Three Indiana and Ohio State players in the Big Ten Championship Titans fans must watch closely for first round NFL draft implications

The Tennessee Titans head to face the Cleveland Browns in chilly, windy and potentially snowy conditions in Week 14. But before Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders duel on Sunday, the biggest game of the College Football season so far kicks off on Saturday night: Indiana vs Ohio State, in the Big Ten Championship game.

There are a handful of prospects in this battle of the #1 vs #2 teams in the country that Titans fans need to keep an eye on ahead of the 2026 NFL Draft. Ohio State CB Davison Igbinosun and TE Max Klare are projected to be potential Day 2 draft picks, as are Indiana WR Elijah Sarratt, CB D’angelo Ponds, and WR Omar Cooper Jr. A couple of mid-to-late first round prospects are in this one too, such as Ohio State LB Sonny Styles and DL Kayden McDonald. And then there’s S Caleb Downs, who might be a top-5 talent in the entire class (though the Titans aren’t exactly in the market for a safety that high). So make sure to keep an eye peeled for all of those guys in this game.

But there are three bigger name, potential blue chip players suiting up for this game all projected to be top-10 draft picks at this stage of the process. They play premium positions, and their performances in the college postseason could directly impact the Titans’ plans at the top of the draft.

Fernando Mendoza | QB | Indiana

Through 13 weeks, the Titans remain the only team in the NFL with just one win. This is what is keeping them firmly in possession of the first overall pick so far. And if they finish the year with the top pick for a second time in a row, the draft value of Fernando Mendoza will be of immense importance to them.

The 6’5″ 225lbs redshirt Junior is a consensus top-2 QB prospect in this class along with Oregon QB Dante Moore, and plenty of folks would argue Mendoza is QB1 so far. The Titans would be one of the most likely teams in recent draft history to trade down from their pick if they have number 1 overall, so it’s paramount that both of these passers finish the postseason strong to solidify the likelihood they get picked first and second in April.

Mendoza has had a gaudy statistical season and is sure to be in New York as a Heisman finalist, but he’s also had a tendency to disappear for stretches of their more difficult matchups. In Indiana’s scare against Penn St. last month, he was mostly quiet all day until he eventually called game with a Heisman-moment drive in the final minutes to score the game-winning touchdown. All he needs to do is merely show up against a phenomenal Ohio State defense to maintain confidence in him. No implosions, please!

Arvelle Reese | LB/EDGE | Ohio State

Arvelle Reese is considered by many to be the most talented football player in this draft class. The 6’4″ 243lbs linebacker’s only hang-up, at least narratively, is the nature of his true position at the next level. Ohio State has him playing as a standup linebacker a lot of the time, with roughly twice as many coverage snaps in his charting this year as pass rush snaps. He puts his hand in the dirt on the edge a good deal too, though. And when he does, he dominates. Plenty of evaluators believe he can be a full-time EDGE at the professional level, and if the Titans were to select him in the top 5 come April, they’d need to be confident that’s the case.

Carnell Tate | WR | Ohio State

Finally, the best receiver in this game is Carnell Tate, the latest stud WR product out of Ohio State. Is there a safer-feeling option in the draft these days than blindly saying “give me the next Ohio State receiver”? Tate is 6’3″ 195lbs, and if you look past all the flash and sizzle of his younger counterpart Jeremiah Smith (a 2027 prospect), you see that he has all the things you want in one of these polished OSU guys: size, length, athleticism, and route-running savvy. If the Titans trade down into the 5-10 range of the first round, he’s going to be very high on my list of players they should consider bringing to help Cam Ward.