If all goes according to plan, Ohio State will have five players walk across the stage as first-round NFL draft picks on Thursday night in Pittsburgh.
All of Ohio State’s top five prospects in the 2026 NFL draft – Caleb Downs, Kayden McDonald, Arvell Reese, Sonny Styles and Carnell Tate – are among the 17 prospects attending NFL draft festivities in the Steel City, reflecting each of their statuses as projected first-round picks. McDonald is the only one among them whose status as a first-rounder is in any doubt, as each of the other four Buckeyes is a projected top-10 pick – which would make Ohio State the first school with four top-10 picks in 59 years.
Just being at the draft would be special enough for each of them, but being able to share the moment with their former Ohio State teammates makes it even better.
“It's a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It's a blessing,” McDonald said Wednesday after participating in the NFL’s Play Football clinic for Special Olympics athletes in Pittsburgh.
“It's awesome to know you're going through the experience with people that put in the same time as you,” Downs said.
While each of their individual talents and work ethic enabled them to become likely first-round picks, Styles and Downs say Ohio State’s coaching staff and everyone in the program deserve credit for developing them into the players they are today.
“They spend so much time in the building, extra time they don't need to. Sometimes they spend more time with us than they do with their kids. So I appreciate them and all the time they put into us,” Styles said. “I think without the development we have at Ohio State, all these guys wouldn't be here. The coaches we have in the building – Coach Day, obviously it starts with him, Coach Mick, we just got a bunch of great people in the building. So many different resources to help us get to where we need to get.”
“The people that you're around, they get the best out of you. So whether it's the training staff, the nutrition staff, the support staff, just always pouring into you to make you a better person,” Downs said.
No Buckeye has faced more personal adversity on his journey to the draft than Tate. His mother, Ashley Griggs, was killed in a drive-by shooting during Tate’s freshman year at Ohio State in 2023. That’ll make Thursday an extra emotional moment for the former Ohio State wide receiver, who said he was already starting to feel both excited and nervous on Wednesday.
“I’ve got a little bit of everything – excitement, nerves,” Tate said. “I've been through hell and back to be here, and I'm here, so now it's just the next step of my journey.”
Reese, on the other hand, said the emotions hadn’t hit him yet on Wednesday. But being selected in the NFL draft is something he says he’s been envisioning since his first couple of practices at Ohio State.
“Growing up, I was just playing because I loved it,” Reese said. “The first couple of practices at Ohio State, just from how fast I was just playing and just the effort I was playing with, kind of gave me that idea, like, ‘OK, I can do it on this level.’”
Styles, Tate and McDonald said being drafted is something they’ve been visualizing since they were kids. So as McDonald watched campers go through their drills during Wednesday night’s clinic, he thought back to being a little kid himself and dreaming of what’s now about to become reality.
“All those kids looking up to me, it’s just a surreal feeling,” McDonald said. “Time goes by, and you can't get that back. So I'm just really thankful where I'm at right now.”
As excited as they are for Thursday night, however, McDonald and the rest of the Buckeyes want the draft to be only the beginning of their stories as NFL players.
“It's not the final thing. 10 years in the league, I want to do all that. I'm not satisfied with just going to the draft,” McDonald said. “I'm ready to go play football.”
The Buckeyes are proud to be part of what could be a historic draft class – if all five are selected, Ohio State will become the first school ever with 100 all-time first-round picks – and they want to continue representing Ohio State well in the NFL.
“Ohio State has an excellent tradition, a winning tradition, so I feel like that's a special thing to be a part of, and I just want to continue to do that,” Downs said.
