Ten Big Buckeye Things Heard At The 2025 NFL Combine

INDIANAPOLIS — When you cover a program like Ohio State, the NFL Combine is an opportunity to cover a number of bases. The draft-eligible Buckeyes who have been invited to the combine all take a turn speaking with reporters. Those reporters are a mix of members of the Ohio State beat and assorted flavors of NFL media.

The sessions generally follow the same blueprint. The members of the OSU beat are mostly interested in asking the players about their time with the Buckeyes and the next guys in line at Ohio State. The random NFL media people are asking if such-and-such team has met with them, then whether those meetings were formal or informal, then how they’d feel about playing on said team. (Hint: Players almost never say they wouldn’t want to play on a particular team.)

Through two days of the four-day media schedule, seven Buckeyes have taken to the podium: defensive ends Jack Sawyer and JT Tuimoloau, linebacker Cody Simon, defensive tackle Ty Hamilton, safety Lathan Ransom, cornerback Denzel Burke, and nickel back Jordan Hancock. (Defensive tackle Tyleik Williams was scheduled for day one but did not meet with reporters).

Plenty has been said, but here are the 10 biggest tidbits the Buckeyes have shared so far about the 2025 squad.

Julian Sayin Might Be Pretty Good

Ohio State’s quarterback competition is already underway, as redshirt sophomore Lincoln Kienholz and redshirt freshman Julian Sayin are waging battle. Spring practice won’t get underway until mid-March, but there will certainly be one interested long-distance spectator. “I think Julian is that guy, to be honest with you, and Lincoln is pretty good too,” Denzel Burke said. “I’m ready to see this little matchup they’re gonna have. Julian is a great player. Great zip on the ball. Great pocket presence. He’s gonna have a good career.”

Arvell Reese Should Be Fine

It made sense to ask about junior middle linebacker Arvell Reese when former Buckeye middle linebacker Cody Simon took to the podium on Wednesday. Simon could not have been more effusive of his praise of Reese and his potential. “He’s putting in the work,” Simon said. “He’s a physical specimen. You guys will see that next year. I mean, he can close space like nobody I’ve ever seen before.”

Kenyatta Jackson Emerging As A Leader

One name that doesn’t get mentioned much but Ohio State fans are still excited about because of glimpses they’ve seen over the years is fourth-year junior defensive end Kenyatta Jackson. Jackson has flashed during his career, but he’s been behind JT Tuimoloau and Jack Sawyer his entire tenure. That changes now. Asked about emerging leaders on this year’s team, defensive tackle Ty Hamilton mentioned Jackson. “I feel like this role, I mean, I’ve talked to him, he definitely wants to step up, he’s stepping up this year. I mean, he’s played a good amount of time last year. I feel like him being able to go out there and really step up and be a leader for the team, that’s something that he can do, especially with the talent that he has.”

Jermaine Mathews About To Go Crazy

Jermaine Mathews fighting his way into the cornerback rotation as a true sophomore with two established starters last year was a pretty remarkable feat. Denzel Burke was there for every bit of it, which is why when he was asked about Mathews in 2025, he didn’t hold back. “I expect a lot out of him,” said Denzel Burke. “He’s going to go crazy, mark my words.”

Watch Out For James Peoples

One of the fun things to do here is just ask open-ended questions. Rather than asking about a particular player, sometimes players get asked to name some guys who are going to step up that people aren’t talking about. Lathan Ransom had that question. How did he answer? “Let’s see. I think you know James Peoples is a dog, that young running back coming up, makes a lot of plays. I think all them young receivers are going to make a lot of plays, and whoever is that other safety, you’re going to be talking about him a lot.”

Mylan Graham Is On The Right Track

Redshirt freshman receiver Mylan Graham is always a popular topic of conversation because of his five-star status and immense potential. Offensive coordinator Brian Hartline has stayed high on him, but if you ever want the opposite of coach-speak, go to Denzel Burke. “Yeah, he could be a great player,” Burke said. “Me and him be going at it a little bit in practice, but that’s just me out of love, just trying to continue to get him better. He’s quick, good hands, good catch radius, good releases. I’m really excited for him and his future.”

Eddrick Houston Has Unique Potential

It says a lot that a true freshman defensive end can move to defensive tackle during the season and be in the two-deep almost immediately. That’s what Eddrick Houston was able to do last year, and now he’s on schedule to do even more at a new position. What kind of expectations do his now-former teammates have for him? JT Tuimoloau said he could be “scary,” while Jack Sawyer made it a point to say that Houston “could be as good as anybody in the country.”

Expectations Are Sky High For Sonny Styles

We’ll eventually run a story with everything that was being said about Ohio State senior linebacker Sonny Styles. He is now going into just his second year as a linebacker for the Buckeyes, so expectations continue to grow. “I’ll tell you, he’s gonna be a leader,” said defensive back Jordan Hancock. “He’s gonna have an All-American year, in my opinion. He’s gonna try to be the best linebacker in the country.”

The Michigan Loss Was Necessary

Every player that was asked so far this week has said the Michigan loss was the most pivotal moment of the season. Denzel Burke was asked if that loss had to happen in order to propel the Buckeyes to a national championship. “Oh, definitely,” he said. “A lot of things that we weren’t doing, a lot of things that we needed to do, so just having that meeting, having that loss — even though we don’t want that loss — but we’re national champs and that’s what matters.”

Jim Knowles Has His Well Wishers

To the sadness of everybody wanting a quote that could be put on Twitter and create a firestorm, any time the Buckeyes were asked about Jim Knowles, they only had positive things to say about their former defensive coordinator who left for the same position with Penn State. Some even said they’d be rooting for him, but there was one caveat. “Oh, man, I’m happy for him,” said Denzel Burke. “They still got to see the Buckeyes, though.”

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