Ohio State is on one of college football's great talent runs, which means it's OK to ask for more

The Buckeyes rank with the best of Alabama, Miami and Georgia when it comes to the NFL Draft.

Ohio State is on one of the best runs of talent production in college football history in the first seven years of the Ryan Day era. (Photo courtesy of Ohio State)

COLUMBUS — Talent should be an opportunity, not a burden.

With the NFL talent that the Ohio State Buckeyes are producing in the Ryan Day era, the opportunities are endless.

One national title in the last two seasons for Ohio State is probably right. The Buckeyes won it all in 2024 as the No. 8 seed in the playoff, a postseason they never would have reached in any other season in college football.

They were upset in the quarterfinals as the No. 2 seed last year, when the four-team playoff would have presented a semifinal game against overrated Georgia and a repeat shot at Indiana, and the old two-team playoff would have rematched the Buckeyes and Hoosiers in the national championship, with revenge a worthy motivator.

So one title is fair. Assuming this talent accumulation continues, there must be more championships ahead. Because Ohio State is on one of the great talent runs in college football history.

Ohio State led all teams with 11 picks in the 2026 NFL Draft after leading everyone last year with 14 picks. Their 25 picks in two years ties Georgia from the 2022 and 2023 drafts for the best two-year run ever.

The Bulldogs, you’ll remember, won back-to-back titles leading into those drafts.

With four Buckeyes going in the top 11 — the best four-player run to start a draft since Michigan State in 1967 — there was some chatter asking how Ohio State didn’t win it all in 2025 with that group. The Buckeyes, of course, did win in 2024, a fact left out of some discussions.

But I don’t think it’s an completely invalid question, because this draft — four in the top 11, seven in the first two rounds, 11 overall — is that elite. And this run is that rare.