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There is so much at stake this evening when the Ohio State Buckeyes meet the Clemson Tigers in a battle of undefeated teams in a College Football Playoff semifinal in the Fiesta Bowl.
Obviously, the winner advanced to the CFP national championship game on Jan. 13 to play the winner of today’s LSU Oklahoma Peach Bowl game.
For Ryan Day, the first-year coach with a perfect 16-0 record for the Buckeyes, it’s a chance to match wits with a two-time national champion, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney.
For seniors, it’s either the last or second-to-last chance to don the scarlet and gray, representing The Ohio State University on the football field.
And in the backs of their minds, some non-seniors have to be wondering if they will follow those seniors out the door at the end of the season.
A couple of OSU juniors seem destined for certain millions of dollars as first-round — and likely top-5 — NFL Draft picks should they declare for the pros. For some others, the decision of whether to stay or go is trickier.
With that in mind, here are 5 Buckeyes non-seniors fans might want to get a long look at in the postseason just in case they depart for the pros.
DE Chase Young
It is probably a foregone conclusion that the All-Everything defensive lineman and human sack machine is headed to the NFL in a few months. He’s a top-5 NFL Draft pick in every mock draft you’d care to consult; many have him joining recent Ohio State teammates Dwayne Haskins and Terry McLaurin with Washington, which is projected to have the No. 2 overall pick with one NFL regular-season week left to play. Whether it is there or somewhere else, some team is sure to leap at the chance to take college football’s most destructive defensive player very, very high should Young decide to turn pro. Honestly, he’d almost be crazy not to.
CB Jeff Okudah
Like Young, Okudah has flashed athleticism that leaps off the game tape and makes NFL coaches and general managers pay attention. He also is a projected top-5 pick on most mock draft boards. He only has three interceptions this season but his playmaking ability and coverage smarts make him an obvious pro football prospect. The CBS mock draft board calls him a “long, twitchy, ball-hawking outside corner” and it seems Okudah is ready to join the likes of Denzel Ward, Marshon Lattimore and Eli Apple as Buckeyes defensive backs selected high in the first round in recent years.
RB J.K. Dobbins
This one is a bit trickier because of where he is projected. But from another angle, his decision might be easiest of all. After all, former OSU standout Mike Weber left after last season and he didn’t have the numbers that Dobbins has put up in 3 seasons wearing scarlet and gray. More to the point, running backs in general have notoriously short shelf lives nowadays, so if there is any position where an NFL-ready player should seriously consider coming out early, that’s probably the one. Dobbins has rushed for 1,829 yards this season and 4,285 for his career, second on OSU’s all-time list.
DB Shaun Wade
Wade is a redshirt sophomore so he’s three years out of high school and thus eligible to come out for the NFL Draft. One mock has him going in the first round but he could go anywhere in the first couple of rounds should he decide to pass on the final two years of his college eligibility. Wade has one interception this season and four for his career; he also has 25 tackles (4 for loss) and 2 sacks in 2019 as part of Ohio State’s defensive resurgence under first-year coach Ryan Day and new defensive coordinators Greg Mattison and Jeff Hafley.
OG Wyatt Davis
Another redshirt sophomore, Davis took to his starting role quickly as part of a reconstructed offensive line. He started two games late last season and played well, then parlayed that experience into a terrific 2019 campaign in which he was named first-team All-American by several services including the Associated Press, CBS, ESPN, Sporting News and USA Today. Davis joins Young and Okudah in earning that honor this season (Dobbins was named first-team All-American by a few services but was not consensus). A report Thursday indicated that Davis would come back next season so, out of all the players projected for the first three rounds in various mock drafts, he seems most likely to stay at OSU.
Longtime newspaper veteran Jim Tomlin is a writer and editor for saturdaytradition.com and saturdaydownsouth.com.