There’s a lot to like about where the 14 Buckeyes take in this year’s NFL Draft will be headed. There are six picks that look like they’ll be great fits.
Coming off of their national championship victory in January, Ohio State had 14 players selected in the 2025 NFL Draft. While Ohio State fell just short of tying Georgia for having the most players selected in a single draft, a lot of the Buckeyes that were drafted are heading to places where they could have immediate success.
These are the six picks that I think are the best fits among the Ohio State players drafted this year.
Emeka Egbuka – Tampa Bay Buccaneers
When Egbuka was selected by Tampa Bay with the 19th pick in the first round, the wide receiver became the first Buckeye taken in the 2025 NFL Draft. This pick felt like an immediate home run, especially since the Bucs took a Buckeye.
The fit makes even more sense when you look at what Tampa Bay is trying to do on offense. Now Egbuka has a chance to work with one of the most productive quarterbacks in the league over the last two seasons.
Tampa Bay already has Mike Evans as their top wide receiver, so it’s not like Egbuka has to step in immediately and become the leader of Tampa’s group of receivers. Even though Evans is still putting up big numbers, this will be his 12th season in the NFL. At some point there is going to be a year where Evans doesn’t crack 1,000 yards receiving.
Along with Evans turning 32 before the regular season starts, Chris Godwin will be coming off his second season-ending injury since 2021. Even though Godwin responded with over 100 catches in 2022 after tearing his ACL late in the 2021 season, there is no guarantee that he will be able to replicate the bounce back after an ankle injury seven games into the season forced him to miss the rest of the year.
With Egbuka now in the fold, some of the pressure has been taken off of Godwin. While the former Penn State receiver will be ready to return the field for the season opener, he can ease back into action since the Buccaneers have added more weapons to their receiving corps.
Josh Simmons – Kansas City Chiefs
Anyone who watched the Super Bowl knows that Kansas City needed to address their offensive line this offseason. The Eagles showed that the best way to beat the Chiefs is to put Patrick Mahomes under relentless pressure.
The addition of Simmons should help to give Mahomes more time in the pocket since the Ohio State offensive tackle was the top tackle in this year’s draft before he suffered a season-ending knee injury in the loss to Oregon in October.
Honestly, the rest of the NFL has to be screaming “HE CAN’T KEEP GETTING AWAY WITH THIS” like they are Jesse Pinkman since Simmons is going to make the Kansas City offense even more dangerous. Not only will Mahomes have more time to find his arsenal of weapons in the passing game, whoever lines up at running back for the Chiefs should be able to find holes on Simmons’ side of the line.
This pick proves that rumors of Kansas City’s demise might be greatly exaggerated.
TreVeyon Henderson – New England Patriots
As a fan of the Buffalo Bills, I absolutely hate this pick just because the Bills will now have to try and stop Henderson twice a year. New England head coach Mike Vrabel had to be elated that he had a chance to draft Henderson in the second round in his first draft in charge of the Patriots.
Not only does Henderson have the ability to take the football to the house anytime he is on the field, he is also a tremendous blocker, which has to be music to quarterback Drake Maye’s ears.
Henderson has a shot to step in and make an impact immediately for the Patriots since Rhamondre Stevenson has had fumbling issues at times, and Antonio Gibson provides New England a good depth piece but he’s not a game-breaker at running back like Henderson can be. The combination of Maye and Henderson could have New England back contending in the AFC sooner rather than later.
Jack Sawyer/Will Howard – Pittsburgh Steelers
Jack Sawyer and Will Howard will just have to head a few hours east on I-70 to find where they’ll be starting their NFL careers. Both players have to be elated to be drafted by the Steelers since Howard grew up in Pennsylvania, while Sawyer’s family won’t have a long trip from Pickerington to go watch him play in the NFL.
Plus, both players will be able to begin their professional careers with one of the most revered franchises in sports.
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Cleveland and Cincinnati fans have to be hating these picks since it seems like whenever the Steelers draft any Buckeyes they go on to break the hearts of the Browns and Bengals for years. Cam Heyward is still playing at a high level in Pittsburgh, Santonio Holmes was one of the most dangerous receivers in the NFL when he started his career with the Steelers, and Ryan Shazier would have probably had a Hall of Fame career had he not suffered a career-ending injury after playing in just 46 games in the NFL.
There was a lot of talk heading into the draft that Sawyer and Howard would be second day picks in the draft. The Steelers already are loaded with talent on the defensive line with T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith, and Nick Herbig. Sawyer is a great depth piece for Pittsburgh since he can spell some of the most established players on the ends while learning the ropes at the professional level. It already feels like a given that he’ll somehow return a turnover for a touchdown against one of the Ohio teams in 2025.
The quarterback position for the Steelers is a mess right now. Maybe the ayahuasca tells Aaron Rodgers to head to Pittsburgh, or maybe Kirk Cousins ends up being the bridge for the future at quarterback for the Steelers. A couple of the best quarterbacks in NFL history were drafted in the sixth round. Maybe Howard goes on to win multiple Super Bowls as a starter, but the path that feels more likely for Howard is he ends up being a trusted backup in the league.
Lathan Ransom – Carolina Panthers
Just one pick before Jack Sawyer was taken by the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Carolina Panthers drafted Lathan Ransom. The Ohio State safety will have an opportunity to earn a starting spot right away since the Panthers need to replace starter Xavier Woods, who is now with the Tennessee Titans.
There is a lot of youth in the secondary of the Panthers, which could play to Ransom’s advantage since he has a ton of experience in big games at Ohio State.
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Last year Ransom’s play was often overshadowed since he was playing at safety with Caleb Downs, who is likely to be one of the top picks in the 2026 NFL Draft. Even though Ransom isn’t the fastest player, he has a nose for the football. See ball, get ball. Carolina’s defense is going to need players who can make impact plays and Ransom proved at Ohio State he is a player who can do just that.