As the NFL Draft approaches, all Ohio State fans are excited to learn where their favorite Buckeyes will end up. What uniforms will our favorites don at the next level and will their professional careers be as successful as their collegiate? These are the questions that make the draft one of the must-watch events of the year for NFL or college football fans alike.

Today I’m going to break away from what I normally write about in the recruiting world and see where the “experts” have all of our favorite Ohio State players projected to end up.

Fair warning, there are some players — like Master Teague — that I could not find consistent mentions of in mock drafts, so I don’t have a full breakdown for him, but I did find him scattered in a few sixth and seventh-round projections, so we can keep a close eye on Teague during the draft and hope somebody takes a shot on the Buckeye back.

---

Garrett Wilson | Wide Receiver

Wilson is projected to go anywhere from as high as seventh overall to as low as 16th in the 10 most recent mock drafts that I looked at. The most popular landing place for the wide receiver has been the Atlanta Falcons.

In Atlanta, Wilson would be hands down the No. 1 wide receiver and have to quickly become the top target for new Falcons quarterback Marcus Mariota, which could be a good thing in the sense that he will have an increased target share. However, I know many Buckeye fans would rather see him end up with an elite, established QB.

Washington would be an interesting landing place as well, as he would line up with former Buckeye teammates Terry McLaurin and Chase Young, along with former Buckeye Curtis Samuel. Carson Wentz is an interesting experiment in DC but not one that I am too fond of Wilson walking into, we all already know most Buckeye fans want to #FreeTerry from DC and get him with a good quarterback, so we will see how this one plays out.

---

Chris Olave | Wide Receiver

Olave is one of the cleanest route runners in this draft class and it has been shown by the amount of popularity he has gained throughout the draft process. The 10 most recent mocks I could find did not have him slipping out of the first round.

Last season, Olave bet on himself and came back to school with hopes of becoming a first-round talent with another year under his belt. If the mock drafts are correct, it looks like Olave won the bet that he placed on himself and indeed will ascend to the first round of the draft where a season ago he was consistently mocked in the second or third rounds.

Now I know that many Buckeye fans are hopeful that Olave ends up in Green Bay or Kansas City — who wouldn't want to see Patrick Mahomes and Aaron Rodgers dropping bombs to Olave down the sideline? However, with the way that he is rising in the draft, one of those two teams may have to trade up to get him, something the Chiefs are no strangers to doing as shown by moving up 17 spots to take their guy in Mahomes in 2017.

If Olave does indeed go early in this draft, some interesting landing spots mocked above could be Washington, where many Buckeyes already reside, and New Orleans, who had been a great organization, but now finds itself without a franchise QB. Olave’s landing place is one of the things that I will be watching the closest draft night.

---

Nicholas Petit-Frere | Offensive Line

Nicholas Petit-Frere came into the Ohio State program needing to bulk up, but a five-star recruit all the same. It took a few seasons, but he became what many expected him to be and played extremely well last season at left tackle for the Buckeyes.

NPF put on extra weight and muscle and really solidifed himself as an NFL player. Since he likely won’t go in the first two rounds of the draft, it was a bit more difficult to find as many third-round and up mock drafts, so the list shrinks a bit for the rest of our players.

However, the average draft position between the five most recent mock drafts featuring NPF is coming in at around the 66th pick. He would be a good fit for any of the teams listed above with the Ravens being a spot in particular that the lineman has been tied to multiple times. I think from this point on, his ceiling will only get higher and whoever ends up drafting him will be pleasantly surprised at the person and player that he is.

---

Jeremy Ruckert | Tight End

Jeremy Ruckert is a player whose best days are still ahead of him in my opinion. Everyone knows Ohio State asks their tight ends to block a lot and does not throw to them nearly as much as many fans would like, but in this case, I think that was the best thing for Ruckert’s development.

He is now a much more polished blocker and is not at all a detriment in that department. In fact, contrary to popular opinion, he actually was quite the plus last season for the Buckeyes. Going to a run-heavy team like the Titans may not be the best use of his skill set, but I believe that many of the places that he is mocked to are able to use his talents in their offense immediately.

As high as the 80th pick is about right for where I think he will go, however, if a team falls in love with his pass-catching potential, he could rise up boards even further.

---

Haskell Garrett | Defensive Line

Haskell Garrett; man, what a warrior. Any team who drafts him is going to find that out really quickly. He will bring leadership and a strong presence to any locker room that he ends up in.

He has been one of my favorite Buckeye players in his time in Columbus and will be a fan favorite in whichever NFL city is lucky enough to have him. After quite literally being shot in the face while being a good person, he came back and still wrecked the Big Ten.

Now, personally, I am hoping that he ends up in Kansas City as anybody who follows me on Twitter knows that that is my favorite team, and man could they use him. However, he is being mocked as high as the 80th pick, and could climb higher. Whichever round he goes, its a pretty safe bet Haskell Garrett will make the teams who passed on him regret it.

---

Tyreke Smith | Edge Rusher

Tyreke Smith is a bit of a mystery for me, as far as where he will go in the draft. He had some games last season where he really took over, but he also had some in which his name was not called all that often.

For him, it is all about projection and what these teams think that he can eventually become with more coaching and an NFL practice environment. I think with those things he will only improve and warrant his selection by any NFL franchise. The highest spot currently being mocked is 104th to the Super Bowl champion Rams, and the lowest is all the way at 227th, which makes for quite a range of positioning.

So we will see where Smith ends up and how the team that selects him will decide to use him in their defensive schemes.

---

Thayer Munford | Guard/Tackle

Thayer Munford is the embodiment of an Ohio State Buckeye. He was last season’s Block 0 recipient (although rules wouldn't let him wear it on the offensive line, but that is a WHOLE different story in which I could rant on about) and an absolutely selfless player.

His switch to guard last year to allow for Dawand Jones to play tackle is still one of the most selfless moves I have seen in football. Not only that, but it gives him a humongous amount of value in this draft.

If you have read my “Class-in-Review” articles you know that I am a big fan of versatility. Munford can now play four of the five positions on the offensive line at a pretty damn high level if you ask me. That means that any team that sustains an injury — and lord knows that happens quite a lot — can plug and play Thayer Munford at nearly any position on the line.

It is a huge benefit to any team to have interchangeable parts for the offensive line. The most recent mock drafts have him going as high as the third round, which I think is his ceiling unless a team absolutely falls in love with him during the draft process. His floor is probably the fifth round; anything past that and the team who drafts him gets a stud in the late rounds.