Ohio State Player’s in ESPN’s top 100 List

Espn made a list last week ranking the top 100 overall college football players for the 2022 season. Ohio State had five players that made the list. They had four offensive players and one defensive player make it. Here are the five players on the list and two snubs that I believe should have made the list.

#3 C.J Stroud

Stroud threw for 4,435 yards and 44 touchdowns while having a 71.9 completion percentage in only 12 games last season. He finished 4th in the Heisman voting. This season he is poised to have another big year. He will be looking to lead Ohio State to their first National Championship since 2015.

#4 Jaxon Smith-Njigba

Smith-Njigba had 95 catches for 1,606 yards and nine touchdowns last season. He did that while having two 1st round wide receivers to compete for targets with. This season he is the only Ohio State wide receiver with starter experience. We could see Smith-Njigba put up Devonta Smith type numbers and compete for the Heisman.

#7 Treveyon Henderson

Henderson had 1,248 rushing yards and 15 rushing touchdowns as a freshman last season. He also added 312 receiving yards and 4 receiving touchdowns. Henderson was able to prove that he was the best running back on the team very quickly after he stepped foot on campus. Henderson will look to get even more touches this year and have a monster sophomore season.

#36 Paris Johnson Jr.

Johnson started at guard last season with 6’8 360 lb Dawund Jones at right tackle and veteran Nicholas Petit-Frere at left tackle. With Petit-Frere leaving for the NFL draft, Johnson will take over the starting spot at left tackle. He was rated the #1 tackle coming out of high school and will finally get to play his normal position in his junior year.

#88 Zach Harrison

Harrison was the #2 Defensive end and 12th ranked player overall coming out of high school but is yet to live up to the hype. The most sacks he’s had in a season was 3.5 during his freshman year. He only had 2 sacks each in his sophomore and junior year. This year Harrison will likely take over the LEO position which is a position that new defensive coordinator Jim Knowles has implemented. Harrison is the only Ohio State defensive player in the top 100 and will look to have his best season yet in 2022.

Biggest Snubs:

Denzel Burke

Burke started all 13 games as a freshman last year and proved to be a true #1 corner. He led the team with 13 passes defended last season. He had 36 total tackles last year and one interception that led to a pick six. Burke will be Ohio State’s #1 corner again this year and will look to lock up #1 wide receivers all season long. There were seven corners in the top 100 and Burke will look to prove he belongs as a top seven corner in the country.

Ronnie Hickman

Hickman was a monster last season for Ohio State, leading the team with 100 total tackles. He was the first Ohio State player since 2015 to have 100 tackles in a season. He also added two interceptions with one of them resulting in a pick six. Hickman was the anchor to the defense in 2021 and will look to do the same in 2022. He deserved a spot in this top 100 list.