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Here are 10 players I’m focusing on with draft eyes on rivalry Saturday in college football
Thanksgiving weekend is a huge time for college football. Many historical rivalry games take place across the country, and those matchups will feature players who the Detroit Lions, among many NFL teams, will be watching keenly with an eye to the 2023 NFL draft.
Here are 10 players I’m focusing on with draft eyes on rivalry Saturday in college football. Special emphasis is on games where the Lions will have a scouting presence, confirmed to me by various sources.
Zach Harrison gets to the Iowa quarterback to force the strip sack.
It’s in the early goings of the Ohio State-Iowa game. So far, the Hawkeye defense is absolutely as good as advertised and their offense is equally as bad. Not even out of the first quarter yet, and Iowa has already turned the ball over twice.
The most recent came in the form of a Zach Harrison strip-sack in which Lathan Ransom was able to recover as the ball squirted around. It set the Buckeye offense up in the red zone, but the Iowa defense held tough again holding C.J. Stroud and company to a field goal.
Check out Harrison getting to Spencer Petras forcing the turnover and what social media had to say.
Can you guess how many, and who from Ohio State made this list? Did anyone not make it that should have? #GoBucks
Any list of best college football players in the country on almost any given year is going to be littered with Ohio State players, but the number and spot in that ranking are going to vary by season.
ESPN just publishes such a list and it’s unlikely a spoiler to let you know that the Buckeyes are once again well represented, not only with the number of players but where some of those dynamic, American football athletes are in the ranking.
The ESPN staff identified five OSU players among the top 100 for this season with a little blurb about each one. Here are all five Buckeyes, where they rank, and what the “worldwide leader” says about each.
DraftWire names top Ohio State NFL prospects #GoBucks
Our friends over at Draft Wire have released a list of their favorite NFL prospects, including six Buckeyes that are draft eligible after this season and are expected to make big waves during the 2022 season. These studs deserve more than photos of them; therefore, we will provide a brief breakdown of why this group may appeal to NFL teams.
It should not be surprising that their first four ranked Ohio State prospects are on the offensive side of the football, but hopefully by season’s end more defensive players are given early rounds values. Enough talk, let’s break down these Buckeyes that have a good shot at hearing their name called in next year’s NFL draft.
The Houston Texans will still need help along the defensive line, and Ohio State DE Zach Harrison should be a consideration in the 2023 NFL draft.
The 2022 season will be telling for the Houston Texans in terms of where they need to allocate draft resources in the 2023 offseason.
Defensive end Jonathan Greenard will be eligible for contract negotiations with the Texans after completing his third NFL season. The upcoming campaign will be Greenard’s best negotiating ploy from the outset as a double-digit sack season could compel general manager Nick Caserio to find a way to keep the former 2020 third-rounder from Florida.
If Greenard fails, the Texans have two first-round picks they could deploy to shore up edge defender.
If Greenard succeeds, it changes how the Texans appropriate their first-round selections, but defensive end may still be a need for Houston.
According to Michael Renner from Pro Football Focus, a name that would be worth the Texans’ consideration is Ohio State defensive end Zach Harrison.
Harrison will have the Ohio State brand behind him as well as the built-up notoriety that comes with being one of the few seniors on this list. Harrison is an ultra-long 6-foot-6, 272-pound edge rusher whose combination of length and explosiveness presents a ton of problems for offensive tackles.
There is a catch with Harrison, but it isn’t an issue if the Texans give the Buckeye time to develop and acclimate to the pro game and an NFL strength and conditioning program.
The problem is that his size has caused him to be a touch stiff and not a great finisher as a result. It’s unlikely he puts up big sack totals, making him a long shot to unseat others on this [Ted Hendricks Award] list.
Jerry Hughes and Mario Addison don’t figure to be long for the job in Houston, and the Texans already have a veteran-laden roster. Harrison would be a younger addition who could complement Greenard in a scenario where the latter seizes the opportunity to be the club’s premier edge defender.
Iowa’s schedule features Big Ten giant Ohio State. Who are the Buckeyes to worry about in Iowa’s pursuit to pull off the upset?
This is the big one. There might be more important games later in the season against conference rivals Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Nebraska, but no team on Iowa’s schedule is more talented than this Buckeyes squad. To be fair, you can say the same for pretty much any team preparing for a dance with Ohio State this year.
For the Hawkeyes, this is easily their toughest stretch of the season. While they shouldn’t overlook Rutgers, the schedule really ramps up midway through with appearances from the Big Ten’s elite.
A three-week stretch that includes Michigan in an emotionally Big Ten championship game rematch, and a trip to Ohio State would be noteworthy for any team in the country. The Hawkeyes also have to worry about pesky Illinois sandwiched between those two behemoths as well. We will all know after this gauntlet just how much of a contender Iowa plans on being in 2022.
Rose Bowl champions in 2021, Ohio State returns a ton of talent, including possibly the best player in the nation at a few positions. It is national championship or bust for Ryan Day’s squad. They might not be in the same recruiting neighborhood or have the same national attention, but Iowa will be an extremely tough test for the Buckeyes with their strong defense.
Iowa isn’t the only team with something to prove this year. Ohio State once again looks to have a national championship-winning offense on paper, but don’t forget they lost some talent. Wide receivers Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson were both 2022 NFL draft first-round picks and tight end Jeremey Ruckert was a third-rounder. The Buckeyes also lost two talented offensive linemen to the NFL in Nicholas Petit-Frere and Thayer Munford. Here are the names to watch for a bit of a new-look Buckeyes.
A whopping seven OSU players were mentioned in Phil Steele’s All-American college football teams for 2022. #GoBucks
There are preseason college football magazines, and then there are preseason college football magazines. Most everyone agrees that Phil Steele puts out the king of preseason CFB mags on a yearly basis, and that’s because the research is top-notch and it is packed full of interesting stats and tidbits you just don’t find anywhere else.
In a nod to college football getting ready to gear up, and with it Ohio State football, you can find several preseason college football magazines on newsstands and grocery stores in your neighborhood right now. That includes the venerable Phil Steele page-turner.
We always check in with Steele to see what he says about Ohio State, and we’re doing the same this year. Our first stop is to look and see how many Buckeyes he has on his All-American teams. As fate would have it, with so many dynamic players back on this year’s Buckeye squad, Steele has a whopping seven players littered across his four All-American squads.
And yeah, we’re here to break it down for you. Here are all seven Ohio State players that got a mention in Phil Steele’s All-American teams for the 2022 college football season.
These two Ohio State players were named to the Lott IMPACT Trophy preseason watchlist for 2022. #GoBucks
You know college football is getting ever so closer when we start to see the parade of watchlists start to hit the news wire. One of the first to do so almost yearly comes from the Lott IMPACT Trophy and it has already been announced this week.
The award is named after former football great Ronnie Lott and goes to the defensive player that has the best combination of character and performance annually.
This year, the award released 42 names to keep an eye on during the preseason and two of those names wear scarlet and gray as Ohio State defenders. Which two Buckeyes made the cut and who are they?
Well, we’re glad you asked because our job is literal to tell you just that, so here it goes.
Do you think this Ohio State player will be taken high in next year’s NFL draft? #GoBucks
If we’ve said it once, we’ve said it a thousand times. When you follow a program like Ohio State, you are going to get to see a lot of players head off to the NFL. OSU is on the shortlist of programs that are a literal pipeline to the highest level of the game, and it doesn’t appear to be slowing up anytime soon.
And while the 2022 NFL draft is in the books, those that follow the draft are always looking ahead to the next one. One of those such sites is Pro Football Focus which has burst on the scene in the last few years.
It just so happens, that the folks at PFF have released its top players at each defensive position looking forward to the draft in Kansas City next April. And wouldn’t you know it, there is one Buckeye defender on the list, defensive end Zach Harrison.
It would appear as though a defensive starter is coming back to Ohio State next year. #GoBucks
We’re still waiting for several Ohio State football players to make decisions about their future. Many are eligible to enter the NFL draft, and more than usual are able to come back for another year despite being seniors because of the extra year afforded to them by the NCAA because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
One of those players may have just let the cat out of the bag in a series of Instagram posts on Friday, hinting at a return to Columbus. That player would be none other than defensive end Zach Harrison who was a junior this past season.
Harrison was a five-star prospect out of Olentangy Orange High School when he made the decision to attend Ohio State over Michigan in the 2019 recruiting class. He’s been a solid player for the Buckeyes but has yet to fully reach the ceiling many thought he would under the tutelage of defensive line coach Larry Johnson.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CYt6YRxrIbm/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Harrison wracked up 28 tackles, seven tackles for loss, three sacks, and two forced fumbles during 2021. His return would indeed be big for the Buckeyes, adding valuable experience to a defensive end room that also has two youngsters looking to breakout with J.T. Tuimuilaou and Jack Sawyer.
Once Harrison decides to go on the record and make something official, we’ll have more on his intentions. Players have until Monday to declare for the NFL draft, so we should know more soon.
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