The three best NFL Draft Picks in Ohio State football history
With new Ohio State football players about to realize their dreams of playing in the NFL, we take a look at the three best Ohio State draft picks in history.
By Ryan Stano
The NFL Combine is now behind us. Former Ohio State football players are trying to become future NFL stars and that was the first step on their journey. All of the Buckeye greats competed their butts off at the Combine as well before being drafted by a team.
Plenty of Ohio State Buckeyes have had great NFL careers. Several Buckeyes are now in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Some of them were high draft picks while some of them were steals. Today, we are going to give you the three best Ohio State football draft picks of all-time.
Two of these players on this list are already members of the Hall of Fame. One of them has a chance to be when his career is over. One of the players on this list is probably the most talented Buckeye ever while the other two were more Draft steals.
We start with one of the Draft steals and the player who is not in the Hall of Fame yet.
3. Cameron Heyward
The longest current-tenured Buckeye in the NFL, Cameron Heyward has been a mainstay for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He was coached by Jim Tressel in college and was First-team All-Big Ten in 2010 in his final year with the Buckeyes. Heyward was then drafted by the Steelers in the first round of the 2011 Draft.
That ended up being a draft steal. Since then, he's been one of the best players for one of the best franchises in the NFL. With Pittsburgh, he's been named to the Pro Bowl six times, been Second-team All-Pro once, and First-team All-Pro three times. He's still going strong at 34 years of age.
Perhaps Heyward's crowning achievement as a pro was winning the Walter Payton Man of the Year award this past season. That's billed as the most prestigious award in football. He was injured last year and there was some speculation he could retire, but he's motivated to come back strong.
Heyward probably only has a year or two left in his NFL career. But having played 13 years already is incredible for an interior lineman. He's a borderline Hall-of-Famer right now. If he's able to produce for a couple of more years, he might be able to get himself solidly in. I'd say that's pretty good value for the 31st pick in the Draft.
Speaking of value, the next Ohio State football player on this list is someone who would have been a high draft pick if not for some off-the-field problems.