Joel Klatt expects 5 first round NFL Draft picks from one College Football Playoff team

Fox college football analyst Joel Klatt took the first day of the NFL’s off-season as an opportunity to unveil his first mock for April’s Draft, and the same school that produced the most picks in last year's Draft will have five players going in the first round this year according to Klatt.

Fox college football analyst Joel Klatt unveiled his first mock of the 2026 NFL Draft, with one team projected to have 5 players drafted on Day 1. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

This year’s NFL Draft will take place April 23-25 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with the Las Vegas Raiders and new head coach Klint Kubiak holding the No. 1 overall pick. With the NFL season now completed after the Seattle Seahawks were victorious in Super Bowl LX on Sunday, the teams will start looking forward to the Annual Player Selection Meeting where fans will learn which collegiate stars will be joining their favorite teams for next season.

Fox college football analyst Joel Klatt took the first day of the NFL’s off-season as an opportunity to unveil his first mock for April’s Draft on the latest episode of his show. The former Colorado Buffaloes quarterback, who had a short stint of his own in the NFL, ran through all 32 picks in the first round and projected which players would be selected at each slot.

The Ohio State Buckeyes produced the most NFL Draft picks last year, and have another strong Draft class in 2026. | Joseph Cress/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK

At the completion of Klatt’s mock draft, a total of five Ohio State Buckeyes were projected to be selected in the first 32 picks, the most of any collegiate program. That would be a remarkable run of NFL talent production considering the Buckeyes are coming off a 2025 NFL Draft where they produced 14 total picks, the most of any collegiate team, following their National Championship season.

Klatt sees two Buckeyes going off the board in the first five picks of the Draft, both juniors who came out early despite having more eligibility at the college level. With the No. 2 pick in the Draft, the New York Jets will take Ohio State linebacker Arvell Reese, according to Klatt. A consensus All-American this past season, Reese is a big-bodied defender at 6-foot-4 and 243-pound defender who Klatt compared to Green Bay Packers edge Micah Parsons.

Just three picks later, Klatt projects Ohio State wide receiver Carnell Tate to come off the board when the New York Giants are on the clock. The Giants hired John Harbaugh last month to become their 21st head coach in franchise history, and Klatt likes the idea of Harbaugh bringing in another weapon for his quarterback Jaxson Dart.

Wide receiver Carnell Tate collected 121 receptions for 1,872 yards and 14 touchdowns during three seasons at Ohio State. | Samantha Madar/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

“I like Jaxson Dart and the way that he’s played, and I think he is best pushing the ball down the field,” Klatt remarked. “There’s no better deep threat, and really all-around wide receiver… than Carnell Tate.”

Tate was the only Ohio State offensive player Klatt saw going in the first round of this year’s NFL Draft, but several more Buckeye defensive players could come off the board to join Arvell Reese. At No. 12 the Dallas Cowboys make their selection, and Klatt likes Ohio State safety Caleb Downs, the Jim Thorpe Award winner for college football’s best defensive back, to be the Cowboys selection. Just three slots later, at No. 15, another Ohio State defender, Sonny Styles was the projection to come off the board for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

“(Styles) began his career and started for Ohio State as a safety, but he’s so big and physical and they moved him in to linebacker where he became one of the better linebackers in all of college football,” Klatt said. “He’s only 21 and won’t turn 22 until November… so he’s a younger guy with a ton of experience and that makes a lot of sense (for Tampa Bay).”

Joel Klatt projects defensive lineman Kayden McDonald to be the fifth Ohio State Buckeye to be taken in the first round of April's NFL Draft. | Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The fifth and final Ohio State Buckeye projected to go in the first round by Klatt is defensive tackle Kayden McDonald to the Chicago Bears with pick No. 25. The 6-foot-3, 326-pound McDonald came to Columbus in the same recruiting class as Arvell Reese and spent just three seasons with the Buckeyes. He was projected to help shore up the Bears’ defensive line and potentially help Ben Johnson further improve on what was an impressive 2025 season.

After Ohio State, Klatt projected that two teams, Clemson and Miami, would have three players selected, while Alabama, Tennessee, Texas Tech and Utah would each see two of their players come off the board in Round 1. There are more than two months, the NFL Combine as well as pro days to evaluate this year’s NFL Draft class and see how this projection holds up before official selections happen in April.