How the cancellation of Ohio State football affects the 2021 NFL draft

1 of 2

With the disappointing postponement of the 2020-21 Ohio State football season, how will Buckeyes with decisions to make on the NFL draft be affected?

There is no shortage of disappointment from the Ohio State football team after the school announced that it would be postponing the season until spring. Some established players such as Jonathan Cooper and Thayer Munford among others have played their last snaps at the collegiate level. But for others, specifically players that could declare for the 2021 NFL Draft or choose to return to school with remaining eligibility, the decision is a tough one.

Obviously, a good deal of thought goes into almost every player’s decision. Some of the top factors include the projected round picked, what is still left to accomplish at the university, etc. In a day and age where we see more players declaring early for the NFL draft than ever before, it is a constant turnstile of players at each school.

I will separate the players that have looming decisions on the 2021 NFL draft into three categories: likely, maybe, and unlikely. Those categories are the indication I have on the players of the likelihood of them entering the NFL draft. These players are listed in the highest to the lowest chance of declaring early in each category.

LIKELY

Shaun Wade – Redshirt Junior Cornerback

Shaun is as good as gon. The Junior from Jacksonville has already gone on record saying he would not participate in a spring season, which essentially means he will be declaring for the 2021 NFL draft. Already having played a full redshirt year and two really solid years on the outside for the Buckeyes, he has little left to prove on the field and should be picked very early in the 2021 NFL draft.

Justin Fields – Junior Quarterback

The only reason the Buckeyes signal-caller is not higher on this list is because unlike Shaun Wade, he has yet to come out to the public and say that he will not play in the spring but I think this one is pretty obvious. He has all the tools to become an elite-level quarterback at the next level and will be competing likely with Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence to be the top quarterback selected in the 2021 NFL draft.

More from Scarlet and Game

Although he only played one season at Ohio State after a transfer from Georgia, the former no. 2 recruit in the class of 2018 had perhaps the best year ever for an Ohio State quarterback in route to an undefeated regular season, a Big Ten championship win over Wisconsin, and a College Football Playoff appearance and there is little doubt that his sophomore year was no fluke.

Chris Olave – Junior Wide Reciever

I think Chris Olave does end up entering the draft, but I don’t have as much confidence in this pick as the prior two. Olave has transformed himself from the 68th best receiver prospect in the nation in 2018, to one of the top receiver prospects in the country and in Ohio State recent history. After an unforgettable performance in the 2018 Ohio State-Michigan massacre in which the seldom-used true freshman hauled in two touchdown catches and blocked a punt which led to Sevyn Banks plucking the ball out of the air to take it to the house and give the Buckeyes a two-score lead. He was expected to take a big leap in 2019. That he did, as he established an immediate connection with Justin Fields and caught 49 passes for nearly 850 yards and 12 scores.

He is a very well-rounded receiver, despite not having elite size at 6’1 and 190 pounds, and can be a viable deep threat target as well as a solid underneath contributor. Oh, and he is a great special teams player as seen here. He makes for a good NFL prospect and should be picked in the early rounds if he decides to forgo a potential senior season.

Wyatt Davis – Redshirt Junior Offensive Guard

I was somewhat surprised when Davis decided to come back for his junior year, as I thought he had an opportunity to be one of the first interior lineman selected. In his redshirt Sophomore year, he took a huge step forward and helped anchor an Ohio State offensive line that was dominant and opened up holes for the running backs and kept Justin Fields off the turf.

On the field, Davis has little left to prove. Although he has only started 14 career games, the former five-star recruit from California is a devastating run blocker and has really improved in pass protection. Even with no season, that should help Davis’s draft stock as he was already one of the top interior linemen on the board and had little chance to raise his stock. At 6’4 and over 310 pounds, Davis has future NFL starter written all over him.

Home/Ohio State Football