The Ohio State football program proved once again to be DBU
With two of the Buckeyes chosen in the first round of the NFL draft being corners, the Ohio State football program once again proved to be DBU.
It was an exciting day for Ohio State football fans as the top three draft picks of the 2020 NFL draft all donned a Scarlet and Gray uniform at some point. Joe Burrow, Chase Young and Jeffrey Okudah were all premier selections in the NFL and Ohio State was at least part of all of their breeding ground.
Burrow obviously saw more success in an LSU Tigers uniform, but he still was groomed by the Ohio State staff, graduated from the university and gives them plenty of credit in his meteoric rise to fame this past season.
As for the other two, their play speaks for itself. Young was one of the most dominant players that we have seen in college football, pushing through offensive lines all across the country en route to a Heisman finalist selection.
Okudah never really got any recognition via awards for his play on the field with the Buckeyes, but it was clear when he was on the field there was no better corner in the country. That despite his snubbing of not winning the Thorpe award, an honor that went to a player who didn’t even sniff the first round of the NFL draft last night.
Those three chosen at the top wasn’t surprising, it was expected. But after that most fans figured there wouldn’t be another Buckeye off the board in the first round unless J.K. Dobbins could somehow sneak his way into a late round spot.
That was until John Gruden and the newly named Las Vegas Raiders dropped a bomb with the No. 19 pick choosing Damon Arnette Jr. Mel Kiper Jr. had a second-round grade on the DB, and Daniel Jeremiah had him as his No. 8 corner. It definitely wasn’t expected, but the more you look at the pick it isn’t a bad reach.
While the Raiders could have tried to wait until the second-round to pick him up, they decided he was too good to pass up. But what made them come to that decision?
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The Raiders obviously saw what Buckeye fans did. Even though Jeff Okudah was the star corner on the team, Arnette played at a high level on the other side of the field.as well.
The other thing that surely went in to the decision was the fact Ohio State defensive backs have had so much success in the NFL as of late. In the last five years, Ohio State has had six cornerbacks drafted in the first round.
The next best school during that time period is Florida with two. Marshon Lattimore and Denzel Ward have obviously been big successes in the NFL, and the Raiders obviously felt that was enough to take Arnette where they did.
All of this goes to show that this shouldn’t even be a debate anymore, Ohio State is DBU and it isn’t close. In fact, some Ohio State alumni were debating whether or not we should just call Ohio State defensive U now, but that’s a discussion for another article.
Next. NFL Draft continues to be recruiting tool for Buckeyes. dark
We can debate who is DBU all we want but one thing is for sure. The Ohio State coaching staff is loving all of this success in the NFL draft because at this point they won’t even have to recruit defensive backs anymore. All they have to do is point to the massive success they have had at the next level.