Six Buckeyes Land Spot on CBS Top 100 Big Board
CBS ranked their top 100 prospects for the 2021 NFL Draft on Monday. The current list has six Ohio State Buckeyes on it:
- No. 5: Justin Fields, QB
- No. 6: Wyatt Davis, IOL
- No. 23: Shaun Wade, CB
- No. 37: Josh Myers, IOL
- No. 39: Baron Browning, LB
- No. 42: Chris Olave, WR
Justin Fields is ranked behind Clemson's Trevor Lawrence as the second-best quarterback in the class. CBS "not surprisingly" ranked Lawrence as the best prospect in this year's draft. However, North Dakota State play caller Trey Lance is ranked behind Fields as the third best quarterback in the draft. Lance is in the same boat as Fields - NDSU also postponed their season.
Wyatt Davis is the highest ranked interior offensive lineman on this list and his teammate Josh Myers follows in the six spot. They commanded a Buckeye offensive line that helped Ohio State finish No. 3 in the country in scoring offense (46.9 points/game), No. 5 in rushing offense (266.7 yards/game) and No. 4 in total offense (529.9 yards/game).
Cornerback Shaun Wade comes in as the third-best cornerback on the list behind Alabama's Patrick Surtain II and Virginia Tech's Caleb Farley (who opted out of the 2020 season).
Baron Browning is listed as the third-highest linebacker on this list behind Penn State's Micah Parsons (No. 3 overall) and Alabama's Dylan Moses (No. 20 overall). Browning posted career-highs in every major statistical category last year for the OSU defense.
Wide receiver Chris Olave joins what CBS believes is another deep wide receiver class. Olave was Ohio State's team leader in receiving yards (849), yards per catch (17.3) and touchdowns (12). Per CBS, Olave is the eighth-best receiver in the upcoming draft.
With the Buckeyes' season postponed, it certainly doesn't help these six (and others) trying to improve their draft stock. These six (and maybe some others) will have to make the tough choice of whether they're going to potentially play this spring or opt out to prepare for the NFL Draft.
Other Big Ten teams with players on this list:
- Michigan: 6
- Penn State: 3
- Iowa: 3
- Minnesota: 2
- Wisconsin: 1
- Northwestern: 1
- Purdue: 1
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