2026 NFL Mock Draft Roundup: Five Buckeyes Projected As First-Round Picks Entering NFL Scouting Combine

Ohio State linebacker Arvell Reese is unanimously projected as a top-seven pick, while wide receiver Carnell Tate and safety Caleb Downs are also widely projected as top-10 picks in mock drafts released over the past week following the Seattle Seahawks’ win over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX. Ohio State linebacker Sonny Styles is also projected as a top-15 pick in most mock drafts, while defensive tackle Kayden McDonald is widely projected to be drafted in the second half of Round 1.

Should those projections come true on April 23, it would be just the second time ever that Ohio State has five players selected in the first round of an NFL draft. It would be the first time for Ohio State to have four top-15 picks in one draft, and Ohio State would become the first school to reach 100 first-round draft picks all-time.

Outside of those Buckeyes, Ohio State is expected to have at least three other players drafted: cornerback Davison Igbinosun, tight end Max Klare and defensive end Caden Curry. Other Buckeyes in the running to be late-round draftees include tight end Will Kacmarek, defensive back Lorenzo Styles Jr. and running back CJ Donaldson, who were also invited to next week’s NFL Scouting Combine.

With the 2026 NFL draft order now set and the combine set to begin in just over a week, we went through 28 mock drafts from around the Internet for a look at where Ohio State’s 2026 NFL draft prospects are currently projected to be drafted.

Our first NFL mock draft roundup includes the following mock drafts, which include two seven-round mocks, one four-round mock, two three-round projections, one two-round mock and 22 one-round mocks:

• Athlon Sports’ Luke Easterling (3 rounds)
• Bleacher Report Scouting Department (1 round)
• CBS Sports' Garrett Podell (1 round)
• CBS Sports' Mike Renner (1 round)
• Draft Countdown's Brian Bosarge (1 round)
• Draft Tek (7 rounds)
• DraftWire's Curt Popejoy (1 round)
• ESPN's Field Yates (1 round)
• Fox Sports' Joel Klatt (1 round)
• Fox Sports' Rob Rang (1 round)
• NBC Sports' Connor Rogers (1 round)
• NBC Sports' Kyle Dvorchak (1 round)
• NFL.com's Chad Reuter (3 rounds)
• NFL.com's Cynthia Frelund (1 round)
• NFL.com's Dan Parr (1 round)
• PFF's Max Chadwick (1 round)
• Pro Football Network's Ian Cummings (7 rounds)
• San Diego Union-Tribune’s Eddie Brown (2 rounds)
• SB Nation's Mark Schofield (1 round)
• Sports Illustrated's Mark Morales-Smith (1 round)
• Sports Illustrated's Nick Merriam (1 round)
• Sporting News' Vinnie Iyer (1 round)
• Tankathon's Staff (4 rounds)
• The Athletic's Nick Baumgardner (1 round)
• The Big Lead’s Jeff Risdon (1 round)
• The Draft Network’s Jaime Eisner (1 round)
• The McShay Report's Todd McShay (1 round)
• USA Today's Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz (1 round)

Arvell Reese, LB

• Round 1, No. 2, New York Jets: 21 (Bosarge, Baumgardner, Brown, Chadwick, Draft Tek, Dvorchak, Easterling, Frelund, Klatt, McShay, Merriam, Middlehurst-Schwartz, Morales-Smith, Parr, Podell, Rang, Renner, Reuter, Schofield, Tankathon, Yates)
• Round 1, No. 3, Arizona Cardinals: 2 (Risdon, Rogers)
• Round 1, No. 4, Tennessee Titans: 3 (B/R, Eisner, Iyer)
• Round 1, No. 5, New York Giants: Popejoy
• Round 1, No. 7, Washington Commanders: Cummings 

Average Draft Projection: 2.6

75% of NFL mock drafts currently have the New York Jets selecting Reese with the No. 2 overall pick (the Las Vegas Raiders are unanimously projected to draft Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza at No. 1 overall). Should that happen, Reese would be Ohio State’s fourth No. 2 overall pick in eight years and its eighth top-two overall pick all-time.

Every post-Super Bowl mock draft we found has Reese going in the top seven overall picks. All but one project Reese to go in the top five and all but two project Reese will be a top-four pick.

Despite being only a one-year starter at Ohio State, Reese has a very real chance to be the first non-quarterback drafted after a consensus All-American 2025 season in which he demonstrated freakish physical attributes while tallying 69 tackles, 10 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks as the Buckeyes’ Mike linebacker.

Carnell Tate, WR

• Round 1, No. 3, Arizona Cardinals: Popejoy
• Round 1, No. 3, Cleveland Browns: Cummings
• Round 1, No. 4, Tennessee Titans: Merriam
• Round 1, No. 5, New York Giants: 7 (Bosarge, Baumgardner, Brown, Klatt, Middlehurst-Schwartz, Podell, Tankathon)
• Round 1, No. 6, Cleveland Browns: 5 (Chadwick, Easterling, Frelund, Morales-Smith, Rogers)
• Round 1, No. 7, Washington Commanders: 4 (Rang, Renner, Risdon, Yates)
• Round 1, No. 8, New Orleans Saints: 3 (Dvorchak, Parr, Schofield)
• Round 1, No. 9, Kansas City Chiefs: McShay
• Round 1, No. 12, Dallas Cowboys: Iyer
• Round 1, No. 13, Los Angeles Rams: B/R
• Round 1, No. 14, Baltimore Ravens: Reuter
• Round 1, No. 16, New York Jets: 2 (Draft Tek, Eisner)

Average Draft Projection: 7.4

Draft experts unanimously agree that Tate will be selected in the top half of the first round of the 2026 NFL draft, which means he’ll be the sixth wide receiver in five years drafted in Round 1 from Ohio State.

Projected to be as drafted as early as the No. 3 overall pick, Tate has an outside chance at being Ohio State’s highest-drafted wide receiver ever. Nineteen of the 28 mock drafts in this roundup have Tate being selected between the No. 5 and No. 8 overall picks, which would make the seventh Ohio State wide receiver ever drafted in the top 10.

Popular projected landing spots for Tate include the New York Giants, where he’d team up with 2024 first-round pick Malik Nabers, and the Cleveland Browns, who could stay in-state to address their need for a No. 1 receiver. If he gets past the Giants and Browns, the Washington Commanders could draft Tate and pair him with fellow former Ohio State wide receiver Terry McLaurin.

Caleb Downs, S

• Round 1, No. 2, New York Jets: Popejoy
• Round 1, No. 3, Arizona Cardinals: 2 (Iyer, Merriam)
• Round 1, No. 5, New York Giants: 3 (Eisner, McShay, Yates)
• Round 1, No. 6, Cleveland Browns: 3 (B/R, Dvorchak, Parr)
• Round 1, No. 7, Washington Commanders: 4 (Easterling, Morales-Smith, Reuter, Tankathon)
• Round 1, No. 9, Kansas City Chiefs: Rang
• Round 1, No. 10, Cincinnati Bengals: 11 (Bosarge, Brown, Chadwick, Cummings, Draft Tek, Frelund, Middlehurst-Schwartz, Podell, Renner, Rogers, Schofield)
• Round 1, No. 11, Miami Dolphins: Baumgardner
• Round 1, No. 12, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Klatt
• Round 1, No. 16, New York Jets: Risdon

Average Draft Projection: 8.1

Although 71% of Eleven Warriors readers selected Downs as Ohio State’s best NFL draft prospect in a recent poll, only two of the mock drafts in this roundup have the two-time unanimous All-American as the first Buckeye off the board – and most of them don’t even have Downs as the second Buckeye drafted.

Still, Downs is projected to be a top-10 pick in the vast majority of mock drafts. More than a third of mock drafts have Downs landing at the very end of the top 10 with the Cincinnati Bengals – which would make half the state of Ohio very happy – while only three mock drafts have the Bengals passing Downs up.

Assuming Downs is selected in the top 10, he’ll become just the second safety from Ohio State to be a top-10 draft pick, joining Donte Whitner, the No. 8 overall pick in 2006.

Sonny Styles, LB

• Round 1, No. 4, Tennessee Titans: Rang
• Round 1, No. 5, New York Giants: Renner
• Round 1, No. 7, Washington Commanders: 3 (Eisner, Podell, Rogers)
• Round 1, No. 11, Miami Dolphins: Risdon
• Round 1, No. 12, Dallas Cowboys: 13 (Baumgardner, Bosarge, Brown, B/R, Chadwick, Cummings, Frelund, Merriam, Parr, Popejoy, Reuter, Tankathon, Yates)
• Round 1, No. 15, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 7 (Dvorchak, Easterling, Iyer, Klatt, McShay, Middlehurst-Schwartz, Moreales-Smith)
• Round 1, No. 18, Minnesota Vikings: Draft Tek
• Round 1, No. 20, Dallas Cowboys: Schofield

Average Draft Projection: 12.1

While he was overshadowed by Reese for most of the 2025 season, it’s clear that NFL draft analysts have taken notice of Styles now, as he’s projected as a top-15 pick in all but two of the 28 mock drafts in this roundup.

Just under half of the mocks in this roundup have Styles landing with the Dallas Cowboys, who have a major need for playmakers on their defense after allowing a league-high 30.1 points per game in 2025. 25% of the mocks in this roundup have Styles going to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who have good reason to consider drafting another Buckeye after finding an immediate star with their first-round selection of Emeka Egbuka last year.

RELATED Ohio State’s Top 10 Players of the 2025-26 NFL Season

Five mocks have Styles going in the top 10 alongside Reese, which would mark the first time two linebackers from the same school were selected in the top 10 of the same NFL draft. It would be the second time two Ohio State linebackers go in the top 15 of the same NFL draft, joining Rick Middleton and Randy Gradishar, who went 13th and 14th overall in 1974.

Kayden McDonald, DT

• Round 1, No. 17, Detroit Lions: Brown
• Round 1, No. 18, Minnesota Vikings: 3 (Cummings, Merriam, Rogers)
• Round 1, No. 20, Dallas Cowboys: Iyer
• Round 1, No. 22, Los Angeles Chargers: Dvorchak
• Round 1, No. 24, Cleveland Browns: Draft Tek
• Round 1, No. 25, Chicago Bears: 7 (Baumgardner, Chadwick, Klatt, Popejoy, Reuter, Schofield, Tankathon)
• Round 1, No. 26, Buffalo Bills: 2 (Bosarge, Parr)
• Round 1, No. 30, Denver Broncos: Podell
• Round 1, No. 31, New England Patriots: B/R
• Round 2, No. 33, New York Jets: Easterling

Average Draft Projection: 24.1

Eighteen of the 28 mock drafts in this roundup have McDonald being selected in the lower half of the first round after he earned unanimous All-American honors for Ohio State in 2025.

Chicago is the most popular projected destination for McDonald, as 25% of the mock drafts in this roundup have him going to the Bears with the No. 25 overall pick. He’d provide a major boost to a Bears run defense that ranked 29th out of 32 NFL teams with five rushing yards allowed per attempt this past season.

If McDonald is a first-round pick, it will be the second straight year an Ohio State defensive tackle is drafted in Round 1, as the Detroit Lions selected Tyleik Williams with the No. 28 overall pick in last year’s draft.

Kayden McDonald is projected to be the fifth of five first-round picks for Ohio State in the 2026 NFL draft. (Photo: Joe Nicholson – Imagn Images)

Davison Igbinosun, CB

• Round 2, No. 37, New York Giants: Draft Tek
• Round 2, No. 39, Cleveland Browns: Reuter
• Round 3, No. 66, Tennessee Titans: Cummings
• Round 3, No. 82, Minnesota Vikings: Easterling
• Round 3, No. 83, Carolina Panthers: Tankathon

Average Draft Projection: 61.4

No recent mock drafts have Igbinosun going in Round 1, but Draft Tek and NFL.com’s Chad Reuter both have Igbinosun going within the first seven picks of Round 2. All five mock drafts in this roundup that include at least three rounds project Igbinosun to be a Day 2 draft choice after a strong senior season at Ohio State, in which he earned first-team All-Big Ten honors.

Max Klare, TE

• Round 2, No. 62, Denver Broncos: Tankathon
• Round 3, No. 94, Denver Broncos: Draft Tek
• Round 3, No. 95, New England Patriots: Cummings
• Round 3, No. 100, Jacksonville Jaguars: Reuter

Average Draft Projection: 87.75

While Tankathon projects Klare as a late second-round pick and Athlon Sports’ Luke Easterling excluded the Ohio State tight end from his three-round mock, the consensus projection right now has Klare as a late third-round pick.

Two of the four mock drafts that include Klare in this roundup have him going to the Denver Broncos, who could be in the market for a young tight end to pair with Evan Engram, who will be 32 when the 2026 NFL season starts.

Caden Curry, DE

• Round 4, No. 118, Detroit Lions: Tankathon
• Round 5, No. 155, Detroit Lions: Draft Tek

Average Draft Projection: 136.5

Both mock drafts in this roundup that include Curry have the former Ohio State defensive end going north to Detroit – where he’d join former teammate Tyleik Williams on the defensive line – as a Day 3 draft pick.

Will Kacmarek, TE

• Round 7, No. 245, Jacksonville Jaguars: Cummings

Average Draft Projection: 245.0

While Pro Football Network’s Ian Cummings didn’t include Curry in his seven-round mock draft, his mock is the only one in this roundup to include Kacmarek.

Cummings has Kacmarek going to the Jacksonville Jaguars, the same team that drafted former Ohio State tight end Luke Farrell. A similar prospect to Kacmarek, Farrell never put up big numbers as a pass-catcher at Ohio State, but still got selected in the fifth round of the 2021 NFL draft thanks to his blocking ability, which Kacmarek also offers teams as a late-round draft prospect.

Ohio State’s other two NFL Combine invitees, running back CJ Donaldson and defensive backs Lorenzo Styles Jr., were not included in any of the mock drafts in this roundup.