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Buckeye cornerback leaving for NFL

Connor O'Gara

By Connor O'Gara

Published:

The trend continues. Another Ohio State underclassman if off to the NFL.

The latest Buckeye to throw his name into the NFL pool was Eli Apple, who made the announcement via Twitter on Monday.

He joined Darron Lee as the second OSU sophomore to declare for the NFL draft.

Apple emerged in a Buckeye secondary that was among the best against the pass in the country. He played in all 13 games and finished second on the team with eight pass breakups. As one of the nation’s better cover corners, Apple also had 33 tackles, two tackles for loss and a fumble recovery.

In his freshman season in 2014, Apple started in 14 of 15 games and was a key catalyst in the Buckeyes’ national title run.

He came to Columbus as a five-star recruit in the Buckeyes’ loaded 2013 class. Fittingly, he’ll join fellow 2013 Buckeye recruits Lee, Ezekiel Elliott and Joey Bosa in the draft. Tyvis Powell and Cardale Jones are also off to the NFL.

The Buckeyes are still waiting to hear whether or not skill players Mike Thomas and Jalin Marshall are also leaving early.

Connor O'Gara

Connor O'Gara is the senior national columnist for Saturday Tradition. He's a member of the Football Writers Association of America. After spending his entire life living in B1G country, he moved to the South in 2015.