Ohio State Football: Top 5 NFL Draft value picks the last 35 years
There have been plenty of Ohio State football players who were high draft picks who became stars but some who were undervalued were very good pros as well.
The Ohio State football program has seen its share of players drafted high that went on to become stars in the NFL. Some were busts too. What about the value picks?
These players are taken after the first couple of rounds of the draft that end up having highly productive NFL careers.
Here are my top five over the last 35 years.
Kirk Lowdermilk: Lowdermilk was an offensive lineman picked in the third round, No. 59 overall by the Minnesota Vikings. His pro career started a little slowly, but took off in his third season and he never looked back.
He played for 12 seasons, 178 games split between the Vikings and Indianapolis Colts.
Mike Vrabel: This defensive lineman was chosen in the third round, No. 91 overall by the Pittsburgh Steelers. Like Lowdermilk, Vrabel’s NFL career took a while to launch as he was never a consistent contributor for the Steelers.
He caught a break when he signed with New England in 2001 and switched to linebacker.
Vrabel played eight seasons with the Patriots and a total of 125 games. He was traded to Kansas City in 2009 and played two more seasons before retiring.
He finished his career 740 tackles and was a winner of three Super Bowls. He also had one touchdown which he caught from Tom Brady in Super Bowl XXXIX.
Na’il Diggs: Diggs was a standout linebacker at Ohio State earning First-Team All-America his senior year in 1999. The Green Bay Packers drafted him in the fourth round, No. 98 overall.
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Over the course of his 12-year career, Diggs played in 170 games and started 138 games between the Packers, Carolina Panthers and St. Louis.
He finished with 676 tackles and five interceptions.
Kurt Coleman: Coleman is in the running for most valued pick ever for a Buckeye. He was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles in the seventh round, No. 244 overall.
In nine seasons, Coleman has played in 132 games, starting 83, for the Eagles, Panthers and New Orleans Saints.
He currently has 535 tackles and 21 interceptions. He has a chance to add to these numbers if he gets picked up this off-season.
If not, Coleman’s over-delivered on his potential, especially for a guy that had only 11 players drafted behind him.
Corey Linsley: How lucky is Linsley? Green Bay selected him in the fifth round, No. 161 overall.
All he’s done is start 70 games over the last five seasons while snapping to one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game.
Next. Nick Bosa joining the family business. dark
Barring injury, Linsley will play another 5-7 seasons. That’s an outstanding pro career.