COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The 2025 NFL Draft has arrived with a bunch of Ohio State football players expected to be taken over the next three days.
That means it’s time for our annual Buckeye Talk NFL Draft prediction pod. Stephen Means, Stefan Krajisnik and Andrew Gillis reveal how many Buckeyes will hear their names called.
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Read the automated transcript of today’s podcast below. Because it’s a computer-generated transcript, it may contain errors and misspellings.
Stephen Means (00:12.952)
Welcome back to Buckeye Talk. I’m Stephen Means, that’s Stefan Kreisnick, and that is Andrew Gillis. The NFL Draft has arrived the first round tonight, the second and third rounds tomorrow, and then the rest of it on Saturday, Ohio State. That’s 17 players hoping to hear their names called at some point over the next three days, many of which are hoping that maybe they hear their name on the opening night, so they don’t have to deal with this the rest of the week.
Stefan, Ohio State’s record for most players taken in a single draft is 14. Set in 2004 by Jim Trestles, Buckeyes, headlined by Will Smith, whose son is now on the roster, by the way, former All-American. He went 18th to the New Orleans Saints. Chris Gamble went 28th and Michael Jenkins went 29th. So 14 guys, three in the first round. We’re getting ready to predict the 2025.
Ohio State roster, not roster, draft class, the 2024 national championship team. Do you have at least 14 guys getting drafted?
Stefan Krajisnik (01:16.846)
I do.
Stephen Means (01:18.034)
Andrew, do you have Ohio State at least tying the record this year?
Andrew Gillis (01:24.786)
I do.
Stephen Means (01:27.864)
It’s going to be one way.
Andrew Gillis (01:28.157)
Sounds like we just got married to the idea of Ohio State having 15 or more draft picks. We both said I do, so that means it’s locked in.
Stephen Means (01:36.696)
Well, I mean, listen, when 15 guys get invited to the combine, if your logic is just, if you get invited to the combine, there’s a strong chance you get drafted. Then that’s how you could get there. asked our textures. That’s two, six, one, four, three, five, oh, three, three, one, five. How many players will Ohio said have taken in 2025 NFL draft? I gave them four options, nine or less 10 to 12, 13 to 15, and then 16 or more, which would be a new record in total house. Each record is 14. The overall record.
Georgia owns that record with 15 players taken in the 2022 NFL draft headline by Trayvon Walker as the number one pick to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Also up there with Ohio State with 14 is 2020’s LSU draft class based off their 2021 national championship team. They 14 picks, headlined by former Buckeye Joe Burrow as a top pick for the Cincinnati Bengals. Michigan is close as well. Their 2024 NFL draft class from their 2020...
three NFL, I mean, national championship team. had 13 last year and it was headlined by JJ McCarthy as a first round draft pick as a quarterback. So that’s the one thing all those teams have in common is there’s at least one first round draft pick. So I guess as we get this thing started here, here’s the rules. Stefan knows this. No, Stefan doesn’t know this. Andrew knows this. Stefan is learning this right now. But how we do this is Steven’s just gonna say a bunch of numbers.
When you hear a number and you have a player with that number you literally just ding in like this is the NFL draft I’m not gonna do Every single pick though. We are gonna skip around like if we have like 20 picks between a Guy getting picked you’re not gonna hear me go 97 98 99. I’ll go. Okay. Does anybody have anybody in third? Does anybody have anybody in the fourth round? Because if not, we’ll be here till kingdom come this will literally be as long as the actual NFL draft So Andrew you ready?
Andrew Gillis (03:35.571)
I’m not doing a bit. One of my favorite podcasts of the entire calendar year. Not a joke. This is one of my favorite because I love the NFL draft. So just talking about why you think this team is a good fit for a certain player or why you think a player is going to go here and not here. I I love it. This is unironically one of my favorite pods of the year, especially one of my favorite offseason.
Stephen Means (04:02.121)
Is this like Andrew living his best sports rider life if he gets to be about Kuiper one day?
Andrew Gillis (04:12.043)
So when I was a kid, I used to record the NFL scouting combine and like get home from school and watch it for like five hours. So, yes, that’s all I was going to say. was like, my mom would be like, why the heck am I recording this on TV? Like, they’re not even playing football. They’re just practicing. And I was when I was like a really little kid, I had Gillis’s big board where I’d write down like on like a book of like at paper at school.
Stephen Means (04:17.591)
So that’s how he’s good. He’s about to take the longest route ever just to say yes.
Andrew Gillis (04:40.167)
be like, I think that Gaines Adams is going to go to Tampa Bay here or whatever. yeah, so yeah, I think that’s probably the best sports life for me. We’ll see. I don’t know.
Stephen Means (04:53.569)
Stefan, what’s your best sports life? Sports writer life. Sports writer life.
Stefan Krajisnik (04:57.518)
Watch sports life is watching games and drinking a beer and not working. Best sports writer life is being in Atlanta for the national championship game. Watching the team you cover compete for national championship doesn’t get much better than that.
Stephen Means (05:03.447)
In the workplace.
Stephen Means (05:10.763)
Okay.
Andrew Gillis (05:14.271)
All right.
Stephen Means (05:14.727)
man pandering to the listeners. I respect it.
Stefan Krajisnik (05:16.462)
I mean, okay, is there a lot of things better than covering the College Football National Championship game? And unroute to doing that, getting to do a home game, you don’t have to travel much, you don’t have to travel at all, getting the Rose Bowl, getting the Cotton Bowl. Granted, I didn’t think it was gonna snow in Texas, but we still got the Cotton Bowl. And you know what made up for the snow? Maybe the most memorable play in the last X amount of years in College Football, so that’s all right.
Andrew Gillis (05:23.025)
No, there’s not.
Stephen Means (05:24.631)
You got it.
Stephen Means (05:43.864)
I do agree with them. We were talking on Tuesday, we were texting because college football playoffs dropped all the times for the 2026 college football playoff. And we all agreed that the ideal route for Ohio State for us, not because we’re sports writers and we’re all selfish, is Rose Bowl, Fiesta Bowl Miami. So we were just running away from the snow all winter. That’s all that means.
Stefan Krajisnik (05:46.702)
So no, I’m not just pandering, only pandering a little bit.
Andrew Gillis (06:10.695)
and they moved up the Rose Bowl. It’s at four o’clock now, not five o’clock. So the sunset’s gonna be a little different in Pasadena.
Stephen Means (06:18.677)
I don’t like that.
Andrew Gillis (06:21.831)
Well, they did it so they don’t have to start the sugar bowl at 8.45.
Stephen Means (06:26.037)
Yeah, the sugar bowl will be okay.
Stefan Krajisnik (06:26.734)
God willing they’re moving it up because they’re getting ready for the Rose Bowl to be the national championship game. They’re like we want that to be a four o’clock
Andrew Gillis (06:32.53)
please. So what, every year they move it up an hour?
Stephen Means (06:33.621)
Yeah, that’s literally why they’re moving it up. I don’t like it. And let me tell you why. Again, this is about me as a sports writer. This is not about what’s best for the sport. What’s best for the sport is, yeah, it’s best for the sport that they move it up. They don’t need to be starting football games at nine o’clock in the night. That’s ridiculous. But the cool thing about the sunset, and you guys know this, is it’s happening at halftime. So you can kind of
Andrew Gillis (06:45.332)
yeah, root for you, root for you over everybody else, yeah.
Stephen Means (07:03.703)
You’re locked in, watching the game, doing your job. So you can unwind for a second, appreciate the sunset and the gold, the red and gold hue behind the St. Gabriel Mountains, spend about 10 minutes doing that. And then you can lock back in for the second half. Unless the team you cover is up 34 to nothing, then you can just book your flights. But now we can’t do that.
because the sunset’s going to be happening in the middle of the third quarter. And unless Ohio State’s just gonna ransack whoever they play on the Rose Bowl every year, if that’s just their new standard, we’re gonna be locked in. So we don’t get to fully appreciate the sunset anymore. So I don’t like it. I love it for the sake of structure here. Again, games don’t need to be played at nine o’clock at night, but for selfish reasons, I would like the sunset to continue to be at halftime.
but it is what it is. That has nothing to do with what we’re talking about or we’re talking about draft stuff. This is my best sports writer life, by the way. I’m just yelling into a microphone about nonsense. And people love it or they hate it. I think some people hate it and I think some people love it and I respect both sides of that. At least, as long as you have an emotion towards what you’re hearing me say, that means I’m doing my job. Okay, let’s get into it. Pick number one belongs to the Tennessee Titans.
Nobody. So we’re just going to run through them now. Number two, Cleveland Browns. Number three, New York Giants. Number four, New England Patriots. Number five, Jacksonville Jaguars. Number six, Las Vegas Raiders. Number seven, the New York Jets. Number eight, the Carolina Panthers. Number nine, the New Orleans Saints. Number 10, the Chicago Bears. This is interesting. We’re out of the top 10. So this means that for the first time since 2020,
One, that NFL draft, Ohio State is not going to have a top 10 draft pick according to book I talk. In 2022, they had Garrett Wilson go in number 10. In 2023, they had CJ Stroud and Paris Johnson go in the top 10. And then last year they had Marvin Harrison, Jr. We’re saying no top 10 picks for Ohio State in 2025. Number 11, the San Francisco 49ers. Number 12, the Dallas Cowboys. Number 13, the Miami Dolphins. Number 14, the Indianapolis Colts.
Stephen Means (09:28.887)
Number 15, the Atlanta Falcons, go dirty birds. Number 16, the Arizona Cardinals. Number 17, the Cincinnati Bengals. Number 18, the Seattle Seahawks. Number 19, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Number 20, the Denver Broncos. Number 21, the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Stefan Krajisnik (09:55.32)
Bring it in. I got a Mecca going here.
Stephen Means (09:58.712)
Ooooo
Stefan Krajisnik (10:03.02)
Yep, first first book I off the board is a wide receiver shocking. I know actually maybe kind of shocking in this draft, but in general, he’s not too shocking.
Stephen Means (10:12.855)
Wait, you said the first wide receiver? Like you’re saying he’s gonna be wide receiver one or the first wide receiver? Oh, okay, okay, okay.
Stefan Krajisnik (10:17.398)
No, no, no, no, no, no. Yeah, I like the fit. Listen, a lot of this depends on what the Steelers decide to do. It wouldn’t shock me if they traded up and maybe go after quarterback. mean, like if if Shader Sanders is available at number 10 overall or something still like near the Steelers, you got to be kind of aggressive and maybe make a move there. But assuming that they don’t, I think a Mecca 21 is a perfect fit to them. I like what he could do.
Andrew Gillis (10:18.425)
First Ohio State receiver,
Stefan Krajisnik (10:44.734)
kind of playing the slot that they need a guy like that. I think they just kind of Non like a, normal, a good down to earth receiver in Pittsburgh. And I think a Mecca can give them that. he just donated some shoes to kids at Columbus and there’s a lot of Steelers receivers who are doing much worse things online. so yeah, that’s where I’ve got to make it go. And I got him as the first Ohio state player off the board.
Stephen Means (10:50.199)
Help.
Stephen Means (11:13.003)
There was a joke going around the Ohio State sphere this year with Trayvon Henderson and Quinn Sean Judkins and talking about how that’s the perfect running back balance of you got a youth pastor and you got a kind of, you got the holy and you got the ratchet and you bring them together and you get a dominant running back duo. I think that’s what you are going for here with the Pittsburgh Steelers, except you’re putting it in the wide receiver room because it’s him and George Pickens balancing each other out. I don’t hate that.
You’re not far off from where I had a Mecha-Buka. Andrew, did you have him in the 21 sphere? Is he close for you?
Andrew Gillis (11:49.523)
Yes, he was very close. I have him going 23rd to the Green Bay Packers. Nice, nice, nice. I almost had him going to Tampa Bay because Tampa Bay’s receivers are getting a little bit older. Godwin and Evans are getting old, so I would not be surprised there. But with Green Bay, it feels like they’ve got a bunch of, okay, sure, receivers.
Stephen Means (11:54.264)
Hey, look at you, look at us.
Andrew Gillis (12:18.323)
Christian Watson, there’s.
Stefan Krajisnik (12:23.554)
I know the route you’re going with this. would be, listen, I think very highly of a mecha. Obviously it would be objectively hilarious that the Packers hate that they keep drafting number two receivers, but don’t have a number one. And then they draft a guy whose entire career was a number two receiver.
Andrew Gillis (12:27.763)
Yeah.
Andrew Gillis (12:33.937)
And then they drafted number two to be their number. But like, yeah, like you have Dobbs Watson Wicks read, like it feels like they need somebody to come in. I think Josh Jacobs like said this off season too. Like we need a number one receiver. We need an elite receiver. we set it on the previous pod for those that listen earlier in the week. If you need a receiver.
Stephen Means (12:36.119)
They draft the ultimate number two receiver.
Andrew Gillis (13:02.639)
I’d scout LSU in Ohio State. And I think that’s what the Packers should do because they do have a really young offense and their defense should be pretty good again. But getting Jordan Love some help would be nice. And I think adding a Mecca into that role would really kind of open some things up and really kind of help out that passing.
Stephen Means (13:23.447)
I think Jordan loves just needs a I need a completion guy and a mecca and a Mecca is like the ultimate I need to complete. He’s reliable. He gets open. He catches the ball. He does something after he catches the ball. That is what slot receivers are. That’s what Jackson Smith the jig with just West Regina Smith this past year. We see how that turned out. He was a Pro Bowl with over 100 catches. I’m not saying that a mecca is gonna have 100 catches or more in his first season NFL.
Andrew Gillis (13:27.868)
He needs a safety blanket.
Stephen Means (13:48.972)
I’m not saying he’s not going to have a hundred plus catches in his first season NFL. Some of that is skiing based on where he goes. I think if he goes to the green Bay Packers, he could have a hundred plus catches as a rookie this year. And there were only two places where I thought in terms of where they are at with quarterback, I thought it was perfect fit and it was going to be here or was linking back up with a former teammate of his. But I do think that teammate needs something else. I asked our techs are six one four.
3-5-0, 3-3, 1-5, who they thought was going to be the first Ohio State football player off of the board. Emeka had the second most votes of anybody. There’s one guy ahead of him. There’s three guys where all the votes essentially funneled through. Emeka got the second most votes.
Andrew Gillis (14:37.843)
Did you, Stephen, how tempting when you looked at the draft, when you looked at the order, how tempting was Houston? Because I looked at Houston and was like, now the old, like, because like I looked at like the Texans and you think about where they’re at receiver wise and you’re like, okay, well you got Nico and I know they just signed Christian Kirk, so maybe.
Stephen Means (14:53.079)
That’s what I was mentioning.
Andrew Gillis (15:07.901)
Tank Del, I mean, his leg just exploded last year for lack of a better phrase. Like literally everything in his knee went kablooie and it’s not great. And obviously wish he gets back soon and has a healthy recovery. But like they might not have a number two in that offense. And I was starting to think like, man, they could really use a tackle. But Emeka, Emeka like finding a way for Emeka to end back up with
Stephen Means (15:08.875)
can’t stay healthy.
Stephen Means (15:13.973)
But that’s two years in a row.
Andrew Gillis (15:38.225)
Justin Fields or I get like end up with Justin Fields somehow or end back up with CJ Stroud or potentially Will Howard. I guess we’ll see how the draft goes. That was just a really fun kind of idea that I had.
Stephen Means (15:52.0)
I think, I mean, we’ve seen it happen before Joe burrow. They went and got Jamar chase and that worked out pretty well. They chose the weapon over protection and they got to the super bowl in year one and got to the empty championship game in year two. Now, granted, they still need to find protection, but at least their quarter, their quarterback has a number one weapon for as long as who knows when the Eagles kind of did it too with Devante Smith and, Jalen hurts the dolphins kind of did it with two.
Andrew Gillis (16:18.771)
Mm-hmm.
Stephen Means (16:20.223)
and waddle and I know that in those situations they’re reconnecting with a guy who’s not necessarily the number one wide receiver on team, but we’ve seen it happen before. Why can’t the Texans do that? So I think for me it came down to one, I don’t know if Emeka is going to be there at 25. But two, if he is there, are the Texans in a situation where weapon or protection? Because the Texans need both.
Andrew Gillis (16:35.857)
Yeah, that’s exactly what I was thinking.
Stephen Means (16:50.771)
And I don’t know which way they would lean in that direction because this isn’t the deepest wide receiver class, but it’s also not a crazy deep offensive tackle class either. I just eliminated the having to do the mental gymnastics by saying, Emeka is not gonna be there, so let’s not worry about it. Okay, so Emeka is off the board. First Ohio State player off of the board. This would be the third time.
In the last four years that Ohio State’s first player off the board is a wide receiver again, Garrett Wilson at number 10 in 2022, Marvin Harrison Jr. at number four in 2024 and now Mecca Bucca in 2025. And also that would mean what Marvin Harrison Jr. said last summer, Andrew, about that 2021 wide receiver room. He’s got some credence there now because you’re too deep is Garrett Wilson.
Andrew Gillis (17:39.699)
Mm-hmm.
Stephen Means (17:45.208)
Chris Olave, Jackson Smith, the Jibba as the starters in the spring. This is for Jamison Williams transferred to Alabama. And then got Marvin Harrison, Jr., Jamison Williams, and Mecca Bucca as the twos. All six guys are first round graphics. That’s what we’re saying here. So what a run by Brian Hartline if this ends up being the case where Mecca Bucca goes here in the twenties. Let’s continue. Number 24, the Minnesota Vikings. Number 25, the Houston Texans, and I’m gonna ding it.
Stefan Krajisnik (18:14.19)
Yeah, I’m digging in here as well.
Stephen Means (18:15.657)
Okay, I’m giving CJ’s trial, Josh Simmons.
Stefan Krajisnik (18:19.947)
I am doing that as well.
Stephen Means (18:21.545)
OK. This is why, Andrew, I said earlier, I’m just going to eliminate the conversation of, hey, which Ohio State player should the Texans take? Should they give CJ Stroud protection or should they give him a weapon? Well, the weapon’s not there. And so because the weapon’s not there, the Houston Texans decision is made for them. They just traded tons of their long time left tackle. So they need a young guy there to protect their franchise quarterback, who is about 12 months away.
from being a very, very rich man. So protect his behind. And you do that with Josh Simmons.
Stefan Krajisnik (19:00.588)
Yeah, this is everything about this move is about CJ’s child and keeping him upright. You have to do that. I didn’t really understand the tonsil move when it happened. I was kind of sitting there thinking to myself, like, yes, the first thing you want to do when you finally get yourself a franchise quarterback, get rid of the best guy, keeping him upright. In a year in which like the Texans offensive line was not great. And then you get rid of your best guy. was just, it was a very perplexing move.
Stephen Means (19:16.871)
It’s all Pearl’s fault.
Andrew Gillis (19:19.219)
Hmm.
Stefan Krajisnik (19:28.206)
I think you got to address it by going and get a left tackle. think Josh Simmons is going to be very good at the NFL level. I, I liked what we saw from him, obviously before the injury at Ohio state. If he falls to 25, the Texans have to pounce on that because there’s mocks that have him going like top 15 sometimes. And maybe we are underselling him here. Maybe there is a team in that middle range, maybe like a dolphins. That’s like, Hey, you know what we need to do? Keep our quarterback healthy. So.
If the Texans have a chance, you have to take Josh Simmons here.
Stephen Means (20:02.355)
Andrew, is Josh Simmons a Texan for you?
Andrew Gillis (20:07.147)
No, perhaps this is a bit of a surprise. I didn’t have Josh Simmons as a first round pick.
Stephen Means (20:14.325)
Wow. Why not?
Andrew Gillis (20:16.579)
I had Josh Simmons going 34th overall to the New York football giants.
I do think for as much as you can talk about teams needing offensive lineman, I do think there is a bit of a concern that teams might have with his knee. you know, you’re, you’re talking about a guy who’s coming back from a patella tendon tear and that’s obviously a really significant injury. So.
You know, obviously you’re not going to punt on a career because a dude might not be, you know, full go for training camp or something like that. but there are other good tackles in this draft. think, there are tackles, I think, especially as you get into that second round range that you might be a little interested in. so yeah, I did not have.
Josh Simmons going, I haven’t gone to the Giants. The Giants, I mean, the Giants just need everything. And that to me feels like a pick where, you know, if you’re sitting up at the top of the draft as the Giants and, you know, whether you, it sounds like it’s going to be Abdul Carter at this point. If you can get Abdul Carter and Josh Simmons with your first two picks, that feels great for me. So, you know, I think Simmons is going to fall a little bit more than people might expect.
I think that is the one where you look at and say, huh, he went a little bit later than I thought.
Stephen Means (21:57.56)
don’t know if I was expecting that, but okay. So, so far, Andrew has one first round draft pick. Stephon and I have two first round draft picks. Let’s continue here. Number 26, the Los Angeles Rams. Number 27, the Baltimore Ravens. Number 28, the Detroit Lions. Number 29, the Washington Commanders. Number 30, the Buffalo Bills.
Andrew Gillis (22:23.025)
I’m going to dig in at number 30 for the Buffalo Bills.
Stephen Means (22:25.981)
All right. And you back on the board with a third first round draft pick. I second first round draft pick. Yeah.
Andrew Gillis (22:31.249)
Well, second for me, defensive tackle, Tyleek Williams. I think Tyleek is a really, really good pick at the end of the first round for somebody. there’s going to be a run on defensive tackles in this draft. And I think that is going to be the position that we’re going to look at and go, okay. This is, this is getting crazy because Derek Harmon is a really good defensive tackle out of Oregon. I think he’s going to go really high.
You obviously have Tyler Williams. There’s Mason Graham, who’s going to go early. Kenneth Grant is another defensive tackle. Walter Nolan at a full miss. I think there’s going to be a run. And I think a lot of these guys are going to look at what the Eagles just did and how they pulverized the chiefs in the Superbowl. And they’re going to think we need defensive linemen. And the bills are going to look at that and say, we can get a guy on our defensive line. It’s not very good. And get.
guy who could play three tech, guy who could play nose, guy who could rest the passer, guy who could play the run. I think this would be a really, really great pick for anybody late. So I’m gonna take the bills and Tyler Williams’s first round pick.
Stephen Means (23:46.647)
I think there is going to be a run as well. I just don’t know if it’s going to happen in the first round this year because it’s such a deep defensive tackle class that you don’t have to start the run at 14. You can start it at 24. And then it bleeds into the second round, which is where I had Ty Leake, Stefan, I had him going 40th to the Minnesota Vikings.
Stefan Krajisnik (00:00.235)
one and everything. OK.
Stephen Means (00:01.219)
Everything.
Stefan Krajisnik (00:04.493)
Steven, I hope you’re wrong because I’ve got Tylee going 41 to the Bears and it was only a matter of time until I had the Bears picking off some Ohio State players. They have the 39th pick as well, so I started thinking to myself like this is maybe a chance to take two Ohio State guys back to back with the Bears. You know, I see some mocks that have Tylee going kind of later in the second round. I don’t think that’s going to happen. I think he’s going to be viewed as one of the best defensive tackles in this class, especially when you pair that size with that athleticism. The Bears need
help on the defensive line, especially in the middle. think Tyler would be a perfect fit there. So, um, maybe I could change my pick to 39 to ensure that he doesn’t get to the Vikings at 40, but I think it’s too late now. So if I’m sitting in the bears war room, all right, Tyler’s off the board. Let’s start looking at Trevion and Quinshawn and Jack and JT here.
Stephen Means (00:41.885)
Can’t do that.
Stephen Means (00:52.912)
I’m gonna take from the champions because they know how to win. Okay, closing out the first round here. 31, the Kansas City Chiefs.
Andrew Gillis (01:01.976)
Ding.
Stephen Means (01:03.747)
Andrew with a third first rounder for Ohio State. Stephon with a third rounder in the. I think all three of us are going to have the same picture. Go ahead, Andrew, since you did the dinging.
Stefan Krajisnik (01:06.338)
I am also digging in here.
Andrew Gillis (01:09.038)
I think Stefan and I are gonna have the same pick. I Trevion Henderson.
Trevion Henderson goes to the Chiefs.
Stefan Krajisnik (01:18.925)
That’s not the big guy.
Andrew Gillis (01:20.638)
interesting. Okay. Well, okay. So let me give my Trevion reasoning. Isaiah Pacheco is going into the last year of his contract. And I think wherever Trevion goes, we, there’s a couple of guys on this list, one in particular, where you’re to look at and you’re going to say, this makes sense. When you look at their roster construction and Trevion for me is that guy. The Chiefs throw the ball. They throw the piss out of it with Patrick Mahomes.
Stephen Means (01:24.539)
Okay.
Andrew Gillis (01:49.314)
Guess who’s a great pass blocker? Guess who has explosive ability in an offense that’s already explosive with Xavier Worthy and Rashid Rice when he’s in the lineup, like when he’s healthy again. Like they need some receiver help I think, but I think in a way, Trevion Henderson is kind of a way to cure that.
because if you’re not gonna draft an offensive lineman, which they could probably use, getting a guy who can help in pass protection is probably the next best thing, especially one who can make explosive plays for you. think Trevion Henderson going to the Chiefs would be a nightmare for a lot of people.
Stephen Means (02:30.619)
So here’s why I didn’t do that.
Stephen Means (02:36.027)
In 2020, the NFL draft, LSU had 14 guys go in the NFL draft. One of which was their running back in the first round to the Kansas City Chiefs. Under that exact same guys, Andrew, you’re a Super Bowl contending team at the end of the draft where you just kind of plug in and play on a guy. You can take running backs in the first round and then work out.
It worked out for about a year and then it kind of went sour and it does kind of feel like you wasted the first round of draft pick. I am wondering with the Chiefs specifically, if they have that in the back of their heads at all and go, we can get a running back later. We need to get protection for Patrick Mahomes because you’re right, they throw the you know what out of the ball. So yeah, you can have a good pass proing a running back, but you know what’s even better? If the run...
Pass Pro doesn’t have to get to the running back because the five guys in front of them are blocking even better. So first, let’s start with Trevion and then we can get to Stefan, who we have going to the Chiefs, because that might be the same person. I had Trevion going 44th to the Cowboys.
Stefan Krajisnik (03:49.015)
same.
Stephen Means (03:51.269)
I just, I don’t know, man, where’d last time they picked a Buckeye running back? But also it worked out for what that running back needed to be back then in 2015. that was a 2016 draft at that point. Zeke was the prototype for what running backs needed to be in the NFL. Can we give you the ball 300 times and you go get us 1200 to 1500 yards and anywhere from 10 to 15 touchdowns. Zeke did that. He led the league in rushing. He was one of the best running backs in the league.
for a long time in this career. He got paid a hundred million dollar contract as a running back. The problem is he got old and kind of phased out. Trevion Henderson, 10 years later almost, is again the exact description of what you should be looking for in a running back NFL draft prospect. And the Cowboys kind of need that right now. So I had him go into the Cowboys as once again 10 years later, they go get the prototype.
And Trevion Henderson can spend the next seven years of his career being the Cowboys’ number one running back.
Stefan Krajisnik (04:53.837)
Yeah, the the Cowboys have oddly kind of struggled to really replace the peak of Zeke. And I don’t mean that a sense of like you’re going to find the next Ezekiel Elliott. But I think a lot of people thought, oh, Tony Pollard is the better guy. Make him a starter. And then he became the starter. They don’t really pan out. Now he’s with Tennessee. He actually had a pretty decent season. And then, like, I think they’re running by situation right now is like Jevonte Williams and Miles Sanders. Not it’s not particularly promising. I know they took Deuce Vaughn a couple of years ago. I don’t really think there’s
much developing out of that situation. They need a day one ready to start guy who’s explosive. think Travion fits that perfect.
Stephen Means (05:32.197)
Okay, so now we’re back to the Chief’s pick. The first round is so long, it’s just like in real life.
Who’s your pick to the Chiefs? Because you dinged them before I did, so.
Stefan Krajisnik (05:46.305)
Yeah, I got Donovan Jackson going here. There’s two teams that competed for national championships or just a championship a couple months ago. one of them moved the guard to tackle and won. And one of them moved the guard to tackle and got absolutely destroyed by the Philadelphia Uyghurs.
Stephen Means (06:04.101)
Yeah!
Stefan Krajisnik (06:07.489)
So I am going to take the guard to tackle that worked and put him on the Kansas City Chiefs.
Stephen Means (06:13.085)
That’s literally my entire theory about it. It’s like, just take Donnie and figure it out in pre-season.
Stefan Krajisnik (06:19.725)
There’s like part of me and I think, listen, Andy Reed is one of the best coaches in NFL history. Their front office has it figured out that the Chiefs are a well-oiled machine. They know what they’re doing. Sometimes I like to think that even the smartest heads turn on the TV and say, Hey, we tried doing that and it didn’t work. Let’s make it work. Get that guy.
Stephen Means (06:24.902)
Yeah.
Stephen Means (06:38.715)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Just take him and where you put them at. I don’t know. We’ll figure it out during fall camp. We’ll have to figure that out right now. I don’t know. But apparently he could play everywhere. Andrew, where is Donnie? First round for you.
Andrew Gillis (06:56.48)
He is not. is 38th overall for me. He is going to the New England Patriots. Drake may not only need somebody to throw the ball to, he really needs somebody to block for him. And there’s a chance.
Stephen Means (07:11.581)
What happened when you’re a top five NFL draft pick at quarterback?
Andrew Gillis (07:15.052)
Right, there’s a chance that the Patriots end up with Will Campbell. And I looked at that went, man, what if they just went back to back lineman in the first two rounds? Wouldn’t that be something? And I thought about it, because I originally had him down and then I took him off and then I put him back. And then I was like, you know what? No, this is Mike Vrabel. He’s gonna take some.
Some Ohio State player at some point. And I went, you know what? Those are two guys where Mike Vrabel is going to turn on the tape and the media is going to ask him up in New England. They’re going to do their jobs. not saying the media is doing anything wrong. They’re going to do their job. Where’s Will Campbell going to place? He play tackle or guard. Well, what about Donovan? Is Donovan going to play tackle or is he going to play guard? Is he going play on the right side or do play the left side? And they’re going to do their jobs. They’re going to try to figure it out. And Mike Vrabel is just going to get pissed and he’s going to be like, guys, I don’t know.
Donovan Jackson can play good football for us and he’s going to play somewhere. Like you guys said that I was trying to think what coach could do that and Mike Vrabel to me is the guy. So I think the Patriots might go back to back linemen in the first two rounds. They take Donovan 38.
Stefan Krajisnik (08:27.073)
That would be a hilarious sequence of drafting a tackle, whoever one thinks might have to move the guard and then drafting a guard who had to move the tackle.
Andrew Gillis (08:33.358)
Sure, but that’s exactly it. If Will Campbell is a great football player, I don’t care that his arms are half an inch too small to where people go. I don’t know. I don’t care that Donovan Jackson, you know, maybe is a better guard than tackle, but maybe can play. I don’t care. They can play football really well. Pick them. Pick good football players.
Stefan Krajisnik (08:54.541)
So my one rebuttal to your draft Gillis, like I agree, there’s a lot of teams early in the second round especially, but like kind of throughout the second round as a whole that need offensive line help. I wonder if this becomes a draft where kind of how we’ve seen in quarterback in the past where it’s like someone takes like a second or third quarterback and then it’s like, boom, like we got to get a quarterback now. I wonder if like in our example, the Texans taking Josh Simms at 25.
I wonder if that helps Donovan Jackson go earlier. That’s kind of why I had him go late in the first round because I think it’s a deep offensive line class, but like deep in the sense of maybe there’s like nine or 10 guys. There’s not like, there’s not much, maybe even less than that. Maybe there’s like seven or eight guys that I’m feeling solid about. That’s why I think once you get like, once Josh Simmons coming off the board, I think someone’s be quick to take Donovan Jackson.
Andrew Gillis (09:32.877)
Mm-hmm.
Stephen Means (09:47.783)
When do we think the vertical offensive lineman comes off the board in general? Like top five, top 10?
Andrew Gillis (09:52.782)
I think it’s Campbell to New England because the first three are going to be Ward, Hunter, Carter. So I think Campbell goes forth to New England.
Stefan Krajisnik (09:53.549)
Yeah
Stephen Means (10:01.981)
Yeah, there’s gonna be a lot of offensive. If the fourth pick in the draft is an offensive lineman, there are gonna be a lot of offensive linemen taking them in the first round.
Andrew Gillis (10:07.19)
Well, the fourth pick of the day, there might be three offensive linemen in the top 10 with Campbell, with Banks and with Membo or Membu from Missouri.
Stephen Means (10:18.085)
Right, so if there’s three in the top 10, there’s gonna be a lot of off the like the way you were talking about the defensive top. I think that’s gonna happen at offensive line more than because you can. This is a significantly deep defensive tackle class. It is not. It’s name recognition deep at offensive line. I don’t think it’s deep in a world of like we can wait till the third round to go get a starter here at offensive line. OK, and then we’ll close out with the Eagles. Does anybody have the Eagles taking in first round traffic from the Ohio State?
Andrew Gillis (10:25.496)
Sure, that’s a fair, yeah, it’s fair.
Andrew Gillis (10:30.968)
Mm-hmm.
Stephen Means (10:47.837)
Okay, so we’ve closed out our first round. I have three first round draft picks. I have a Mecca at 23 to the Packers, Josh Simmons at 25 to the Texans, and Donovan Jackson at 31 to the Chiefs. Stephon has three first round draft picks. He has a Mecca 21 to the Steelers. He has Josh Simmons at 25 to the Texans, and he has Donovan Jackson at 31 to the Chiefs. Andrew has three first round draft picks. He has a Mecca going 23rd to the Packers.
He has Tylek Williams going 30th to the Bills, and he has Trevion Henderson going 31st to the Chiefs. I asked our techs, they’re 614, 350, 3315, the same question. How many first round draft picks would Ohio State have in 2025? The answers were zero, one, two, and then three or more. Zero got 1 % of the vote, three or more got 11 % of the vote.
One got 19 % of the vote and two got 68 % of the vote. So I think a lot of people are banking on Ohio Statewide receiver and then one of these other guys maybe being a first round draft pick. That’s our first round, which means Thursday done with congratulations, four hours to make 32 picks. Now we’re gonna take a break and it’ll be Friday and we’ll go through rounds two and three here on Buckeye Talk.
and we’re back here on Buckeye Talk, Stephen Means, Stefan Kreisig, and Andrew Gillis, as we’re predicting the NFL draft. We’ve already kinda started to trickle in to the second round here, because Stefan, you’ve got two guys off the board in the second round. Andrew, you’ve got two guys already off the board here in the second round, and I’ve got a couple of guys off the board here in the second round as well. So let’s do this. Let’s run through the second round as normal.
And let’s run through the third round as number. And then when we get to day three, we’ll just start skipping around and doing stuff like that. okay, round two. The Cleveland Browns are on the clock. Number 33. Number 34, the Giants. Number 35, the Titans. Number 36, the Jaguars.
Andrew Gillis (12:37.826)
Yeah. Yeah.
Stephen Means (12:56.669)
Number 37, the Raiders.
Andrew Gillis (12:59.342)
I’m gonna ding in at 37 for the Raiders.
Stephen Means (13:01.807)
All right, who you got?
Andrew Gillis (13:04.086)
Running back Quincheon Judkins. think if the, now this is contingent on the Raiders not taking Gentie in the first round. Cause obviously they’re not going to take two running backs in the first two rounds. That would be psychotic. So this would be banking on the Raiders taking that tackle from Missouri. Memboo, think is how you pronounce his name. Jaylen Walker, the edge rusher from Georgia.
Stephen Means (13:11.101)
You are a high-only running back, boy.
Andrew Gillis (13:32.494)
Maybe Mason Graham is there. I don’t know. Maybe they trade out what Mike Michael Williams, whatever. But if they don’t pick Gentie, which I would recommend that they don’t because I think you could take a front seven player on offense or defense and then circle back to running back early in the second round here. I’m look.
If I had to bet one of you guys has go has Will Howard going to the Raiders just to go back with Chip Kelly. I think Chip Kelly really liked Quinn Sean Judkins and having maybe the potential for a tackle running back combination in the first two rounds. You’ve already got Brock Bowers there. That to me would be nice. That to me would be a nice pairing. So I think the Raiders and Quinn Sean Judkins would be a very nice matchup.
with Gentigo and early Trevion and Quinchaun at 31 and 37, I think that makes sense.
Stephen Means (14:35.229)
You think both Ohio State’s running backs are gonna be off the board by the 37th thing.
Andrew Gillis (14:39.566)
in the top 40. Yes. Yes.
Stephen Means (14:44.633)
I don’t have Quin-Shawn Judkins going in the second round. I do have him going to the Raiders though. I don’t think they’re gonna take Gentie. The Raiders have other issues and I don’t think they’re gonna take Gentie. I think they take Quin-Shawn at 73 in the third round. I just, we gotta come back down to earth a little bit with the running back value. I think the Eagles having Saquon Barkley and him being so awesome and Ashton Gentie.
getting the ball five million times for Boise State. And then obviously what we said about trade beyond Henderson before the break, all that is a yes. But also I part of me wants to see the NFL do it before I believe they’re valuing running backs again, especially on NFL draft night and a decently deep running back class. If we’re being real here and so you can wait and get a guy who maybe fits you. I so I have Quinchon at 73rd to the Raiders. Stefan, where do you have him?
Stefan Krajisnik (15:43.337)
I haven’t been the second round. I haven’t going 58 to the Texans. So I actually have Texans taking another Ohio State player, but I like the idea of him being in that backfield. they, they still have Joe mix in, think. Yeah. The runbacks move around a lot, but I think Judkins could be a pretty good pairing with mix in. and obviously with Josh Simmons blocking, maybe he can get some, some good yards. Although the last time that we saw Josh Simmons play with Quinchon, guess Quinchon did fumble. maybe there’s.
Stephen Means (15:55.207)
I do.
Stefan Krajisnik (16:12.749)
Some bad vibes there.
Stephen Means (16:15.613)
So happens, man. Okay, let’s continue here. 38 Patriots, which, Andrew, that’s where you had Donovan Jackson going. So you have back-to-back Ohio State picks. 37 Raiders.
Andrew Gillis (16:24.078)
Go ahead, Donnie,
Andrew Gillis (16:28.822)
I have two back to back Ohio state picks. have 30, 31, 34, 37, 38.
Stephen Means (16:33.947)
Yeah. So the 30th.
Stefan Krajisnik (16:34.573)
That makes our jobs suck.
Andrew Gillis (16:37.29)
It makes our day. However, I was gonna, so I was gonna make this joke eventually because here, keep going. Just Stephen, keep talking because you’ll see.
Stephen Means (16:49.597)
39 the Bears from the Panthers 40th is the Saints which I know I said Tyler Williams going to the Vikings at 40th I saw a trade in one of the backdrops that I really really liked that got Vikings into the 40th pick and so that’s what I’m assuming is going to happen there’s that trade actually happens until the Vikings take Tyler there 41 We’ve got the Bears again where that’s where Tyler Williams is coming off the board for Stefan Christy. So
Again, I’m saying that a division rival is going to trade ahead of you to go get the Kiley Williams.
Stefan Krajisnik (17:21.101)
Listen, take him at 39. Don’t risk it. Okay, I told you to.
Stephen Means (17:27.113)
42, the New York Jets. 43, you’ve got the 49ers.
Andrew Gillis (17:33.23)
I’m going to ding in at 43 for the San Francisco 49ers. And I am dinging in. I am dinging in so that I can take JT Tumalo at 43 to go to the 49ers. The 49ers need a youth movement. They, they took that, they picked up gross mottos.
Stephen Means (17:39.249)
Tell me for second round picks.
Andrew Gillis (18:02.104)
former Carolina Panther. think he was the first or second round pick. But Nick Bosa, as crazy as it is to say, Bosa needs a pass rusher opposite him. because Bosa is not exactly, you know, he can’t do it by himself. And I think adding a JT to Maloa type would be a nice addition to that defense. So.
Yeah, I think that the 49ers need some help and JT would be able to give it to them.
Stephen Means (18:37.905)
The last time.
Stefan Krajisnik (18:38.585)
When Joey Bosa got cut and everyone’s like, he’s going to the 49ers. That lasts like seven minutes and he landed with the Bills. It’s like, yeah, NFL teams aren’t in the business of just helping families out.
Stephen Means (18:43.357)
way.
Stephen Means (18:48.477)
or not.
Andrew Gillis (18:48.491)
They need they need another pass rusher. Like I think the 49ers are going to take another pass rusher pretty early in this draft. So why not JT?
Stephen Means (18:57.245)
I mean the last time the 49ers had two starting defensive ends from Ohio State, they got to the Super Bowl. They lost to Patrick Mahomes, but they got to the Super Bowl. Granted, they lost to Patrick Mahomes in the Super Bowl two years ago. Before that, without two Ohio State pass rushers. So I guess when they get to the Super Bowl, they lose to Patrick Mahomes. It happens. Okay, you’ve got him going 43rd to the 49ers. Stefan, where do you have him coming off the board?
Stefan Krajisnik (19:25.357)
I have him just a couple picks later. have JT going 45 to the Colts. I Colts also need some pass rushers. If JT gets there, I think they got to jump on him.
Stephen Means (19:37.169)
I think it’s, one, two, three, four, I think JT for all of us is the sixth player off the board.
Stefan Krajisnik (19:46.861)
That is correct.
Andrew Gillis (19:47.17)
He’s seven for me. Emeka, Tyleek, Trey, Simmons, Quin, Sean, Donnie.
Stephen Means (19:48.061)
He’s seven for you No, you’re yeah, you’re right you had I forgot clench on for you. I have JT Go on 56 to the bills and It’s sense of loading up on defensive it because they’ve got two guys, but they’re old guys With Vaughn Miller and Joy, but they need some youth in there, too so if JT is a Rotational guy with those two for a year and then takes over in year two. I think that
That could work is again, the Eagles just want to Super Bowl and say, well, you have to starting defensive lineman. So we want another one and another one and another one. So I have him going 56 to the Bulls.
Stefan Krajisnik (20:24.973)
My apologies to JT. You guys have him go in a good franchises where he can have a former Ohio State player mentor him. I have him go into like the seven and 10, eight and nine Colts. So sorry about that.
Stephen Means (20:37.405)
I mean, listen, he gets to go play in Indianapolis. He never got to play in Indianapolis, unfortunately. They never got to pick the championship game, but now he can call it home for good. That’s not mean, it’s just true. It’s just true. Okay, 44 Cowboys, Stefan and I have them taking Trevion in that spot. 45, the Colts, that’s where it...
Stefan Krajisnik (20:42.797)
That’s true.
Andrew Gillis (20:45.538)
That’s mean.
Stephen Means (21:00.879)
Stefan has JT coming off of the board. Y’all got a lot of back to back situations going on. Do y’all think an Ohio State run is just going to happen in this draft?
Stefan Krajisnik (21:08.749)
I think in the second round it is.
Andrew Gillis (21:08.99)
Mm-hmm. I think in the second round
Stephen Means (21:12.701)
I do too, I think Friday we’re gonna be very, busy. 46, the Atlanta Falcons, 47 Cardinals, 48 Dolphins. I thought about putting Donovan here, but then I started rethinking some things and ended up throwing me on the first round, because of what we talked about earlier about that run of offensive linemen. Maybe Donovan just won’t be available at that point. 49 Bengals.
Andrew Gillis (21:16.194)
Yes, the f- yeah, go here, go ahead.
Andrew Gillis (21:35.266)
Mm-hmm sure
Andrew Gillis (21:39.704)
I’m going to ding in at for the Bengals. I’m going to take new Sam Hubbard. can’t, I can’t say for two years that Jack Sawyer is just Sam Hubbard. And then when Sam Hubbard retires, not pick Jack Sawyer to go to the Bengals. What kind of man would I be if I did that? If I was like, I think Jack Sawyer is going to end up on the Cardinals. What kind of person would I be? What kind of ethics would I have? So no, I’m.
Stephen Means (21:40.655)
And let me guess, you’re gonna take new Sam Hubbard.
Andrew Gillis (22:09.612)
Jack Sawyer, I have him going to the Bengals. They desperately need defensive help. I mentioned that Hubbard, he just retired obviously. So they have Trey Hendrickson, but they don’t have another edge rusher opposite him. So like this is one of those teams where it’s like, man, they could take a bajillion different defensive players and you could say that’s a good pick. And I think this one with Jack Sawyer makes a lot of sense for them. So the reason I waited on that
comments, the font said earlier, he’s like, that makes our jobs suck. I have eight Ohio State players going in the top 50. Top 49. I have all of them going from 23 to 49. I have 23 30 31 34 37 38 43 49. We are going to be moving and shaking fellas on Friday.
Stephen Means (22:47.261)
50. Yeah.
Stephen Means (23:07.133)
Which also means that most of these guys will be televised picks. So that’s a good thing. And so it was just being on the little ticker at the bottom there. I also have Jack Schor going 49 to the Bengals. I think it was intriguing that he said his first visit was going to be to the Bengals and they just lost an Ohio State defensive end who was pretty good for them for a few years. Why not add another one? Who’s also been going to be pretty good in the NFL. think even if he’s not necessarily a sack guy.
long term. Stefan, are you going to make it a trio? All of us sending himself to the Bengals.
Stefan Krajisnik (23:39.149)
No, I so I played the devil role with JT. I think I’m playing the devil role here a bit with Jack. I haven’t going 60. I haven’t gone to a good team. I haven’t pairing up with Aiden Hutchinson and going to Lions.
Stephen Means (23:54.749)
Oh, you know what’s crazy? I wrote a story last year, calling Jack Sor Aiden Hutchinson of Ohio State. also told him he looked like Aiden Hutchinson. He’s like, yeah, a lot of people say that. So the twins in Detroit.
Stefan Krajisnik (24:08.993)
Why not? would be, I would love to be a fly on the wall in late November in that locker room with maybe two of the most like outspoken emotional guys in recent history of this rivalry.
Andrew Gillis (24:21.614)
So let me just say right now, a future story slash breakfast slash whatever is going to be Jack or JT walking out to the press conference holding the other team’s jersey where the beat writers all take a picture and Jack Sawyer’s holding up 97 or Aidan’s holding up 33 and they’re standing in front of the press conference yelling, go Bucks or go blue. 100 % gonna be on our website in December.
Stephen Means (24:51.389)
I don’t think either one of them is going to sign up.
Stephen Means (24:56.733)
I’ve noticed that Garrett Wilson has done bets, but he won’t put on Michigan stuff. And there is something, because when you lose it, I think it’s a little bit harsher for Ohio State players right now, because they’re still not used to losing it, even though they’ve lost it four years in a row now. I don’t know. Jack might get a little antsy with something like that. OK, 50 Seattle, 51 Broncos.
52, the Seahawks. It was actually interesting real quick. I think I’m the only one who has Jack going ahead of JT before we move forward. I have Jack at 49 and JT at 56. You both have JT going ahead of Jack. Stephane, you have JT going at 45 and Jack at 60. Andrew, you have him at 43 and Jack at 49. That’s interesting. That’s going to be something to keep an eye on too, is like who goes first and how far off from each other are they?
53, the Buccaneers, 54, the Packers, 55, the Chargers, 56, the Bills from the Vikings through the Texans, and that’s where I have JT coming off the board.
57, the Panthers from the Rams. 58, the Texans. 59, the Ravens. 60, the Detroit Lions, which of course that’s where Jack Sawyer’s coming off for for Stefan. 61, the Commanders. 62, the Bills. 63, the Chiefs. 64, the Eagles. And that is the second round. So through 64 picks so far, I have...
Ameca, Josh Simmons, Donovan Jackson, Tyleek Williams, Travion Henderson, Jack Sawyer, JT Tui Maloao, all off the board by the end of the second round. While Stefan, you have Travion Henderson, Quinchon Judkins, Ameca, Buka, Josh Simmons, Donovan Jackson, Jack Sawyer, JT Tui Maloao, and Tyleek Williams all through the second round. And Andrew, you have the same all through the second round. We are going to be busy on Friday night. Let’s continue on with the third round.
Stephen Means (27:06.769)
Giants won the clock at 65.
Chiefs at 66, Browns at 67, Raiders at 68.
Patriots at 69, Jaguars at 70.
Saints at 71, Bears at 72, the Jets are at 73. Again, I saw, we’re all doing research here, the Raiders traded in the 73 to go get Quintchon Judkins. 74, the Panthers, 75, the 49ers. By the way, I’m out of top 100 draft picks, so this is both of you guys at this point.
Andrew Gillis (27:51.854)
I have one top 100 guy left.
Stephen Means (27:54.141)
Okay. 76 Cowboys, 77 Patriots, 78 Cardinals, 79 Texans, 80 Colts, 81 Bengals, 82 Seahawks, 83 Steelers, 84 Buccaneers.
Stefan Krajisnik (28:15.917)
That’s where I’m dinging in. I have Lathan Ransom going 84 to the bucks.
Stephen Means (28:21.126)
Okay.
Stefan Krajisnik (28:21.975)
I think I’m a little higher on Lathan than some. think the Bucs need a little safety help and I think the way I talked about Lathan is the way some NFL teams are going to talk about Lathan. Just because he played next to Caleb Downs doesn’t mean that he wasn’t All-American worthy.
Stephen Means (28:42.288)
And you already have Lathan.
Andrew Gillis (28:44.494)
128th overall to the Washington commanders that is in the fourth round. I was not going to let this draft go by and not pick a commander. So or not pick one of them to go to the commanders. I don’t know if you guys felt that way about the Bears or the Falcons, but I think Lathan makes sense as a guy in the fourth round. I don’t think he’s going to sneak into the first two days, but I think this is one of those players where he shows up and he gets drafted and they’re saying.
He’s our third safety who’s going to compete for a spot. And think that’s exactly what he’s going to do. So I have 128 on him.
Stephen Means (29:21.083)
What I’ve seen from Lathan the last three years as a starting safety here is worthy of being a day two draft pick when healthy. And that’s such a key variable. And I know both of his injuries or freak accents is not necessarily soft tissue stuff, but still you’ve had two season ending injuries in four years. You can’t overlook that. And in a draft where you maybe are allowed to wait on safety a little bit.
I think he might slide out. And so I had him at 120 to the Titans in the fourth round. He’s one of four guys I have going in the fourth round for me. Okay, Andrew, you said you still have a top 100 pick. Stefan, I’m assuming that you’re out of top 100 picks. Okay, let’s keep going then. Finish out the third round. 85 Broncos, 86 Chargers.
Stefan Krajisnik (30:12.013)
correct.
Stephen Means (30:21.085)
87 Packers, 88 Jags, 89 Texans, 90 Rams, 91 Ravens, 92 the Seahawks, 93 Saints, 94 Browns.
Andrew Gillis (30:35.704)
dinging in at 93. Hilarious that I’m the first one to say that Will Howard comes off the board at 93 to the New Orleans Saints. I think he’s a top 100, I think he’s gonna be a top 100 pick.
Stephen Means (30:38.619)
OSU cell. OSU cell.
Stephen Means (30:48.477)
interesting that you have him as a day three pick.
Andrew Gillis (31:00.13)
This to me, I looked at the Saints and I thought to myself, OK, they have two third round picks. This might be the one where you say, OK, if they don’t take a guy in the first, like basically if they don’t take Chaudhuri early, you know, if they don’t take Tyler Shuck or Jackson Dart or Jalen Milro or somebody like if they miss that wave.
It will either willingly or they miss out on it. Will Howard might be the next option because what’s going on at quarterback in New Orleans? Nobody really knows you got Derek Carr. Who’s maybe hurt something’s going on. You have Spencer Rattler. Will Howard just feels like a guy that you might throw into the mix and say.
We don’t want to invest too heavily in quarterback, but we need to invest in case cars not healthy, in case we can’t play him. We need somebody to compete with Rattler. Howard might be that guy. Howard might be the guy that you look at and go, you know what, veteran, experienced, you’re not really learning on the job. You might, we might have to play him early. This to me, I think makes a lot of sense for what they could be. And I think that
the Saints are a team with enough of a quarterback question mark to where Will Howard going make some sense to.
Stephen Means (32:32.977)
Is it weird that I’m not shocked that Andrew ended up being the first one to take Will Howard off the board?
Stefan Krajisnik (32:39.243)
He’s overcompensating for doubting him.
Stephen Means (32:41.775)
Yeah, I knew it would come back around at some point.
Andrew Gillis (32:44.906)
I wasn’t the one who said it’s not crazy. It’s like not in the 1 % for him to be a first round pick.
Stephen Means (32:49.853)
I mean, yeah, because quarterbacks get people get weird about quarterbacks and you’re you’re always looking for every year. There’s a quarterback that people. He just becomes the talk of the town and you’re never there’s no like rhyme or reason for it. Just sort of happens around this guy. And I think Stefan you and I were maybe will Howard can be that guy where.
Stefan Krajisnik (33:12.013)
I think Tyler’s show from Louisville’s kind of ended up being that guy. And Jackson Darv, yeah.
Stephen Means (33:14.301)
Tyler Show and Jackson Dart have ended up being the two guys that the media seems to have convinced themselves someone is going to take a flyer on. And sometimes it ends up happening, right? We do end up seeing that fly. Who did the 49ers take back in 2021, third pick? Trey Lance and Jets picked that year.
Stefan Krajisnik (33:33.453)
Tray Lance.
Andrew Gillis (33:34.126)
Tray Lance.
Stefan Krajisnik (33:39.479)
Zach Wilson.
Stephen Means (33:40.657)
Those two, through the draft process, started becoming like the media guys, and it ended up happening. It ended up being the second, what was that, second and third picks in the NFL draft that year. And then we’ve had years where Will Levis started getting a lot of media love, and then it doesn’t happen. He doesn’t end up being a first round draft pick. So I guess we’ll see what happens with Jackson Dart and Tyler Show tonight.
tonight as people are listening or watching the draft on ESPN or the NFL network or wherever else are watching the NFL draft. But maybe Will Howard could have been that guy and that just doesn’t seem to have happened for Will Howard. And so now because that hasn’t happened, I think for me, Stefan, I went back to the mean of where I genuinely just think he was going to go anyway. And I put him at 123 to the Steelers in a sense of last year, their starter was Russell and
Stefan Krajisnik (34:28.461)
They’re the same.
Stephen Means (34:32.465)
Justin Smith, the year learning behind him while also getting a chance to play in some games early on. I just think they trade out one Ohio State quarterback for another.
Stefan Krajisnik (34:41.197)
Yeah, I haven’t gone to the same spot to the Steelers at 123. I just, don’t think the Steelers are going to get a quarterback early on. like the stuff about Chaudhuri falling as much as he he’s projected in some of these. I just don’t see it happen. I don’t see the second quarterback. I think he’s going to go into top 10. I think it’s just going to happen. What actually would have surprised me if the Saints took him at number nine. Um, but the Steelers like Mike Tomlin basically said the other day,
They have two quarterbacks on the roster, so they’re going to make some moves regardless. Now we’ll see what happens with Aaron Rogers, but I think regardless of if Aaron Rogers are there, there are not, think Will Howard will kind of be good for them. Cause if you bring in Aaron Rogers, then you can kind of develop Will Howard behind the scenes a bit and he can start in a year or two. Or if you don’t get Aaron Rogers, you have Will Howard in the heat of a quarterback competition, a guy who is relatively older compared to some other guys getting drafted.
And maybe he could start day one. Maybe he’s kind of like, um, kind of like how Dak Prescott was with, with the Cowboys where he was drafted. I think it was like a fifth round pick or something like that. And by, by game one of his rookie year, he was starting part of it was cause Tony Romo got hurt. part of it was cause he was experienced and he played well in the preseason and a year in that starting spot. What does it surprise me? Will Howard ended up in something like that with the Steelers. So I feel like Pittsburgh is a really good fit.
Stephen Means (36:05.181)
So I asked our techsters this question as well, 6.4, 350, 3315, two week free trial.
Stephen Means (36:14.877)
We don’t have to predict exactly where they go because they’re not part of this conversation. But I do want to ask this question. Again, I asked it a while ago. Now I want to ask it again. Andrew, I’ll start with you. You had Will Howard at 93. Is that ahead of both Kyle McCord and Quinn Ubers?
Andrew Gillis (36:40.45)
I don’t think so, because it is toward the back half of the third round. think Quinn and Kyle will go ahead of Wilhauer.
Stephen Means (36:52.093)
Stefan, is your 123 ahead or behind Wilhauer? I mean behind Quinn and you as in common quarter.
Stefan Krajisnik (36:58.445)
I think it’s behind Kyle McCord, but ahead of Quentin Ubers. I don’t think teams are gonna love Quentin Ubers.
Stephen Means (37:04.529)
Really?
Stephen Means (37:10.651)
I asked our texters.
to rank them in the order they might go in in the NFL draft. As you could probably expect, 41.8 % of the first place votes went to Will Howard, 39.6 % went to Quinn Ubers, 18.7 went to Kyle McCord. Will Howard also got the most second place votes, 39.6%, while Quinn and Kyle both had 30.2, they split the other votes. Will had 18.7 % of the third place votes, Quinn Ubers had 30.2 % of the...
third place votes and Kyle McCord had 51.1 % third place votes. So Will Howard’s overall score 1.77, Quinn Ewer’s 1.91, Kyle McCord 2.23. So that’s the order they think they’re gonna go in is Will, Quinn, Kyle. I think I agree with that.
Stephen Means (38:04.071)
Kyle’s fine.
and I think he’s gonna have a long career. Quinn’s got the best arm, so that’s why I put him second. I also think the NFL is living in this world right now of loving the very old college quarterback because they’re experienced and they kind of know what they’re doing and they’re kind of a finished product. So if they’re not gonna be your starting quarterback, you can bring a man, maybe pin-ex this thing a little bit, but he’s not like Michael Pinnix level. But I think Will’s separator is he’s got five years of experience.
College football and the other two don’t have five years of experience of college football And I do think the NFL likes the old guy at court They don’t like the old guy at running back, but they like the old guy at quarterback right now that might push him above Those other two. Okay, that’s through two rep three rounds. We are now into Thursday. Let’s take a break but first here’s our pick so far a Mecca Josh Simmons Donovan Jackson Tiley Williams Trevion Henderson Jack Sawyer JT toy Malo out
Quincheon Judkins, that’s my order through the first two days. Here’s Stefan’s order through the first two days. Amekabuka, Josh Simmons, Donovan Jackson, Tyleek Williams, Cheveon Henderson, JT Tuyema Lowell, Lathan Ransom, and then Will Howard, because Will Howard, we’ve already mentioned them.
Here’s Andrew’s order so far. He’s got a Mecca Bucca, Tyleek Williams, Trevion Henderson, Josh Simmons, Quin-Shawn Judkins, Donovan Jackson, and then Will Howard in the third round, and he’s already taken Nathan Ransom in the fourth round. I’ve taken Nathan Ransom in fourth round as well, but Stefan’s the only one who’s taken him in the third round so far. Let’s take our final break, and then we’ll wrap up here with essentially what is day three of the NFL Draft Year-end.
Stephen Means (40:04.957)
We’re back on Buckeye Talk, Stephen May and Stefan Kreisnick and Andrew Gillis. We’re into the fourth round unless anybody has any other third round draft picks. Okay, we’re into the fourth round. Does anybody have a pick between 103 and 110? Any Buckeye pick?
Stefan Krajisnik (40:25.089)
Well, I just want to one on one actually just before that.
Andrew Gillis (40:25.548)
Yes, I do.
Stephen Means (40:28.733)
Oh, you have a third rounder. That’s That’s a, say it. 101 started on it. Well, it’s a, yeah, that’s what it is. The Rams compensatory pick. 101, who you got?
Stefan Krajisnik (40:33.879)
Did I do my math wrong there? Are there some of those like, compet story picks or something?
okay. Yeah. Yeah. I Denzel going to the Rams. I think they could use some help at corner. I like kind of him fit in there. I love the idea of Denzel being in LA. He likes to talk a little bit, talks on smack. The Rams get a, you know, they got a decent amount of prime time games, him, get him with Sean McVay. So yeah, I got Denzel technically a third round pick there. Yeah. I didn’t even realize that.
Stephen Means (40:55.463)
See you
Stephen Means (41:07.229)
I add Denzel at 174 to the Cowboys.
Stephen Means (41:13.819)
I think he’s a very good cornerback, but I don’t know if there’s anything physically special for him that would like push him up and to be in a day two draft pick. I do think there’s still a little bit of like special in the second round. But I do think he’s very, good at that. 174 to Cowboys. Andrew, what do you have?
Andrew Gillis (41:32.11)
107 of the Jaguars. We’re starting to reach a point where it’s like, all right, maybe there’s a positional fit, but other times it’s like, all right, this player feels right here, you know, because you get to the sixth round, you’re not like, we, you know, we need a guard, not a tackle. So we have to draft this player. It’s.
Stephen Means (41:33.725)
Okay, well that’s.
Stephen Means (41:51.281)
Day three of the NFL draft is why I could never be an NFL GM. I’m tapped out.
Andrew Gillis (41:56.322)
Stephen Means (41:57.693)
It’s like, you mean to tell me most of my picture or day three? You’re sitting there in a seat. I.
Stefan Krajisnik (42:03.006)
I’m name recognition day three. I would literally be like, I remember having that guy to score touchdown in week four. I bet on him. Yeah, give me that guy.
Stephen Means (42:06.909)
I’m just picking lives.
Andrew Gillis (42:15.138)
Well, you, Steven, you do remember when the draft was Saturday, they did the first, second and third rounds on Saturday. And then they did four, five, six, seven on Sunday. They didn’t used to do first round on Thursday. Second, they used to, yeah. Well, I mean, they was always on ESPN and then they were like, what if we spread this out even more?
Stephen Means (42:28.891)
Yeah, but it’s... Yeah, the USB-A and card, but let’s see if I can get it.
Stefan Krajisnik (42:29.771)
Yeah, the ESPN called.
Stephen Means (42:35.949)
I that. I loved when it was two days. And if I was a GM, I’d love it even more if it was two days.
Andrew Gillis (42:41.548)
I mean, you sit down on your couch at noon and you’re like, all right, I’m to watch the draft for 11 hours, both days.
Stephen Means (42:45.671)
But think about, but think about if I was a GM, when they added the third day, that’s just one more day I have to talk to the media about what I’m doing.
Andrew Gillis (42:54.958)
No, they don’t talk to the GM every day or the media every day.
Stephen Means (42:59.047)
Somebody does.
Stefan Krajisnik (43:00.205)
It’s one more day of having to work. Nobody wants that.
Stephen Means (43:01.849)
One more day of having to work on the weekend, man. At least you get your Sundays to yourself. Okay, so we’ll start at 107.
Andrew Gillis (43:12.014)
Yeah, I had, well, I had Denzel 107 to the Jaguars. Yeah. So.
Stephen Means (43:14.525)
which is why we’re starting at 107. Because nobody else had any picks between 103 and 110. 108 Raiders, 109 Bills, 110 Jets, 111 Panthers, 112 Saints, 113 49ers, and then I’m going to ding in at 114 with the Panthers. I think they’re going to take a chance on South McLaughlin.
I understand he’s coming off injury. And because we’ve gotten to physically see these people, because apparently none of them ever want to leave Columbus ever. It’s amazing. They’re just here all the time. but I like live here and work here. They’re getting a job elsewhere. I have never seen in my years covering Ohio State so far a group of Buckeyes be this content just hanging around Columbus. I respect it. I’m not saying that as a complaint. It’s like, man, y’all love it here.
Stefan Krajisnik (43:57.119)
You don’t want to leave Columbus, you’re here all the time.
Stephen Means (44:16.411)
Which is interesting because I wonder if that would have been a case in a non-12 team playoff world where they lost to Michigan. How many of these guys still be handed? So like what a national championship does to just how you go about your business is amazing. They’re just here loving it. And they should, they want an ad. They should take in every bit of it and live out their glory days as much as possible before they go off and get real jobs. But is there here?
Stefan Krajisnik (44:41.165)
If I was 21, 22 years old and I was in a town where I never had to pay for a drink, I’d spend a lot of time in that town.
Stephen Means (44:44.925)
I’d never really tell it.
I’d never leave. So because they’re here, know this Seth McLaughlin’s been walking around. He didn’t participate in pro dead because again, he towards Achilles and he’s four or five months removed from that. So he’s probably not at that point is right rehab process, but he is at least at a point where he is walking around on his own two feet and just operating like a normal human being in that capacity. And I think that’s a good side. Plus he’s a sinner. And I’m looking at this as the Josh Myers plan.
where Josh Myers was not the Packers starting center in his first year. He took over in year two. So this is essentially a take the pick, let him get better, let him get healthy. And then in 2026, Seth McLaughlin is Bryce Young starting center for the Carolina Panthers. So I have him going at 114. Is anybody, Stefan, I’ll start with you. Are you close to me with Seth?
Stefan Krajisnik (45:37.601)
Yeah, yeah, I got him going 118 of the Falcons simply because when Seth talked to us on pro day, he said, yeah, I’m doing, he said he was doing some stuff with the Falcons because they need a center. And I was like, all right, I’ll find where Seth McLaughlin fits with the Falcons. And it’s at 118.
Stephen Means (45:42.397)
Give us a help.
Stephen Means (45:53.509)
You give us the hurt guy, huh?
Stefan Krajisnik (45:56.916)
I think he’s pretty good. You just got to get help.
Stephen Means (45:58.043)
He’s very good. I mean, he was the best center in the country last year. Andrew, where are you taking your bestie?
Andrew Gillis (46:03.662)
I’m the lowest of anybody on him out of all three of us. This is crazy.
Stephen Means (46:07.515)
Look at you, you’re the highest on Will Howard and the lowest on We’ve reached full circle here. He was hating on Seth MacLaughlin at this time a year ago. And then he loved him for six months. Now he’s back to hating.
Andrew Gillis (46:21.326)
Uh, I don’t think it’s hating. I I ha- Right, exactly. Yeah, my seventh cousin. Um, I have him going to the Bengals at 153. Um, I, I think this is one of those picks where we, I think we talked about this on a previous pod. We are going to look at whoever drafts Seth McLaughlin.
Stefan Krajisnik (46:21.911)
It was all a bit the whole time. It’s actually Shane Gillis, not Andrew Gillis.
Stephen Means (46:26.611)
Yeah.
Andrew Gillis (46:48.782)
And we are going to see one of two things, a question marks at center or B a veteran center that is in the last year of his contract. And that is what Mr. Karras, who is the center, uh, for the Bengals is, uh, is about to undergo. He’s about to go through his last NFL deal or his last contract or last year of his contract. He is 32 years old.
He’s going to be a free agent after the 2025 season. I think that just, I think that’s going to line up to where Seth’s going to get picked and we’re going to go, well he’s yeah. Yeah. That makes sense. He’s going to be their starter in, you know, what in a year. I think that is going to be it. So, that is the second bangle that I have going, or second Ohio state player that I have going to the bangle.
Stephen Means (47:42.427)
If he didn’t tear his Achilles last year, where would you have him?
Andrew Gillis (47:49.251)
Probably late third early fourth
Stephen Means (47:55.015)
Where would you have them going,
Stefan Krajisnik (47:56.897)
Probably somewhere in the third round.
Stephen Means (48:00.389)
I still think he goes 114.
Stephen Means (48:06.503)
just cause I don’t know if he’s gonna start year one. Sinners don’t always start year one. It’s a lot of it’s cause of the position he plays. And offensive linemen in general don’t always, it’s not a guarantee that you’re gonna automatically play the position that your future is in. Cause even Paris Johnson, they took him with a top 10 draft like Carlos did. He was that right tackle his first year and now he’s gonna be the left tackle. So that’s interesting to see how far, I just wanted to see a gauge of how far off you guys were simply because he has an Achilles injury. Okay.
That was 114. Does anybody have a pick? wait, no, I’m still going here. 115 Cardinals. 116 Dolphins.
117 Colts, 118 Falcons, 119 Bengals, 120 Titans, 129 Buccaneers.
122 Broncos Steelers at 123 Stefan and I have Will Howard going off the board there any other picks between now and pick 130
Andrew Gillis (49:17.122)
Yeah, have 129 to the Ravens. With 129th overall, I have the Ravens taking defensive tackle, Ty Hamilton. Basically, I think Ty Hamilton’s gonna be a really solid pro, and at the very least, a really solid rotational piece. And the Ravens have a lot of needs up there, and I thought to myself as I was going through, what team could use some defensive tackles, and I kinda...
Stephen Means (49:18.585)
Okay, let’s go to 129 then with the Ravens.
Andrew Gillis (49:46.168)
thought about those teams and I was like, all right, what team probably needs him like 120 to 150, which is where I think Ty is probably gonna go. And then I went, what team would make people really upset that he goes to? Because can’t you see the week 14 Thursday night game that the Ravens are playing and Ty Hamilton’s playing in the middle as a starter because somebody else got hurt or he overtook somebody’s job or whatever.
And all of a sudden everybody’s going, how in the world did the Ravens get this guy? I think of all the day three picks that I have, might be the likeliest to start right away. Ty might be the likeliest to be the guy that gets immediate, okay, this guy week two, week one, week four, whatever, is starting for whatever team that gets picked by him.
Stephen Means (50:45.469)
So you have Ty coming off the board at 129. Stefan Ward, you have Ty coming off the board.
Stefan Krajisnik (50:51.787)
Ty Ham was off the board at 136 to the Baltimore Ravens.
Stephen Means (50:57.245)
You
Andrew Gillis (50:57.323)
Nice.
Stefan Krajisnik (50:58.765)
I, it is absolutely hilarious that you just did that whole spiel because at this point I literally started being like, what guy would look good in what uniform? And I was like, yeah, Ty Hamilton in purple. I like it. Just fits the Ravens.
Andrew Gillis (51:16.802)
Yeah, when I covered the Ravens for two years, like you heard this so much from Harbaugh and DaCosta, plays like a Raven. It’s like, all right, man, it’s kind of annoying. And then you take a step back and you’re like, well, that guy does kind of play like a Raven. That guy does kind of play like somebody who would play in Baltimore.
Stefan Krajisnik (51:33.837)
I have Ty here and then I have two more picks where both guys, like, I just, think they fit this uniform. I could see it working.
Stephen Means (51:44.925)
Ty Hamilton going to the rift. It’s not to the fifth round though. 176. have them because I’ve in some of this because I’ve been doing this a few more years than you guys do. You guys are super high on a lot of these Ohio State players. And it’s because it’s they’re all very talented football players, but we also live in this bubble. And so sometimes we can view the Ohio State players as maybe higher than maybe the NFL ends up taking them.
Stefan Krajisnik (51:47.692)
Hahaha.
Stephen Means (52:10.971)
And I’m maybe trying to overcompensate from that. Like all these guys are not going in the top 100. All these guys are not going in the top 150. Someone’s got to fall somewhere. And because we live in the bubble, we appreciate all these players a little bit more. And I’ve just been doing this for awhile. So I’m overcompensating. Ty Hamilton had a really good draft process. I thought his combine was excellent. I thought his pro day was amazing, but he’s also not the only Ty Hamilton.
So in a draft where it’s a deep defensive tackle class, the Ravens have like three picks between where I have them going and where Andrew has them going. I’m banking on maybe they think they can wait on Ty and they get him at 176 and still end up getting the guy that they could have. They got a guy for a really good value with a fifth round pick instead of having to use it in the fourth round. Okay.
130 Lions, 131 Saints, 132 Bills, 133 Chiefs.
Andrew Gillis (53:20.302)
Just for what it’s worth, I don’t have anybody left in the fourth round. don’t know if you guys do. If you do, okay, I was gonna say if we don’t have anybody left in the fourth round, then we can probably skip ahead a little.
Stephen Means (53:23.483)
Okay, I do.
Stephen Means (53:29.179)
No, I do. 134, I’m digging in and taking Cody’s side.
Stephen Means (53:37.361)
You know, know what the Super Bowl champs do when they got a defense with a bunch of guys from all over the place who can get after a quarterback. They take a linebacker in the fourth round who can get after the quarterback. And if you send them on blitzes, Cody’s, I’m at seven sacks last year, sending him on what Cody did in the playoff. I think his, his career in the NFL.
He can do a lot of the other traditional linebacker stuff too, but put him in a three, four scheme and send him and let’s see what happens. The Buckeyes found out what happened. He was the defensive MVP in two of the three bowl games they played in. I just think that on the Eagles and the rich keep getting richer for the Eagles. That’s my last fourth round draft. If anybody else have a fourth round draft.
Stefan Krajisnik (54:30.325)
Yeah, I got Cody going 138 to the 49ers. I can see Cody Simon being a 10 year linebacker with the San Francisco 49ers. And it’s just like, you know, when you’re buying jerseys for your team and like, all right, you got to be kind of selective, which player you want. You definitely don’t want someone who’s going to get traded or, someone, know, sometimes you jump and you buy a rookie Jersey and you’re like, well, that guy ends up being a bus. And then, you know, stuff like that happens. I can just see in seven years, 49ers fans being like,
Stephen Means (54:33.863)
Hope you
Stephen Means (54:54.269)
Mm.
Stefan Krajisnik (55:00.119)
Just buy a Cody Simon jersey. He’s a legend. He’s not leaving. He gets 100 tackles every year. Like just buy a Cody Simon jersey. Yeah.
Stephen Means (55:07.229)
They’re gonna put him in the ring of honor. where do you have Cody?
Andrew Gillis (55:11.758)
I have Cody going in the sixth round. I have him going 189th overall to the Indianapolis Colts. think, yeah. I mean, again, you start to get to the, especially the sixth and seventh round. It’s like, all right, what could you add on special teams? What can you add in a couple of different areas? And I think him backing up Franklin in the middle of that defense would probably be a nice fit. And he just feels like the perfect player to compliment a team that’s going to go seven and.
And eight and nine, as long as they’re in their current situation, a quarterback. It’s like, Hey, we’re to get really good at linebacker. We’re to be really good at these positions, but maybe not at the one that matters most.
Stephen Means (55:52.355)
Okay, now we’re through the fourth round. And then all to the fifth.
Andrew Gillis (55:57.182)
We only have one guy left to discuss, I believe. Well, I guess it depends.
Stephen Means (55:59.997)
Yeah, there’s three got possible guys get drafted All right round five does anybody have a pick? For anyone between 139 and 150
Stephen Means (56:17.117)
Okay, how about 150 through 170?
No? Okay.
So then we can keep going. I have two guys going in the 170s, but we’ve already talked about the Denzelberg and Ty Hamilton, so we can keep going. In the 170s, okay, that we haven’t talked about yet. Okay, so 170 bills, 171 Patriots, 172 Seahawks, 173 bills, 174 Cowboys, 176 Ravens.
Andrew Gillis (56:37.834)
I have one guy going in the 170s.
Stefan Krajisnik (56:39.639)
same.
Andrew Gillis (56:42.424)
That we have not talked about yet.
Stefan Krajisnik (56:42.509)
Yeah.
Andrew Gillis (56:59.212)
You skipped 175.
Stephen Means (57:01.137)
No I didn’t, I just said 175 Seahawks.
Andrew Gillis (57:06.912)
Okay, well I have 175. No, no, I have 175 Seahawks. Jordan Hancock. think especially in the fifth round, like Jordan Hancock, you’re not gonna get like a lot of, hey, wow, this guy is elite, you know, speed, elite, measurables, elite, right? Like there’s a reason why guys are on day three.
Stephen Means (57:07.439)
If you have a trade happening, you have to say that. Okay. Okay.
Andrew Gillis (57:30.808)
Sometimes they don’t have the measurables. Sometimes they come from a small school. Sometimes sometimes they’re fighting off an injury. Some what there’s a there’s reason for this. But Hancock feels like one of those guys where you pick on the fifth round and you’re like, man, this guy’s a really great player to have because maybe he’s your starting nickel right away. They have a Wetherspoon at corner. Maybe he’s a you know, maybe he’s somebody that you can look at and say, you know what? He’s a great he’s a great guy to throw in the slot next to him.
Maybe you play him at safety. Hancock at this point is a really, really nice pick, I think, for whatever team is going to take him. So in this case, I’ll take him once.
Stephen Means (58:10.565)
Yeah, you’re saying that like, he doesn’t have the speed and all this. He does have all those things though. That’s the issue. I it’s cause he’s a nickel that we have him going on day three because here’s his pro day numbers. Six one one 86 41 and a half vertical jump. That was the best amount to any Ohio State player who went that day by about three and a half feet.
14 on the bench press. His 10 yard split was one five two and his overall 40 was four four two. That’s faster than the Mecca Vuku. We think it’s the first round of draft pick. His broad jump was 10 six. And then his hands, his measure bowls are pretty normal, but someone is going to get a steal with Jordan Hancock in the third round. I’m gonna see him on the third day.
I have Jordan Hancock going 196 to the Lions. As a guy who can play nickel for you, he can play either safety spot for you, he can play outside corner if you need to. just, someone is going to get him very, very cheap and get a lot of production out of Jordan Hancock. Stephon, where do you have him coming up?
Stefan Krajisnik (59:27.937)
Yeah, I like your pick there with him going to Lions. I think he fits a lot of what they like to do with their defensive backs. I haven’t won 179 to the Browns. I think they can move around a little bit too. I have no Ohio State players going to the Bengals and I also have don’t I don’t have Ravel taking on any Ohio State players, so I have to have the Browns taking at least one.
Stephen Means (59:32.893)
Yeah.
Andrew Gillis (59:48.622)
Yeah, that’s how you know that you’re wrong at least one time with no variable and no bagels.
Stefan Krajisnik (59:53.281)
Yeah.
Yeah, I’ll take, I’ll go ahead and just take Hancock to the Browns and trust Cleveland to come through for me.
Stephen Means (01:00:02.909)
stretch of a statement. Okay, does anybody have any more pics inside the top 200?
Stefan Krajisnik (01:00:09.783)
Does anyone have any more picks left? Cause we’ve done the 15 guys who are combined invites. Right.
Stephen Means (01:00:15.293)
Correct, but there’s 17 guys who are included that would if they get if you’re done You’re done as well. Okay, so you all have them tying George’s record, but not surpassing George’s record Okay, our texter six one four three five. three three one five Most of them are with you guys again. I asked him nine or less ten to twelve thirteen to fifteen and then sixteen plus as a new record
Stefan Krajisnik (01:00:19.977)
I’m done. I’m out. I’m opting out the rest of this draft.
Andrew Gillis (01:00:21.536)
I’m done. I’m also tapping out.
Andrew Gillis (01:00:31.682)
Correct.
Stephen Means (01:00:45.501)
1 % said nine or less, 11 % said 10 to 12, 27 % said they would set a new record, 60 % said 13 to 15. Some other stats real quick. I asked him who would be the first Buckeye off the board. Josh Simmons got the most votes and Mecca Bucke got the second most votes. We all have a Mecca coming off the board first though. Texas have Josh Simmons coming off the board first. Donovan Jackson had the third most votes. He was the only other player who got significant votes.
Other players who received consideration, Jack Sawyer, Trevion Henderson, Tyleke Williams, Will Howard, Quincheon Judkins, JT Tui Maloao, and then Josh Fryer.
Stephen Means (01:01:29.873)
He got to vote for being the first Buckeye off the board, which is interesting.
Andrew Gillis (01:01:34.562)
Josh Friar voted.
Stephen Means (01:01:36.347)
He probably did. So.
Stefan Krajisnik (01:01:39.917)
That’d be awesome.
Andrew Gillis (01:01:41.551)
that’d be incredible.
Stephen Means (01:01:43.174)
be signed up for the text.
Stefan Krajisnik (01:01:45.163)
No, if he was the first Buckeye off the board.
Andrew Gillis (01:01:46.798)
Well, I I thought you were saying if he he voted for himself to be the first Buckeye on the board
Stefan Krajisnik (01:01:51.399)
no. If Goodell walks up there like 15th overall and says Josh Fryer, I will be through the roof.
Stephen Means (01:01:51.964)
Christopher.
Stephen Means (01:02:02.151)
We have to.
Andrew Gillis (01:02:02.466)
I would be equally as surprised if he said one of our names, if Josh Fryer went like ninth or something. Like, yeah, if he gets up there and said like, yeah, yeah, that’d be crazy.
Stefan Krajisnik (01:02:08.717)
It’s the meme, the guy holding a corona bottle pointing at himself.
Stephen Means (01:02:11.964)
Thank you.
Stephen Means (01:02:17.821)
Stefan, why no G-Scott, why no Josh Fry?
Stefan Krajisnik (01:02:22.317)
They both just kind of fit the mold to me of perfect, like undrafted free agent signings. I just, I don’t know, like for both of them, I really had to talk myself into someone taking a waiver and I know taking someone in the seventh round isn’t necessarily a waiver, but I think those are both guys that you can get as undrafted free agents. And I just, I’m not sure if someone’s going to take a shot and use a pick on them.
Stephen Means (01:02:44.869)
Andrew Wynno, G Scott, Wynno Josh Fryer.
Andrew Gillis (01:02:48.57)
G I think was, would be the one guy that I think G is more likely to get picked over fryer. I think Stephans right. I think they were really good, serviceable, solid college football players. I don’t know if G is what she would want. Like is G a good enough receiving tight end at the NFL level to find a roster spot where some teams only carry two tight ends? You know, is he good enough?
for that. I don’t think Josh Fryer is a tackle in the NFL. I think he probably has to play guard. So is he physical enough? Is he big enough? Is he, you know, you know, talented enough to handle that switch inside the guard? Maybe. But those, like Stefan said, feel very much like we can get somebody else at 211 or 232.
And you know what, we’re going to take a guy who started on a national championship team as a mini camp invite, as a training camp invite. We’ll sign him as an under-rafted free agent, whatever, and we’ll see what he can do when we get here. But I don’t think there are players right now that you look at and say there is a definite role for them just because you have some question marks about, you know, kind of what they can be at the next level.
Stephen Means (01:04:13.895)
So here’s why they would get drafted. Because I agree with the reason why you guys wouldn’t. They wouldn’t get drafted.
The reasons they would get drafted is G Scott is a former wide receiver turned tight end. So in the right system, he gets a little interesting.
Stefan Krajisnik (01:04:33.015)
former Ohio State wide receiver. down.
Stephen Means (01:04:36.379)
Yeah, yeah. No, no, no, that’s part of the package here. So it’s almost like how the 49ers had the fullback position that everybody doesn’t have a fullback, but for the 49ers, the fullback is a weapon. And Carball likes fullbacks too out with Los Angeles right now. So if you put G Scott in the right system, not saying he’s a fullback, but saying in the right system with the right coach, G Scott becomes a weapon.
Stefan Krajisnik (01:04:37.813)
I would sell it if I was him, I would sell that.
Stephen Means (01:05:04.305)
And so, okay, we take a fire in the seventh round and see if he can fit that very unique role.
Josh Fryer is a two year starter at Ohio State.
And that has to mean something just like being a two years multi-year starter at Georgia or Texas or Alabama. It just means something when you’re talking about championship caliber programs. You know, being a starter at Michigan right now, that’s a chance. I understand they had it down your last year, but there are 12 months removed from the national championship. Penn State, would throw into teams who are in the mix of they should be competing for national championships. It matters a little bit more when you’re a multi-year starter there.
because that means you had to go earn that job. And I am wondering if a team takes a flyer on that with Josh Fryer. He’s not a tackle on the NFL, he’s a guard. He was a guard when he got here. They just didn’t have any tackles and they had to play somebody and Josh Fryer was a guy who could play tackle for you.
Stephen Means (01:06:05.251)
One of us has to not be bored.
And I’m also super low on guys getting drafted this year. I think you guys have a lot of top 100 draft picks. I don’t. So here’s where I get in the bubble. Josh Friar, 256 to the Chargers. It’s like two or three picks before Mr. Irrelevant. And it’s essentially two years start on Ohio. That’s gotta mean something. It doesn’t mean everything, but it’s gotta mean something. And maybe.
Him being a two year starter at Ohio State is the reason he’s 256 versus if he was a two year starter at Michigan State, then he’s probably a undrafted free agent. So I’ll say yes. I will join the other, whether 60 % of our people voted and said that Ohio State would not break the record. I am going to join the
27 % of our Texas 6 1 4 3 5 0 3 3 1 5 who said that Ohio State would break the record. I’m going to join that group and say that Josh Friar is the pick that picks pushed him over the top. Ohio State originally set a record in 2004 with 14 people that help record held until 2022 when Georgia broke it. Georgia’s record I’m saying is going to hold for three years until Ohio State as the national champion gets 16 people drafted.
in the 2025 NFL draft. Let’s run through these by position. Will Howard, Stefan and I both have them going to the Steelers at 123. Andrew has them going to the Saints at 93. Trevion Henderson, Andrew has him going to 31st of the Chiefs. Stefan and I have him going 44th to the Cowboys. Quin-Shawn Judkins, Andrew and I both have them going to the Raiders. Andrew just has them going at 37. I have him going at 73. Stefan has him going at 58 to the Texans.
Stephen Means (01:08:02.941)
Emeka Buka, Andrew and I both have him going 23 to the Packers. Stefan has him going 21 to the Steelers. Josh Simmons, Stefan and I both have him going 25 to the Texans. Andrew has him going 34 to the Giants. Donovan Jackson, Stefan and I both have him going to the Chiefs at 31. Andrew has him going 38 to the Patriots. Seth McLaughlin, I have him going 114 to the Panthers. Stefan has him going 180 to the Falcons.
Andrew has him going 153rd to the Bengals. I’m the only one with Josh Fryer getting drafted at 256 to the Chargers. Jack Sawyer, Andrew and I both have him going 49 to the Bengals. Stefan has him going 60th to the Lions. JT Tui Maloao, Andrew has him going 43rd to the 49ers. Stefan 45th to the Colts. I have him at 56 to the Bills. Ty Hamilton, Andrew 129 to the Ravens. Stefan 136 to the Ravens.
Steven 176 to the Ravens. Tylee Williams, Andrew has him as his final first round draft pick, 30th to the Bills. Stefan has him 41st to the Bears. I have him 40th in a trade to the Vikings. Cody Simon, I have him 134th to the Eagles. Stefan has him 138th to the 49ers. Andrew has him 189th to the Colts. Denzel Burke.
Stefan has them the highest at 101 to the Rams. Andrew has them at 107 to the Jaguars. I have them at 174 to the Cowboys. Jordan Hancock, Andrew has them at 175 to the Seahawks. Stefan has them 179 to the Browns. I have them at 196 to the Lions. And then Lathan Ransom, Stefan has them at 84 to the Buccaneers. I have them at 120 to the Titans. And Andrew has them at 128 to the Commanders. So Stefan and Andrew.
have the Ohio State Buckeyes having 15 players taken in this draft. All 15 go in the top 200 of the NFL draft, which is essentially the bulk of the first five rounds of the NFL draft. I have 15 top 200 picks and then one right outside the top 250 and Josh Fryer. Those are our predictions. Good luck to all these.
Stephen Means (01:10:16.999)
former Ohio State Buckeyes. It’s been fun covering you. Stefan’s done it for one year. Andrew’s done it for two years. Steven’s been doing it since these kids have been in high school. I met Jack at Pickinton North in 2019. And now I think he’s gonna go to Cincinnati to be a bangle. I guess we’ll see what happens there. This is it. This group of Buckeyes is the initial era of the Ryan Day era of Ohio State. They leave with a national championship. They never won a Big Ten title, never beat Michigan, but they did get the ultimate goal of winning a national title.
And now we leave this pod and look forward. Stefan and I will do some other draft recap stuff over the next two pods, but starting next week, we start looking forward for good, put these guys in our real view, rear view mirror and look forward to the new era of Ohio state, but guys, which will include a look at what they did in the transfer portal, some recruiting stuff coming up with Andrew and I and plenty of other things. So get the text 6 1 4 3 5 0 3 3 1 5 2 week free trial.
399 after that for Stefan Kreisick and Andrew Gillis, I’m Stephen Means, that was Fuck I Talk.