Todd McShay: OSU could have ‘one of the best draft classes of all time’

Ohio State will have plenty of players called to the podium during the NFL Draft, but via Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald, ESPN’s Todd McShay is taking it a step further.

If six Buckeyes are in fact selected in the first round, it would tie the University of Miami’s record from 2004. In that year, the Hurricanes saw Sean Taylor, Kellen Winslow II, Jonathan Vilma, D.J. Williams, Vernon Carey, and Vince Wilfork taken in the first round.

If Ohio State has six players taken, they’d likely be Joey Bosa, Ezekiel Elliott, Darron Lee, Michael Thomas, Taylor Decker, and Eli Apple. There is, of course, a chance that Braxton Miller could displace someone as one of the six, or even be a seventh first rounder for the Buckeyes.

When Ohio State players are selected is only a part of weighing them against other draft classes, though.

They’ll also be judged by how they do in the NFL, which will obviously take a while to let play out. Of Miami’s 2004 first rounders, Taylor, Winslow, Vilma, and Wilfork all earned a trip to the Pro Bowl at some point in their careers.

One big question jumps right off of the page. The Hurricanes had six players taken in first round of the 2004 Draft, so how did they not win a National Championship in 2003? Actually, the same question could be asked about the 2016 Ohio State class.

The big difference between the two right now is that the Miami draft class featured players that were pretty low risk, even at the time. That might be a slightly unfair comparison, as the Hurricanes had deep draft classes in the years immediately leading up to 2004 with many of those players starring in the NFL immediately. So, it only stood to reason that their teammates would have similar success.

The Buckeyes haven’t necessarily had that over the last few years. But the fact that the 2016 group can even be put in the discussion shows how deep they are. It also shows that the expectations for these Ohio State players will be big from Day 1.