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Ohio State football NFL Mock Draft 3.0

By Frank Teriaca

Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback C.J. Stroud prepares to throw during Ohio State football’s pro day at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center in Columbus on March 22, 2023.Football Ceb Osufb Pro Day
Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback C.J. Stroud prepares to throw during Ohio State football’s pro day at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center in Columbus on March 22, 2023.Football Ceb Osufb Pro Day /
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The Ohio State football team is set to send upwards of eight players into the NFL draft come next weekend. Here are where we think they may wind up.

The Ohio State football team is always pumping out talent into the NFL each and every year.  The Buckeyes have had a total of 141 players drafted since 2000, the most of any school. This year there may not be an abundance in numbers in terms of draft picks for Ohio State, but the quality is sure there as they can have possibly four first-round picks come Thursday night.

Last month, we gave you the second version of our Ohio State mock draft. Now that free agency has come and gone and the draft is days away, I believe we have a better idea of where things stand in terms of former Buckeyes coming off the board.

Pick Analysis. QB. C.J. Stroud. 4. 46. Scouting Report. player. Ohio State

If I’m Carolina or Houston, I am not passing on the most polished quarterback in this draft class. But I’m also not an NFL GM. Bryce Young appears to be locked into the No. 1 spot with the Panthers while it sounds like the Texans are shopping the second pick.

But this is a great spot for Stroud to land if you want to see him succeed at the next level. Between Payton Manning and Andrew Luck, this organization is great at developing highly picked quarterbacks. It also helps that Stroud would have one of the league’s better rushing attacks as well.

9. player. 57. Pick Analysis. OT. Ohio State. Scouting Report. Parris Johnson Jr.

This is where I had Johnson in our last mock, and I still believe this is where he should be picked. Chicago has committed to Justin Fields as their quarterback, and they need to protect him. Plain and simple, Johnson is the best offensive tackle in this draft class, and it would be a mistake for them to pass on him.

Johnson tested great at the combine and by all accounts has interviewed very nicely with NFL teams as well. I believe he has cemented himself as a top-10 pick in 2023.

35. Jaxon Smith-Njigba. player. WR. Ohio State. 11. Scouting Report. Pick Analysis

Another pick that I left the same from Mock 2.0, JSN is also a player who cemented his draft stock with a great combine and pro-day. Head coach Mike Vrabel, the former Buckeye, is now defacto running the show in Tennessee and he was clearly upset that his former GM traded away his No. 1 receiver last offseason in A.J. Brown.

Vrable will look to make up for that mistake by drafting the latest great Buckeye receiver to be developed by Brian Hartline.

player. 56. Scouting Report. Pick Analysis. OT. Ohio State. 28. Dawand Jones

The fourth Buckeye selected in the first round; this pick makes a lot of sense on so many levels. The Bengals love drafting former Buckeyes and there is a clear need to help Joe Burrow to stay upright. It’s time for them to start seriously investing in its offensive line and it begins with drafting the mammoth Dewand Jones.

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