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January 19, 2018LeBron James named All-Star starter, team captain
January 19, 2018When you are an elite college football program, you never rebuild—you just reload. No matter how many players you have to replace every season, the talent on your team and on the depth chart makes it somewhat of an easy transition, at least most of the time.
The Ohio State Buckeyes have had lots of players leaving early each season to fulfill their dream of entering the NFL, especially under head coach Urban Meyer. As expected, 2018 was no different. Although the trend of players declaring early for the draft continued, the scarlet and gray caught a break this time around.
In 2016, nine Ohio State players left early for the draft.
In 2017, six Buckeyes skipped out on their last season (or two) of eligibility and declared for the draft.
In 2018, just three of Ohio State’s best players decided to leave the Buckeyes early and declare for the 2018 NFL Draft: Junior cornerback Denzel Ward, redshirt junior defensive end Sam Hubbard, and junior linebacker Jerome Baker.
The first to announce of the three, Denzel Ward declared prior to the Cotton Bowl, a game where Ohio State took care of USC. The decision also led him to sit out the final game of his college career.
Go bucks! pic.twitter.com/DfBOKYQzhO
— Denzel Ward (@denzelward) December 30, 2017
Although some questioned the decision to sit out the game and even said that it was a selfish decision, Ward guaranteed that he would be healthy for the draft and be all but certainly be a sure-fire first-round pick, which made the decision completely fine. When that happens, it will be a moment that will change both his and his mom’s life forever, after Denzel’s father, Paul, passed away unexpectedly of cardiac arrest at the young age of 46 on May 2, 2016.
In his first (and only) season as a full-time starter, the speedster totaled 37 tackles, two interceptions, 15 passes defended, and two tackles for loss while locking down his opposition. Although the Buckeyes will undoubtedly miss their All-American lockdown cornerback, that position should be just fine in 2018, especially after what Damon Arnette, Kendall Sheffield, and true freshman Jeffrey Okudah were able to do against USC’s Sam Darnold in the Cotton Bowl.
One of Ohio State’s best pass rushers on a stacked defensive end unit, Sam Hubbard‘s decision was expected, especially after his dominant performance in the Cotton Bowl.1
— Sam Hubbard (@Sam_Hubbard_) December 30, 2017
The redshirt junior’s mind seemed to be made up even before that though, after he participated in Senior Tackle. That takes place at the end of the Buckeyes’ last practice of the regular season and allows every senior to have a moment with his team and coaches, a moment that becomes very emotional for most.
During his final season in Columbus, Hubbard had 42 tackles, seven sacks, 13.5 tackles for loss, and two forced fumbles while splitting time due to Ohio State having so many talented defensive ends. The All-Big Ten second-team selection is projected late-first or second-round pick by many. Hubbard is among the best edge rushers in the draft, according to WFNY’s Joe Gilbert and Jake Burns.
The last of the three to announce his decision, many were unsure what Jerome Baker would do, but he decided to take the next step of his life and career.
For everything! pic.twitter.com/KOSQ4LhwHl
— Jerome Baker Jr. (@Lastname_Baker) January 8, 2018
Although the majority of his stats decreased from his sophomore to junior seasons, Baker still led the team with 72 tackles. He also had 3.5 sacks, eight tackles for loss, one forced fumble, two fumble recoveries, and three passes defended in his second season as a full-time starter. Due to a disappointing junior season, even by his own standards, Baker is projected to be selected in either the second or third round. For what it’s worth, many thought he could be a first-round pick in the 2017 draft if he had declared following his sophomore season.
Ohio State will sure miss these three, but to only have three that declared is quite impressive and means very good things for the Buckeyes. There were a handful of other players that could have left early but decided to return to the Columbus and suit up in the scarlet and gray for at least one more season.
While the three are very talented and will be missed in Columbus, by having just three players leave early, the Buckeyes seem to be in good shape for the 2018 season and were even named “winners” from the early entries by ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg.
Any year where the Buckeyes’ number of draft departures is relatively small puts them in the “winner” category. Cornerback Denzel Ward and defensive lineman Sam Hubbard made the right choices to leave, especially after Hubbard’s incredible Cotton Bowl performance. But Dre’Mont Jones returns along the defensive line, and Ohio State’s next starting quarterback will have wide receivers Parris Campbell, Terry McLaurin and Johnnie Dixon at his disposal. Running back Mike Weber, a redshirt sophomore, also opted to remain in Columbus, where he will team up with J.K. Dobbins.
Before these early draft entrants announced they were leaving school early, Ohio State was ranked in the Top 4 of each way-too-early 2018 season rankings. Expect that to remain the same (or even improve) following the announcements.
The 2018 NFL Draft will be from April 26-28 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
- He finished with 2.5 sacks and 3.5 tackles for loss against USC. [↩]