The hardest hitter on Ohio State’s national championship team will continue his football career in Carolina.
The Carolina Panthers selected Lathan Ransom with the No. 122 overall pick in Saturday’s fourth round. The former Ohio State safety was the ninth Buckeye selected in the 2025 NFL draft.
Another to the D@budlight | #NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/iykcE5xicj
— Carolina Panthers (@Panthers) April 26, 2025
Ohio State's 2025 NFL Draft Picks
- Emeka Egbuka: Round 1, No. 19, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Donovan Jackson: Round 1, No. 24, Minnesota Vikings
- Tyleik Williams: Round 1, No. 28, Detroit Lions
- Josh Simmons: Round 1, No. 32, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Quinshon Judkins: Round 2, No. 36, Cleveland Browns
- TreVeyon Henderson: Round 2, No. 38, New England Patriots
- JT Tuimoloau: Round 2, No. 45, Indianapolis Colts
- Cody Simon: Round 4, No. 115, Arizona Cardinals
- Lathan Ransom: Round 4, No. 122, Carolina Panthers
- Jack Sawyer: Round 4, No. 123, Pittsburgh Steelers
Ransom’s Ohio State career was full of highs and lows. The highs? He was a first-team All-Big Ten honoree and national champion in 2024. The lows? He suffered a season-ending foot injury in 2023, a season-ending leg injury in 2021 and COVID limited his opportunities in 2020.
Nevertheless, Ransom persevered throughout his college career – something both his coaches and his teammates noticed.
“Lathan loves the game. He loves his teammates. He’s had his ups and downs both on the field and with injuries,” former Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles said in January. “That’s just a guy you always pull for because he’s experienced both ends of it. I love to see him do well because he’s earned it. He’s fought through the adversity.”
Added Caleb Downs: “I really don’t think people give him enough credit. He’s an elite player. He has elite instincts. He’s one of the most physical people I’ve met in my life.”
Across five seasons and 56 appearances for Ohio State, Ransom collected 227 tackles — including an impressive 142 solo stops — with 18 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, three interceptions, 13 pass breakups, six forced fumbles and one touchdown. He also had a couple of punt blocks, recording them in back-to-back weeks against Indiana and Maryland in 2022.
The 6-foot-1, 205-pound safety will look to make a similar impact with the Panthers, stuffing the stat sheet and, of course, delivering some of the hardest hits in the league.
“I feel like I’ve been a physical dude since I was a little kid,” Ransom told Eleven Warriors in January. “My dad made sure I wasn’t soft since I was really young. I think I just try to keep a chip on my shoulder. Being a dude I feel like has been overlooked, a dude that’s been overlooked my whole life since I was young, I always go into the game with that chip on my shoulder, not forgetting where I came from.”
