Many former Ohio State players made their mark on the NFL once again during the 2020 season.
While there weren’t any Buckeyes in this year’s Super Bowl, and some of their biggest NFL stars (like Michael Thomas and Nick Bosa) were hit by the injury bug, there were still plenty of Ohio State products who were stars for their respective teams and ranked among the league’s most productive players this season.
Now that the NFL season is officially over, we take a look at 15 of Ohio State’s best performers from the year that was.
15. Ezekiel Elliott, RB, Dallas Cowboys
Although Ezekiel Elliott ranked 11th in the NFL in rushing yards (979) and 15th in total yards from scrimmage (1,317), the 2020 season was his worst since he entered the league.
Elliott averaged a career-low 4.0 yards per carry and 6.5 yards per catch, scored a career-low eight touchdowns and most problematically, he had the most fumbles of any non-quarterback in the NFL with six.
He still had the most yards from scrimmage of any Buckeye in 2020, which is why he makes this list, but the Dallas Cowboys will be looking for more from their star running back in 2021.
14. Jordan Fuller, S, Los Angeles Rams
Even though he was a sixth-round draft pick, Jordan Fuller immediately established himself as a playmaker on the back end of the Los Angeles Rams’ defense in 2020, recording 60 total tackles, five passes defended and three interceptions while playing just 12 regular-season games in his rookie season.
Most notably, Fuller recorded a pair of interceptions against fellow No. 199 overall pick Tom Brady to help lead the Rams to a 27-24 regular-season win against the eventual Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
While Fuller’s slide down the draft board suggested he was viewed as just a role player by NFL scouts, he’s already cemented himself as a mainstay in the Rams’ secondary – just like he was at Ohio State – and his NFL future appears very bright.
13. Curtis Samuel, WR, Carolina Panthers
After bringing in a new coaching staff led by former Baylor head coach Matt Rhule and former LSU passing game coordinator Joe Brady, the Carolina Panthers finally started utilizing Curtis Samuel to his full potential in 2020, leading to career-highs in both receiving and rushing for the explosive former Ohio State H-back.
Samuel caught 77 passes for 851 yards and three touchdowns while carrying the ball 41 times for 200 yards and two touchdowns in his fourth NFL season, setting career-highs in all of those categories except touchdowns.
Now set to hit free agency for the first time in his NFL career, Samuel is expected to draw interest from a lot of teams because of his versatile skill set.
12. J.K. Dobbins, RB, Baltimore Ravens
If J.K. Dobbins had gotten the ball more consistently in his rookie season, he’d probably be even higher up on this list. Dobbins led all NFL running backs in 2020 by averaging six yards per carry in his first year as a Baltimore Raven.
Dobbins also set a Ravens rookie record by rushing for nine regular-season touchdowns. He finished the regular season by scoring a touchdown in each of Baltimore’s final six games, and extended that streak into the postseason by scoring a touchdown in the Ravens’ wild card round win over the Tennessee Titans, his first-ever NFL playoff game.
Because he had to split touches with both Gus Edwards and Mark Ingram during his rookie season, Dobbins finished the regular season with only 134 carries, but that was enough for him to run for 805 yards, while he also caught 18 passes for 120 yards. That should lead to a greater share of the workload in his second NFL season, which will give him a chance to truly begin establishing himself as a star in the league.
11. Marshon Lattimore, CB, New Orleans Saints
One of the NFL’s top cornerbacks ever since he’s been in the league, Lattimore made the Pro Bowl for the third time in four seasons in 2020.
Statistically, Lattimore wasn’t as dominant in 2020 as he had been over the past few years; according to Canal Street Chronicles, he gave up eight touchdowns in 2020 after allowing just five in his previous three NFL seasons combined.
That said, Lattimore did record a career-high 62 tackles with two tackles for loss along with two interceptions and 11 passes defended during the regular season, while he also had two pass deflections in each of the Saints’ playoff games. And he made a game-winning play for the Saints on Monday Night Football when he tackled Los Angeles Chargers wide receiver Mike Williams short of the first-down marker on a 4th-and-7 catch in overtime.
Fourth down STOP for the win! #Saints #LACvsNO pic.twitter.com/gorYLQfHeZ
— NFL (@NFL) October 13, 2020
10. Terry McLaurin, WR, Washington Football Team
Even though his former Ohio State teammate Dwayne Haskins failed to stick as the starting quarterback of the Washington Football Team, which ended up starting four different quarterbacks between the regular season and postseason, Terry McLaurin was consistently productive no matter who was throwing him the ball.
McLaurin caught 87 passes for 1,118 yards in 2020, ranking 13th in the NFL in receiving yards and leading Washington in both categories for the second year in a row to start his professional career.
While McLaurin had only four touchdowns in 2020, he still made no shortage of big plays, tying for 13th among all NFL receivers with 17 catches of 20 yards or more.
9. Vonn Bell, S, Cincinnati Bengals
Although wins continued to mostly elude the Cincinnati Bengals in 2020, Vonn Bell was one of the bright spots in their 4-11-1 season.
In his first season back in the Buckeye State, Bell led the Bengals with a career-high 114 total tackles and built upon his reputation for making takeaways through fumbles, forcing a career-high three fumbles while also recovering two.
Bell also had four tackles for loss and five passes defended while starting all 16 games in the Bengals’ secondary in the first year of his three-year contract with the team.
8. Malcolm Jenkins, S, New Orleans Saints
In his first year back in New Orleans after six years with the Philadelphia Eagles, Malcolm Jenkins showed he was still one of the NFL’s best safeties and one who could make plays all over the field for the Saints’ defense.
Still almost never leaving the field in his 12th season in the league, Jenkins recorded 91 total tackles and three interceptions – as many as he had in the previous three seasons combined – while recording eight total tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery and 10 passes defended.
He played perhaps his best football of the season in the Saints’ last game of the year, recording 11 total tackles with three pass deflections in New Orleans’ 30-20 divisional-round playoff loss to the Buccaneers.
In his 12th NFL season, Malcolm Jenkins returned to the New Orleans Saints and continued to be one of the NFL's top safeties. (Photo: Chuck Cook – USA TODAY Sports)
7. Jerome Baker, LB, Miami Dolphins
Among NFL defenders who had more than 100 total tackles during the 2020 season, only one other (Buccaneers linebacker Devin White) had more sacks than Jerome Baker, who had 112 total tackles and seven sacks in his third season with the Miami Dolphins.
Having developed into the player he always had the athletic potential to be at Ohio State, Baker was a highly disruptive playmaker for the Dolphins’ defense in 2020, leading them in tackles while recording eight total tackles for loss, two forced fumbles and three pass deflections.
Both a dangerous blitzer as well as an asset in coverage for the Miami defense, Baker firmly established himself as one of the best players on a Dolphins team that just narrowly missed the playoffs this past season.
30-yard SACK for Jerome Baker! #FinsUp @LastName_Baker
— NFL (@NFL) December 13, 2020
: #KCvsMIA on CBS
: NFL app // Yahoo Sports app: https://t.co/tvMsTDEOAi pic.twitter.com/AodQZ8nQsK
6. Denzel Ward, CB, Cleveland Browns
As the Cleveland Browns finally ended their 17-year playoff drought in 2020, Denzel Ward continued to be one of the NFL’s best young cornerbacks, tying for second in the league with 18 passes defended – while playing just 12 regular-season games – in his third NFL season.
While the Browns’ defense was still shaky this past season, Ward was not the problem, as he mostly shut down his opponents while recording 46 total tackles, two interceptions and a forced fumble in the regular season.
According to RotoUnderworld, Ward allowed the third-lowest opposing passer rating of any NFL cornerback in 2020.
5. Taylor Decker, LT, Detroit Lions
The Detroit Lions showed their belief in Taylor Decker as a cornerstone left tackle by signing him to a six-year, $85 million contract just before the 2020 season, and he’s proved to be worth the money so far.
According to Pro Football Focus, which ranked Decker as the NFL’s 72nd-best player of 2020, the former Buckeye allowed just two sacks in nearly 700 pass blocking snaps while also posting the second-best run blocking grade of his career in his fifth season in the league.
He might not get a lot of national attention because of the position he plays on a team that didn’t win many football games this past season, but Decker is a rock-solid pass protector who has quietly become one of the NFL’s top offensive tackles.
Taylor Decker continued to lock down the left side of the Detroit Lions' offensive line in 2020. (Photo: Isaiah J. Downing – USA TODAY Sports)
4. Joey Bosa, DE, Los Angeles Chargers
The Los Angeles Chargers made it clear just how highly they valued Joey Bosa by making him the NFL’s highest-paid defensive player last summer, and he continued to be one of the league’s best defensive ends in 2020.
Bosa recorded 39 total tackles with 14.5 tackles for loss and 7.5 sacks in 2020, and ranked fifth among all NFL players with 27 quarterback hits. He also had one pass deflection and one fumble recovery.
Selected to the Pro Football Writers of America’s All-AFC team and to his third Pro Bowl in four years, Bosa was ranked by Pro Football Focus as the NFL’s 21st-best player for the 2020 season.
3. Cam Heyward, DE, Pittsburgh Steelers
Like Bosa and Decker, Cam Heyward cashed in with a big contract before the 2020 season – becoming the NFL’s highest-paid defensive player over 30 in the process – and the 31-year-old played as well as he has in his entire career in his 10th season with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Heyward was selected to his fourth consecutive Pro Bowl and earned second-team All-Pro honors as he recorded 54 total tackles, four sacks, 8.5 tackles for loss, 18 quarterback hits and three passes defended – including his first career interception – in 2020.
Outside of Aaron Donald, Heyward has been as consistently productive as any interior defensive lineman in the NFL over the past half-decade, and he continued to be one of the league’s best Buckeyes in 2020.
2. Chase Young, DE, Washington Football Team
As a former Ohio State defensive end following in the footsteps of the Bosa brothers as a top-three overall pick, Chase Young pretty much had to become an immediate star for the Washington Football Team and earn Defensive Rookie of the Year honors to live up to the hype in his rookie season, and that’s exactly what he did.
Despite a now-infamous tweet from the Washington Post’s Insider account that questioned “Is it too early to call Chase Young a bust?” Young made it completely clear he was not a bust by becoming an absolute force on Washington’s defensive line in the second half of the 2020 season, finishing the year with 44 total tackles, 7.5 sacks, 12.5 tackles for loss, four passes defended, four forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries, including a fumble return for a touchdown.
In addition to becoming the fourth Buckeye in five years to win NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year honors, Young was one of just two rookies (along with Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson) to make the Pro Bowl and the only rookie to make the Pro Football Writers of America’s All-NFC team. He was also named as a captain of the Washington Football Team before the end of his rookie season, making it clear just how much of an impact he’s already made in D.C.
1. Corey Linsley, C, Green Bay Packers
Linsley has been one of the NFL’s best centers since the Green Bay Packers selected him in the fifth round of the 2014 NFL draft, but he’s never been better than he was in 2020, when he established himself as the best center in the league.
Ohio State’s only first-team AP All-Pro this past season, Linsley was graded by Pro Football Focus as nearly 10 points better than any other NFL center in 2020. He did that even while missing three games with a knee injury, and led the way up front for a Packers offense that scored the most points per game (31.8) of any NFL team during the regular season.
He was the only Buckeye to make it to the conference championship round of this year’s playoffs. Considering the role he played in his team’s success and that he was the only former Ohio State player who laid claim to being the NFL’s best player at his position in 2020, Linsley takes the No. 1 spot on our countdown of the Buckeyes’ top NFL performers of the year.
