An unexpected Ohio State football player heard his name called in the 2026 NFL Draft over the weekend
Ohio State was well represented in the 2026 NFL Draft and it included a player hearing his name called that wasn’t really expected.
It was a stellar weekend for the Ohio State football program, with several of it’s former players hearing their names called in the 2026 NFL Draft. Ohio State had 11 players drafted overall and it has 25 total over the last two years.
Going into the draft, it was known that Ohio State was going to be able to push for double digit players drafted once again. Four players were drafted in the first 11 picks with Carnell Tate, Arvell Reese, Sonny Styles, and Carnell Tate all hearing their names called early.
The final Buckeye to be drafted on Sunday was one who wasn’t necessarily expected to hear his name called. When you factor in that he started zero games at Ohio State, it’s even more interesting.
Ohio State’s 11th player drafted on Saturday was great for the program
You can transfer to Ohio State, start zero games, and still hear your name called. That’s what happened for former Ohio State OT Ethan Onianwa on Saturday when he was selected No. 231 overall in the seventh round by the Atlanta Falcons.
Onianwa made zero starts for the Buckeyes in 2026 and played just 96 offensive snaps in eight games. The former Rice standout transferred to Ohio State to be a potential starting offensive tackle, but he was never able to win the job and saw the field only as a guard.
The former Buckeyes is a large human being at 6-foot-7, 330 pounds and his length is exactly what you want in an offensive tackle. His footwork and toughness at the point of attack were question marks at Ohio State, but he now gets a chance to develop into an NFL offensive lineman.
Before transferring to Ohio State, Onianwa was a standout at Rice where he started for three seasons at both right tackle and left tackle. Onianwa and current Buckeye Phillip Daniels were both brought in to be Ohio State’s tackles in 2025, but only Daniels ended up being a starter.
Onianwa getting drafted is a cool outcome for the Buckeyes and him. It’s easy to see his time at Ohio state didn’t go as planned, but he still was able to leave as an NFL draft pick.
