The Ohio State Buckeyes had a 10-2 record in the 2024 college football season before storming away to a National Title. The Buckeyes had a lot of NFL talent on the Ohio State team during the 2024 season.
They lost a lot of talent this season, but Ohio State will be able to reload for the 2025 college football season. The Buckeyes will have a lot of NFL talent once again on the field in 2025. Some players will be eligible for the 2026 NFL Draft after next season. Ohio State is one of several college football teams that will have a ton of NFL talent on the roster.
CBS Sports Has the Ohio State Buckeyes As 1 of 8 College Football Teams With Tons Of NFL Talent Entering 2025
CBS sports writer Chip Patterson wrote about which college football teams will have the most NFL talent for the 2025 college football season on the field. To no surprise, he has the Buckeyes rated as one of those teams. Some of the potential first round picks in 2026 could potentially be wide receiver Carnell Tate, safety Caleb Downs, linebacker Sonny Styles, and cornerback Jermaine Matthews.
Patterson said about the talent that Ohio State will have on its roster,
“Ohio State tied its own program record with 14 players selected in the 2025 NFL Draft, falling just one pick shy of matching Georgia’s modern record of 15 (set in 2022). So how is that same program already among the betting favorites to win the national title again in 2025? Easy — thanks to Ryan Day’s recruiting, another wave of future pros is already filling up 2026 draft boards, starting with a couple of projected first-rounders.
Caleb Downs — not an Ohio State recruit out of high school but a key component of last year’s success — is a consensus first-round talent who will keep the Buckeyes in the spotlight on draft night. What happens after that depends largely on which players step up to replace the heavy production lost to the NFL.
Wide receiver Carnell Tate doesn’t yet carry the name recognition of Jeremiah Smith (who isn’t draft-eligible until 2027), but with defenses keying on Smith, Tate should see a larger workload that could elevate his stock to a first-round level. On defense, Sonny Styles looks to build on a strong showing during the title run, while Jermaine Matthews could be poised for a breakout season following major turnover in the secondary.”
Downs will be the best player on the roster returning in 2025 outside of wide receiver Jeremiah Smith. Downs could be a Top 5 pick. Tate will be the second wide receiver on the Buckeyes roster. Matthews could be one of the best cornerbacks in the BIG10 conference and Styles maybe one of the best linebackers in college football.
Ohio State will have a chance to go back-to-back with a ton of NFL talent on its roster. However, there will be some other teams that will have a ton of NFL talent on its roster, and they are the Clemson Tigers, the Alabama Crimson Tide, the Florida Gators, the Georgia Bulldogs, the Texas Longhorns, the Oregon Ducks, and the Penn State Nittany Lions as well. The Buckeyes will have fierce competition once in the BIG10 Conference along with the Michigan Wolverines and the Illinois Fighting Illini also.
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