A Gasp And A Gripe About The 2025 Ohio State Pro Day

Congratulations to all of the now former Buckeyes who competed and participated in the Ohio State Pro Day on Wednesday. It is always a challenge for me to write and think about players from the previous season in the past tense.

By all accounts, the players all represented themselves very well, and the time between now and the 2025 NFL Draft will be accompanied by updates from those individuals about being invited to various NFL teams for interviews. For example, Jack Sawyer has an upcoming visit with the Cincinnati Bengals, and Seth McLaughlin has an upcoming visit with the Atlanta Falcons.

Ohio State Pro Day usually provides some stories, and I categorized them below into two separate categories. My thanks to @TonyGerdeman for all of the updates he was providing via social media on what was transpiring ~

1. The Gasp = Tyleik Williams During His 40 Yard Dash: Every year there are unfortunate stories about how a player injures themselves at the NFL Combine or at a Pro Day, and then the player’s respective NFL stock falls as a result. I would be remiss if I did not have serious concerns when reading about how Tyleik Williams fell during his 40 yard dash at the Ohio State Pro Day, and then how Williams came back out to give a “double thumbs up towards his family” after some assistance from the training staff. Williams later posted that he suffered a cramp at the end of his 40 yard dash, and that he was okay.
2. The Gripe = The Cleveland Browns: I realize that there may be a number of you who may not care about the Cleveland Browns, or actually root against the Cleveland Browns, but my gripe is one of perpetual confusion and frustration that a NFL team only about two hours north of Columbus does not routinely make a strong effort at sending a sizable contingent to the Ohio State Pro Day. Yes, I know that the Browns had other people at the Ohio State Pro Day, but considering that Ohio State may have anywhere between fifteen to seventeen players drafted, do you think the Browns could have picked another day to work out Miami (FL) quarterback Cam Ward instead of the same day as the Ohio State Pro Day? It certainly did not seem coincidental that the Pittsburgh Steelers decided to invest some valuable time and resources for this occasion.

Now all of the now former Buckeyes and their fans, including me, can just take more than a few deep breaths and wait until the 2025 NFL Draft begins on the evening of April 24th. Here is to hoping that a certain NFL team decides to invest several of their selections on these former Buckeyes in an effort to bring their winning habits up to Cleveland.