Ohio State football: Former Buckeye Lee signs with Raiders

The former Ohio State football player has bounced around in the NFL but is hoping to have finally found a home.

Former Ohio State football player Darron Lee has been signed by the Las Vegas Raiders. They are his fourth team in his five-year NFL career.

Lee was taken by the Jets with the 20th overall pick in the 2016 draft. He started 36 games in his three seasons with New York and had 241 tackles. After he was suspended for four games late in the 2018 season for violating the league’s policy on PED’s, the Jets traded him to Kansas City before the start of the following season.

Lee started just two games for the Chiefs but did make 31 tackles, mostly on special teams. He earned a Super Bowl ring, but was injured and did not play in Kansas City’s win over San Francisco. After becoming a free agent in March of 2020, the league suspended him again for the first four games of the season. Buffalo signed him to their practice squad in early November, but he was active for just two games.

Originally a quarterback at New Albany High School, Lee would make his mark with the Buckeyes on the defensive side of the ball. He became a starter at outside linebacker as a redshirt freshman in 2014 and was a key member of a defense that helped Ohio State to a national championship.

Lee was the defensive MVP in OSU’s Sugar Bowl win over Alabama when he had seven tackles and two sacks. He ended his Ohio State career with 89 tackles, 27½ tackles-for-loss, twelve sacks, and three interceptions.

The Raiders look fairly deep at linebacker, so if Lee is to make the final roster, it may have to be on special teams. The team will open training camp on July 27th at their facility in Henderson, Nevada.