Over/unders for Buckeyes in the NFL Draft

Hey, did you hear? The NFL Draft is tonight. You hadn’t heard? Huh, that’s weird. Although, it’s probably better that way. Every year the conversations leading up to the draft get more and more toxic and idiotic — especially when they come to highly talented and accomplished Black quarterbacks.

As I’ve admitted ad nauseam in these LGHL pages, I’m an idiot, so I have no idea if Justin Fields is going to be the best quarterback in the history of professional football, or if he is going to be the bustiest bust to ever have been busted. But what I have learned in my rapidly advancing age is that really no one else knows either, including the so-called experts.

But you know what? No matter how incompetent these “scouts” and “draft experts” all obviously are, they are clearly far smarter than you or I are, because they are getting paid a fairly sizable amount of money to be just as wrong (if not even more so) as we are, despite it being their job. Nice work if you can get it.

Anyway, despite the absurdity that is draft punditry, there will be actual Ohio State Buckeyes taken in the draft beginning tonight. According to SportsBettingDime.com, OSU is one of eight teams expected to have three or more players selected in the top 100 picks of the draft. The Alabama Crimson Tide lead the way with eight, while North Carolina and LSU have four. Penn State, Florida, Clemson, and Washington all match the Buckeyes’ three projected picks.

The over/under on Fields, according to SBD, is 7.5. That means that — barring inevitable future trades — you would be betting on whether or not the OSU QB will be selected by or before the Detroit Lions at seven, or by or after the Carolina Panthers at eight. And if you ask me on if I would go under or over, I would tell you that at this point, I have absolutely no idea what to expect for Fields in the draft.

Two weeks ago, I said on Twitter that I didn’t think that he would drop out of the top-5, and that if he did that Bill Belichick would swoop up and get him somewhere in the top-10. Now, that is still on the table, but all of the smokescreens, disinformation, and misdirects have me completely frustrated and confused. So, I’m just going to root for Fields to end up in the best possible spot for him personally, financially, and footballery... and from there for him to absolute destroy the rest of the league that tried to make him out to be an idiot and/or immature Gen Z slacker.

The other Buckeyes projected to go in the top-100 are offensive guard Wyatt Davis (47.5 o/u) and defensive tackle Tommy Togiai (94.5). Linebackers Pete Werner, Justin Hilliard, and Baron Browning; cornerback Shaun Wade; running back Trey Sermon; and offensive lineman Josh Myers are the other Bucks expected to be selected at some point during the three-day festivities in Cleveland.

Anything after the first two or three rounds is a crapshoot in terms of predictions. Everything tends to come down to team needs and who is still left on the board, but I do think that all of those OSU guys deserve a shot to be in the league, and look forward to cheering for them wherever they land.

So, who do you think is the best bet based on these o/us? I think I would go under for Werner. He just strikes me as the type of guy that a team would take a flyer on in the first three rounds. He’s a surprisingly athletic, white linebacker from a blue blood program. Some GM’s gonna fall in love with him waaaaay earlier than he probably should. Hell, he could go before Fields does.