Anytime talented players leave a college football program early for the NFL Draft, they do so either because they feel there is nothing more to accomplish at school or because they know they will most likely be a high selection.
Ohio State saw nine players leave early for the NFL upon completion of the 2015 football season: Ezekiel Elliott, Eli Apple, Darron Lee, Joey Bosa, Cardale Jones, Vonn Bell, Michael Thomas, Tyvis Powell and Jalin Marshall. Powell and Marshall were the only players not selected in the 2016 NFL Draft.
The roster attrition Urban Meyer and his staff faced this spring and ahead of fall camp is staggering — 12 players on last year's team were drafted, plus Powell, Marshall and offensive lineman Chase Farris are trying to make rosters as undrafted free agents. No one can blame the players for leaving and trying to profit off their bodies and skills as football players at the next level — your football-playing window only lasts so long.
However, those names leave significant holes in the depth chart and each will be missed in different capacities in 2016.
Here are five players I believe Ohio State would have benefited the most from this fall had they elected to come back and play one more year of college football. Thus, these are the guys the Buckeyes will miss the most when an extremely young and inexperienced roster takes the Ohio Stadium turf Sept. 3 against Bowling Green.
Ezekiel Elliott, Running Back
Elliott's vision, speed, power and pass blocking all combine to make a rare talent in the backfield. Though Mike Weber was a sought after recruit and Bri'onte Dunn has the potential to leave his mark on the program during his senior campaign, neither has the track record of Elliott. Frankly, not many people do.
There was a reason the now-Dallas Cowboy hardly left the field in 2015: Ohio State couldn't afford to have him on the bench and his backups didn't bring the consistency and ferocity like Elliott. No disrespecting Dunn, Weber or even Curtis Samuel, but there is a reason Elliott won the 2015 Silver Football.
The Buckeyes did not announce a starter at running back this spring and both Meyer and Tony Alford said they would not be above trying to replace Elliott by committee in the early portions of the season. That was not the case a year ago at this time. The Buckeyes knew they had a horse in Elliott back in the fold. In 2016, the options are largely unproven.
Vonn Bell, Safety
A two-year starter and All-American, Bell came off the NFL Draft board in the second round (61st overall) to the New Orleans Saints. An outstanding tackler and playmaker, Bell will not be easy to replace in Ohio State's secondary.
Just like at many other positions, the Buckeyes did not announce a starter at either safety spot in spring practice. Damon Webb and Malik Hooker are in line to step in for Bell and Tyvis Powell, but neither carries the swagger, skill set or big-play repertoire he did while in Columbus. Many believed Bell should have started as a true freshman in 2013 when Ohio State's pass defense finished among the nation's worst. Imagine if he came back for his senior season.
Bell is a special talent and is one of Meyer's biggest gets on the recruiting trail because of his ties to the south and the fact he chose Ohio State over Alabama, Tennessee and a host of other SEC schools. He has an edge to his game and served as a beacon of consistency for the program. Had he returned, Ohio State wouldn't have had much to worry about in its secondary as long as Bell stayed healthy in 2016.
Darron Lee, Linebacker
Prepare yourself for this: Media, coaches and players will always be on the lookout for "The Next Darron Lee" first on the recruiting trail and then at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. Lee's story is especially rare — the Columbus kid the Buckeyes took a chance on only to see him morph into a first-round pick that leaves a massive gap in their linebacking corps.
Lee's ability to rush the passer, play in space against either tight ends or running backs and terrific tackling skills made opponents try to avoid him in 2015 after they saw what he did on the biggest stage during Ohio State's national championship run.
Luke Fickell pounded the table for the Buckeyes to extend a scholarship offer Lee's way because he believed he could be a star, and now Ohio State's defensive coordinator and linebackers coach hopes he found someone similar in Walnut Ridge's Malik Harrison. Harrison has a long way to go before getting to that level but is one of the players in line to be compared to Lee throughout his career. Jerome Baker, Dante Booker, Chris Worley and others face it too. Matching Lee's production and impact in a game won't be easy, which is why he makes this list.
Joey Bosa, Defensive Lineman
Among the names on this list made, Bosa easily made the most impact as a true freshman at Ohio State. He started a few games due to injuries, but then did not relinquish the job once Adolphus Washington got healthy. A two-time All-American, two-time Big Ten Defensive Lineman of the Year and 2014 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, Bosa's numbers are staggering — his 26.0 career sacks are third-most in program history.
Bosa's production dipped considerably in 2015 because he faced double and sometimes triple teams as a junior. Still, his ejection in the Fiesta Bowl against Notre Dame for targeting left a hole on Ohio State's defensive line. Sam Hubbard, Tyquan Lewis and even Bosa's little brother Nick seem more than ready to step up in his absence in 2016 and beyond. They won't, however, match his production in all facets of the game — at least not right away.
Had Bosa returned for the 2016 season to team up with Hubbard, Lewis, Tracy Sprinkle, Michael Hill, his little brother and the other young talent on the defensive line, the unit would have been scary. Instead, Larry Johnson looks to the youth in his unit to take steps quickly in order to hopefully replicate what Bosa did for three seasons in Columbus. No easy task.
Michael Thomas, Wide Receiver
He did not have the most outstanding numbers on the outside because of the back-and-forth at quarterback between Cardale Jones and J.T. Barrett, but Thomas' absence on the 2016 roster means no NFL-ready wide receivers return to the group. That's fine, because the talent Zach Smith has to work with is outstanding — it just is not ready for the next level yet.
Thomas proved his value during Ohio State's rise in the latter half of the 2014 season. He became an excellent security blanket with a nose for the big play first for Barrett and then Jones. His 79-yard catch and run at Michigan State, acrobatic grab on a reverse pass from Evan Spencer in the Sugar Bowl against Alabama and shedding of would-be tacklers against Oregon in the national title game in order to move the chains come to mind as plays not many college receivers can make with regularity. The names he leaves behind at receiver — Noah Brown, Torrance Gibson, Parris Campbell, K.J. Hill, Austin Mack and more — have shown flashes of both athleticism and speed that could eventually put them in the same breath as Thomas. But none of them are there yet.
Barrett worked without four of his top pass-catchers this spring. Had Thomas returned, he and the offense would have known they had an NFL-caliber player on the outside. Instead, a youth movement commenced.
Keep in mind the names on this list were five selected from the nine that left Ohio State early. There is no denying Ohio State will dearly miss three-year starters Taylor Decker and Joshua Perry this season, but we chose to focus on the non-seniors from the 2015 squad now in the NFL.
A bunch of new faces will make plays and headlines for the Buckeyes in 2016. How well they can make fans forget about the five guys above will go a long way in determining how Ohio State does this fall.
