Former Ohio State stars make Cowboys-Broncos a must-see NFL matchup

Sunday afternoon is going to be lit, as the young'uns say.

But let me first preface this by stating there won’t be that many Ohio State alumni taking the field in Denver.

In fact, only five former Buckeyes are featured in this weekend’s tilt between the Dallas Cowboys and Denver Broncos. It’s the quality of those players and their teams that’ll make for one fun watch.

Tight end Jeff Heuerman and cornerback Bradley Roby will be reppin’ the Broncos, while rookie wide receiver Noah Brown and running backs Ezekiel Elliott and Rod Smith don the Cowboys’ big blue star.

Brown and Smith haven’t seen any meaningful minutes this season and it’s highly unlikely that’ll change soon.

We’re not concerned with those two, though.

Heuerman, Roby, and Elliott all began the 2017 campaign strong. In one way or another, the trio played key roles in lifting their respective teams to season-opening wins. They’ll look to keep things going in Week Two.

It was Elliott that held court over headlines for the past eight months, so we’ll start with him. Zeke shook off his offseason issues against divisional rival New York Giants, rushing for 104 yards on 24 carries. He also caught five passes for 36 yards.

It was a really solid outing to kick off the year for Elliott, who hasn’t escaped the media spotlight since his season ended back in January.

Next up, we have Roby.

Although he doesn’t necessarily start, the 25-year-old is almost always on the field for the Broncos as their third corner in rotation behind Aqib Talib and Chris Harris Jr. Roby has six interceptions and two pick-sixes so far in his young career.

And he added to his impressive resume last Monday versus the San Diego Chargers.

Roby’s game-changing snag propelled Denver’s 10-point surge that resulted in a commanding 24-7 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

But the Broncos’ first score of the night wouldn’t have been possible without Heuerman.

Like Roby, Heuerman isn’t No. 1 on the depth chart. Instead, he rotates in and ended up making what might’ve been the toughest catch of his pro career.

Heuerman got popped, held on for the 20-yard reception and fought for extra yardage before being brought down. If he’s not a Gruden grinder, I don’t know who is.

Anyways, that does it, folks.

There’s a ton of former Buckeyes floating around the league, but some of the more talented alumni will face off on Sunday in the Mile High City.

We should be in for a treat.