Ohio State Football: C.J. Stroud makes case as number one pick

The pain is still fresh from the Ohio State football team’s loss against Georgia in the Peach Bowl. The defense is the ones to blame after giving up a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter. I actually thought the Buckeyes played pretty well on the offensive side of the ball in that game.

C.J. Stroud, in particular, was absolutely fantastic. He left it all out on the field and played what I contend is the best game of his collegiate career. He did everything possible to lead his team to victory on the biggest stage against the best team in college football.

With how well he played, Stroud made a compelling case to be the number one overall pick in the NFL Draft. When you throw for 348 yards, 4 touchdowns, and don’t turn the ball over, that’s a pretty darn good game. Doing all of that against the undefeated reigning national champs is even more impressive.

Not only did he do all of that, but he finally used his legs like Buckeye fans have been begging him to do for the last two years. He proved to NFL scouts that he is willing to take the yardage that’s there when he needs to. That was the last piece that I was looking for.

The first overall pick will be between Stroud and Bryce Young, who also had a good bowl game. The difference between the two is the stature. Stroud is taller and is more filled out at 6’3 and 218. Scouts are worried about how slight Young is and how he might hold up taking hits.

That difference in body type might give Stroud the edge when it comes to the draft. Either way, there’s no chance he falls out of the top five. It seems likely both quarterbacks will end up in the AFC South. One will be with the Texans while one will be with the Colts.

It was great to see Stroud play the best game of his career on Saturday night. It’s just unfortunate that it wasn’t enough to get the Ohio State Football team the win.