The 11 members of last year’s Ohio State football team who are hoping to be selected in the 2022 NFL draft, along with one current member of the Ohio State football team who will likely be a top prospect in the 2023 NFL draft, will all have the opportunity to put their skills on display for pro scouts on Wednesday.
Ohio State will hold its annual pro day, an event that typically draws representatives from all 32 or at least the vast majority of NFL teams to Columbus, on Wednesday afternoon at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.
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Seven of those prospects – wide receivers Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson, tight end Jeremy Ruckert, offensive linemen Nicholas Petit-Frere and Thayer Munford and defensive linemen Haskell Garrett and Tyreke Smith – will be auditioning for the NFL scouts for the second time this month after attending the NFL Scouting Combine earlier this month. All of them expect Ruckert already worked out at the combine, so they won’t necessarily do all of the measurable tests again, though Wednesday will be an opportunity for them to do anything they didn’t already do at the combine, try to improve upon any results from Indianapolis that they’re disappointed with and go through more extensive position drills than they did at the combine.
Ruckert did not participate in any on-field drills at the combine due to plantar fasciitis in his foot. He said at the combine that he expected to be ready to go through a full on-field workout at pro day, though an Ohio State spokesperson said Tuesday that it was uncertain whether Ruckert would actually be able to work out on Wednesday.
Ohio State’s pro day participants will also include four NFL draft hopefuls who were not invited to the combine: wide receiver Chris Booker, defensive tackle Antwuan Jackson, cornerback Demario McCall and running back Master Teague. They’re the prospects who will have the most to gain on Wednesday, as each of them likely need to have great workouts if they’re going to have a chance of being drafted next month.
The part of Wednesday’s pro day that will likely grab the most headlines will be Olave and Wilson’s pass-catching workout, and that’s not only because both of them are projected first-round picks. It’s also because of who will be throwing to them, as Ryan Day revealed Tuesday that returning Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud will be throwing passes to Olave, Wilson and the others catching passes on Wednesday.
For the participating receivers who are hoping to be selected in this year’s draft, Stroud’s participation will give them the benefit of catching passes from a familiar quarterback with whom they already have a rapport from playing with Stroud at Ohio State for the last two years. For Stroud, who is already projected to be one of the top picks in the 2023 NFL draft, it will give him the opportunity to make an early impression on NFL scouts while effectively going through a dress rehearsal for his actual pro day as a draft prospect, which will likely come a year from now.
“I think he wants to be there to help Garrett and Chris and Master and Chris Booker will be there, Demario McCall. So I think that's the biggest thing is be there to support his teammates and try to put on a good show,” Day said. “I think part of it, you know, we put too much pressure on something like that. So I think for him to be out there and help those guys be comfortable is important … But it's a good opportunity for C.J. to go through it and just see what that's like and feel it. So when he's there next time, he'll maybe be a little more comfortable.”
Former Ohio State quarterback Cardale Jones, who played in the NFL from 2016-18 with the Buffalo Bills and Los Angeles Chargers, will also be throwing passes to the receivers on Wednesday.
Cardale Jones, who last played for the XFL’s DC Defenders in 2020, will return to Ohio State to throw at Wednesday’s pro day.
Although representatives from NFL Network and Big Ten Network are expected to be in attendance at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center, Wednesday’s event is not scheduled to be televised live.
That said, we’ll have you covered here at Eleven Warriors with live updates throughout the pro day and stories, videos and photos from the event after it is complete.
