The most underrated Ohio State Football player in this year’s Draft

The Ohio State football team will have at least two first-round picks in this year’s NFL Draft. Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave will both most likely be taken in the top 20. We know that those two are the best Buckeyes entering the 2022 NFL Draft.

But what about the most underrated guy? There are plenty of gems that teams can end up with later in the Draft that would make them very happy. The Buckeyes might not have a lot of top-end talent in the draft this season, but they have some depth in the later rounds.

Personally, I think Jeremy Ruckert is the most underrated Ohio State football player in this year’s draft. That’s because the Buckeyes hardly used him in the passing game. In four years with the Buckeyes, he only had 54 catches. Even so, 12 of those were touchdowns.

Ruckert was the number one tight end in the country coming out of high school. It was thought that Ryan Day was going to utilize the tight ends more now that they had a stud to throw to. That ended up not being the case. Because of that Ruckert’s stock isn’t that high.

Right now, he’s projected to be a late second-round pick at best. Most mock drafts have him as a third-rounder. If Ohio State would have thrown to him more, I think he had the chance to be the number one tight end in this year’s draft class. He has first-round talent.

Ruckert is a really good blocker in the run game too. He uses his legs well to drive defenders backward when blocking in the run game. He’s also athletic enough to get out and block in space on screens too. Add his soft hands with his blocking ability and you get one heck of a tight end.

I’m interested to see what team ends up taking Ruckert and what position they take him. I think there are a few places where he’d fit well, like Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, Chicago, or Seattle. All need tight ends and Ruckert would be a great fit in any of those organizations.