst Greg McElroy believes we’ll get another order of that head-to-head the first week of December.

McElroy is predicting that Ohio State and Oregon will meet again in the Big Ten Championship, this time in Lucas Oil Stadium with the league title on the line.

“I think both teams are going to be 11-1, 8-1 in the conference, and ultimately they’re at the neutral site in a dome,” McElroy said on his show Wednesday.

“I’m taking the Ohio State Buckeyes to beat the Oregon Ducks in the Big Ten title game and punch their ticket to playoff, which means Oregon and Penn State are still well positioned to be an at-large, but they’ll be sitting there awaiting their fate on selection day that Sunday after the conference title games.”

McElroy eventually went on to put both Oregon and Penn State in his 12-team College Football Playoff field. His completion projection can be found in the full story:

READ MORE: Greg McElroy picks Ohio State over Oregon in Big Ten Championship

Counting down

Buckeyes vs. Akron: 9 days
Buckeyes vs. Michigan: 100 days

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