Ohio State football program has fewest players drafted in 11 years

The Ohio State football program finished 11-1 in the regular season in 2023. They weren’t able to beat Michigan and make the College Football Playoff. Because of that, a bunch of Buckeyes decided to put their NFL dreams on hold and return to Columbus. That made the draft pool for the Buckeyes smaller this year.

Still, they were expected to have six to seven players taken in the 2024 NFL Draft. Instead, they had just four. Marvin Harrison Jr. was the first one taken, being selected by the Cardinals fourth overall. Mike Hall was taken in the second round by the Browns. Cade Stover was selected in the fourth round by the Texans. Tommy Eichenberg was taken in the fifth round by the Raiders. That was it.

The Ohio State football program had its smallest draft class in 11 years

No other Buckeye was drafted. It ended up being the Buckeyes’ smallest draft class in 11 years. While a large part of that is because of how many Buckeyes returned in 2024, that’s still inexcusable. There’s no reason the Buckeyes shouldn’t have at least five guys getting taken in the Draft every year.

Ultimately, this falls at the feet of Ryan Day. He needs to develop these players better so they are viewed as higher-level Draft prospects. No college football program has more first-round draft picks than the Ohio State football program. But they should also be able to have the depth at the backend of the Draft year in and year out.

Several Buckeyes did sign undrafted free-agent deals with teams, so they still have a chance to make an NFL roster. That still shouldn’t be the case. Ohio State should be back with more draft prospects in the 2025 NFL Draft class. They could end up with up to three first-round picks next year too.

Day knows that he needs to be better with his team. That’s why this team is set to make a run at a national title in 2024.