The three best NFL Draft Picks in Ohio State football history
By Ryan Stano
2. Cris Carter
One of the most talented pass-catchers to ever play for the Ohio State football program was Cris Carter. He was so smooth going in and out of his routes, had some of the softest pair of hands ever, and had speed to burn. He was a tough cover while he was in Columbus.
Carter was a Consensus All-American in 1986 but was ruled ineligible for the 1987 season because he was found to have signed with an agent. Because of that, he entered in the Supplemental Draft. His off-the-field problems, including smoking weed everyday, pushed him down to the fourth round of that draft.
That ended up working out perfectly for the Minnesota Vikings, who later picked him up off of waivers following the 1989 season after two years with the Philadelphia Eagles. Carter would go on to star in Minnesota just as he did for the Buckeyes. Carter went to the Pro Bowl eight times, was Second-team All-Pro once and was First-team All-Pro twice.
Carter is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and is in the Vikings' Ring of Honor. He is also a member of the 1990s NFL All-Decade Team. Of someone who got selected in the Supplemental Draft, I'd say that's a pretty good ROI on that Draft pick. Carter made the Vikings look like geniuses and the Eagles look dumb for giving up on him.
As far as value goes for a Buckeye draft pick, it's hard to get better than this, even though he didn't accomplish a lot for the team that drafted him. Going from Supplemental Draft pick to Hall of Famer is pretty darn impressive.
The final player on this list was always going to be good from the moment he was drafted.