The start of the 2026 NFL Draft was dominated by the Ohio State football program. Four of the first 11 picks were Ohio State Buckeyes, which was expected. Most of the best players available this year came from the Buckeyes, although the first one taken was a surprise.
Even though a number of Ohio State players went early, some NFL teams made mistakes by passing on some of these guys. In fact, there are three teams that made big mistakes by not selecting Buckeyes when they had the chance, and it started early.
1. New York Jets
With the second pick in the draft, New York had a shot to take any of the Buckeyes available. They were most linked to Arvell Reese, who might have the most raw talent of anyone in the draft. Instead, they decided to take David Bailey out of Texas Tech as their linebacker of choice.
Bailey is a good football player, but Reese's tools make his ceiling much higher. To make matters work for the Jets is that the Giants ended up taking him with the fifth overall pick. If he succeeds with the Giants, they will be kicking themselves for years to come.
2. Cleveland Browns
The Browns are consistently the laughingstock of the NFL. They need help at pretty much every position, but they had a shot to take Caleb Downs with the sixth overall pick. Downs could have been the back-end leader that they so desperately need. Or, they could have taken Sonny Styles to give them an elite linebacker.
Instead, they passed up both Buckeyes and took Spencer Fano, a tackle from Utah, after trading back. The Browns' offensive line allowed the eighth-most sacks in the NFL this past season, so they needed help there. Still, they had an opportunity to really help the defensive side of the ball, and
3. Every team that passed up on Kayden McDonald
Kayden McDonald was widely seen as the best defensive tackle in the draft. After putting up some really good numbers in one year under Matt Patricia, including 65 tackles, no one took him in the first round. In fact, two other defensive tackles went ahead of him, instead.
The Vikings and the Chiefs both took defensive tackles, and neither one of them is able to do what McDonald can do. Now, McDonald gets a chance to make a team early in the second round very happy.
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