Ohio State Buckeyes: 11 facts from 2025 NFL Draft

Tampa Bay Buccaneers first round draft pick Emeka Egbuka holds up a jersey as he poses with head coach Todd Bowles, left, and general manager Jason Licht, right during an NFL football news conference Friday, April 25, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Credit: AP

Credit: AP

Tampa Bay Buccaneers first round draft pick Emeka Egbuka holds up a jersey as he poses with head coach Todd Bowles, left, and general manager Jason Licht, right during an NFL football news conference Friday, April 25, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Ohio State had another busy NFL Draft weekend.

In fact, it tied the busiest on record as 14 Buckeyes heard their names called during the three-day event.

That matched 2004 for the most Ohio State players taken in one draft and was one shy of Georgia’s record for all schools set in 2022.

Receiver Emeka Egbuka went first when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers chose him 19th overall.

Five picks later, the Minnesota Vikings chose offensive guard Donovan Jackson. At No. 28, the Detroit Lions chose defensive tackle Tyleik Williams, and the Kansas City Chiefs finished the first round by picking offensive tackle Josh Simmons 32nd overall.

That increased Ohio State’s record of 95 first-round picks since the draft began in 1936, 10 more than USC.

In the second round, the Cleveland Browns chose running back Quinshon Judkins, the New England Patriots picked running back TreVeyon Henderson and the Indianapolis Colts chose defensive end J.T. Tuimoloau.

Ohio State Buckeyes defensive line coach Larry Johnson (left) and Ohio State Buckeyes defensive end JT Tuimoloau, react to the speeches given during the National Championship celebration at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Joe Maiorana)

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Credit: AP

On day three, seven more Buckeyes were chosen as the Pittsburgh Steelers took defensive end Jack Sawyer in the fourth round and quarterback Will Howard in the sixth. The Arizona Cardinals chose linebacker Cody Simon in the fourth round and cornerback Denzel Burke in the fifth round, the Carolina Panthers picked safety Lathan Ransom in the fourth round, the Los Angeles Rams picked defensive tackle Ty Hamilton in the fifth round, and the Buffalo Bills chose defensive back Jordan Hancock in the fifth round.

Here are 11 factoids for Ohio State from the 2025 NFL Draft:

  1. Judkins is the 39th Ohio State player drafted by the Browns. He is the fifth in the last five years after Cleveland drafted only one Buckeye from 2010-20. 
  2. The Steelers ended a 10-year drought by taking Jack Sawyer and Will Howard. They last picked a Buckeye in 2015 (CB Doran Grant), the end of a stretch that saw them take six in the span of five drafts. The Steelers have drafted 24 Buckeyes all time.
  3. Ohio State had two offensive lineman taken in the first round for the first time since 1975 when the New Orleans Saints drafted Kurt Schumacher 12th and the Rams picked Doug France at No. 20. 
  4. The last time Ohio State had two running backs taken in the same draft was 1994. The Chicago Bears chose Raymont Harris in the fourth round, and the Denver Broncos picked Butler By’not’e in the seventh round, but fullback Jeff Cothran of Middletown High School went before both of them to the Cincinnati Bengals in the third round. 
  5. Ohio State ended a three-year streak of having no defensive backs drafted by having three selected this year, and Burke is the 11th of 12 full-time starting cornerbacks from Ohio State to be drafted since 2013. That includes seven first-rounders. 
  6. The 2021 Ohio State recruiting class has tied the 2002 class for most draft picks (12) since at least 1988. Additionally, the 2021 class is the second Ohio State recruiting class to have more than 50% of its members (12/23) drafted in that time period. They join the 1998 class, which had 11 of 16 players drafted (69%). 
  7. Hamilton is the 29th Ohio State player drafted by the Rams, who were based in Cleveland until 1946. They trail only the Browns and Bears (31) for most Buckeyes drafted by one franchise. 
  8. Williams is the 28th Buckeye chosen by the Lions, who were founded in Portsmouth as the Spartans and moved to Detroit in 1934 (two years before the first draft). They have chosen five players from Ohio State since 2016 after none from 1990-2015. 
  9. Egbuka is only the fourth Ohio State player drafted by the Buccaneers and the first since Wayne High School grad Will Allen in 2004. 
  10. Ransom is the sixth player from Ohio State drafted by the Panthers, who last chose a Buckeye in 2017 when they picked receiver Curtis Samuel in 2017. 
  11. Simmons is the first Buckeye drafted by the Chiefs since defensive back Donald Washington in 2009. Overall, Kansas City has only drafted seven players from Ohio State. 

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