Ohio State Football: Buckeyes look to continue NFL dominance
At 4PM Wednesday the start of the 2018 NFL season officially began as players not under contract hit the free agent market.
Prior to the “new league year”, all NFL teams had to exercise options for 2019 on all players who had those clauses in their contracts. When 4pm came around, all 2018 player contracts expired and the free agency period was officially underway.
Avoiding free agency, three Buckeyes managed to stay on rosters. Bradley Roby signed a one-year, $10 million deal with the Houston Texans on Tuesday. Johnathan Hankins re-signed with the Oakland Raiders on a two-year deal that is reportedly worth $8.5 million.
Additionally, the Steelers announced on Monday that Ryan Shazier will remain on contract for the 2019 NFL season. He will be placed on the Reserve/Physically Unable to Perform List.
Failing to reach agreements with their current NFL teams were three Buckeyes that are now officially free agents; Jeff Heuerman, John Simon and Rod Smith.
Here is what Ian Rapoport reported about Simon’s situation via Twitter:
"The #Patriots are expected to bring back defensive end John Simon, sources say, as the two sides are working on a deal that should be finalized today. The veteran impressed in his 11 games with the Pats after being released in Indy."
In celebration of the new 2019 NFL league year, lets take a look at the impact that the Buckeyes have on the National Football League. When final 53-man rosters were announced for the start of the 2018-2019 NFL season, Ohio State ranked fourth tied with Miami for having the most players (36) on NFL 53-man rosters. Alabama, LSU and Florida with 44, 40, 38 players on NFL rosters, respectively, were the only three schools ahead of the Buckeyes.
In his final season as the Buckeyes leader, Coach Urban Meyer made sure his players were ready for the next level resulting in 10 players that were invited to Indy for the 2019 NFL Combine. The 10 Buckeyes that were invited accounted for the second most only behind Alabama and Clemson, who both sent 11 players.
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More than likely, Heuerman and Smith will get another shot to play. Depending upon how the Buckeyes do in the 2019 Draft next month in Nashville, Ohio State will look to move up the ranks with the most players on NFL rosters for the upcoming 2019 season.
The tremendous amount of value and success that former Ohio State players consistently bring to NFL organizations year after year is a true testament to their extensive training and preparation that players endure during their time at Ohio State. This is a unique recruiting tactic that first year head coach Ryan Day can leverage to persuade recruits such as Kendall Milton, the 5-star running back and 22nd overall recruit in the 2020 class.
Ryan Day proving he covets offensive linemen. dark. Next
He will visit Ohio State on April 5th, to pledge his allegiance to the Buckeyes, in hopes of turning his NFL dream into a reality.