Draft Season Heats Up: Offense

The Buckeyes made news on Thursday when it was announced that 15 players were invited to the upcoming NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis at the end of the month. No other school is sending more players than Ohio State and while it doesn’t appear at this point that a Buckeye is in position to go in the top five, there will be plenty of first round interest when it comes to a handful of Ohio State players.

All these players have three, four or five seasons of tape for the NFL to look at but it is the upcoming Combine where the decision makers will really have a chance to look under the hood (medicals), talk ball and see what these players are all about going through drills at nearby Lucas Oil Stadium.

A great combine performance can be worth millions of dollars, one way or the other. Moving up or down 10 or 20 spots could have huge ramifications when it comes to the initial rookie contract along with its signing bonus.

And of course, it can change your fate depending on which team selects you.

Each day leading up to the upcoming NFL Draft, there will be mock drafts that will show wild movement of your favorite players, and if you don’t like what one mock says about someone, there will be another mock that will say something entirely different.

I plan on talking with several authors of mock drafts in the upcoming weeks leading to the draft, but for this piece I grabbed three different pieces, one from Pro Football Focus, one from NFL.com and one from The Draft Network, just to show where things sit now, a couple of weeks prior to the combine.

Over the next two days, let’s look at how the 15 combine invites fare in these pieces, not all of them mock out seven rounds or go beyond 50 players, so a player who is not rated today could be tomorrow with the next mock that comes out. We start with the offense.

Quarterback Will Howard

Howard is going to be one of the players capable of the most movement for the Buckeyes during this draft process. His run during the College Football Playoffs will leave a lasting impression when it comes to recent tape and what he is capable of. But does he have a big enough arm for the NFL? This is going to be a weak quarterback draft in 2025, could Howard find himself as the No. 3 QB off the board or will front offices see things differently?

PFF: 100^th overall prospect | NFL.com: NR | TDN: 1^st round – Pittsburgh

Running Back TreVeyon Henderson

This season we had a chance to see what a healthy Henderson looked like, and he made it through the entire 16-game season looking sharp. Sharing the carries with another top back kept the workload manageable and Henderson was able to shine in the postseason. NFL teams will like the fact that Henderson is so valuable in the passing game and excels as a blocker, Henderson could be a true three-down player, even if the NFL already has adopted rotating two backs much of the way.

PFF: 69^th overall prospect | NFL.com: 3^rd – 77^th New England | TDN: NR

Running Back Quinshon Judkins

Judkins was the other back in the Ohio State system and blew up in the playoffs after a solid regular season. The Ole Miss transfer has great speed but there are concerns that he can’t finish long runs and often relies too much on his physicality, creating durability concerns. But the concerns are not too serious because the majority of mock drafts have Judkins going ahead of Henderson.

PFF: 70^th overall prospect | NFL.com: 1^st – 21^st Pittsburgh | TDN: NR

Wide Receiver Emeka Egbuka

Ohio State fans know plenty about Egbuka but so do the NFL front office types. Showed the ability to play both inside and outside but looks like a slot player in the mold of a Jaxon Smith-Njigba at the next level. While playing with greats like Marvin Harrison Jr. and future great Jeremiah Smith, went on and rewrote the Ohio State record book. Probably one of the safest picks in the first round.

PFF: 14^th overall prospect | NFL.com: 1^st – 27^th Philadelphia | TDN: NR

Offensive Tackle Josh Simmons

Spent a couple of seasons in Columbus after transferring and played his way into a first-round grade. Season cut short at Oregon with an injury and has had several months to work on rehabbing his injury. NFL front office types will look closely at his medicals but there shouldn’t be any issue in terms of his recovery. Early previews gush about his ability to move in space and power.

PFF: 12^th overall prospect | NFL.com: 1^st – 20^th Arizona | TDN: 1^st – 10^th Chicago

Offensive Lineman Donovan Jackson

Jackson was already being projected as having a first-round grade for the 2025 draft going into the season when he was only playing offensive guard. Things changed when Simmons was injured, and Jackson kicked out to tackle. By the end of the season, it would have been difficult to discern that Jackson was not a natural guard over the course of his career. That flexibility will make Jackson highly desirable, having the ability to play multiple positions with the smaller NFL 53-man roster.

PFF: 58^th overall prospect | NFL.com: 2^nd – 41^st Chicago | TDN: 1^st – 11^th San Francisco

Center Seth McLaughlin

Sometimes college awards and NFL draftniks are on different pages. McLaughlin won the Rimington Award for being the nation’s top center, but the position just isn’t given a lot of weight when it comes to mock draft. McLaughlin also coming off an Achilles injury will put a lot of importance on his medicals. His one year at Ohio State did a lot to rehabilitate the last images from his Alabama playing days where his snaps had some issues. A good report from Indy could really do wonders for McLaughlin in future mocks and the only draft that matters, the real one.

PFF: 159^th overall prospect | NFL.com: NR | TDN: NR

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