When NFL front offices finalized their 53-man rosters this weekend, Ohio State head coach Ryan Day received the ultimate sales pitch for his next recruiting class. Across the country, 59 former Buckeyes survived the final roster cuts to land active spots in the league. For a head coach closing deals with five-star high school recruits, those numbers are pure gold.
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Ohio State currently holds the No. 7 spot on 247Sports’ 2027 composite team rankings, but building a top class is an endless battle against rival programs. When Day sits in a living room with a top high school prospect and their parents, he does not just sell college wins. He points straight to Sundays, showing families that choosing Columbus is the fastest path to an NFL paycheck.
Eleven Warriors deputy editor Dan Hope, while sharing the report of those 59 former Ohio State players on X, noted that, on average, every single team in the NFL carries nearly two Buckeyes on its main roster. It is an eye-popping figure that few rival college programs can match.
In this year’s draft, 11 players were picked, and all made it through roster cuts. Even undrafted guys like offensive lineman Josh Fryar with Arizona and center Seth McLaughlin with Detroit fought through training camp to earn active spots. That proves to recruits that Day’s staff develops the entire roster, top to bottom.
Hope, however, clarified that this list does not include players like former school quarterbacks Quinn Ewers and Kyle McCord, who started as Buckeyes players but ended their college careers elsewhere. This report came out on August 30 after NFL teams cut down on players and finalized their rosters for good.
The teams with the most Buckeyes alumni are the Cleveland Browns and the Arizona Cardinals. Both teams carry six Buckeyes each, matching last year’s count. The players are listed below:
Browns:
- DT Mike Hall Jr.,
- S Ronnie Hickman,
- OT Dawand Jones,
- RB Quinshon Judkins,
- CB Denzel Ward, and
- C Luke Wypler.
Cardinals:
- OLB Baron Browning,
- CB Denzel Burke,
- OT Josh Fryar,
- WR Marvin Harrison Jr.,
- OT Paris Johnson Jr., and
- LB Cody Simon, as reported by Hope.
The NFL teams with no Buckeyes players are the Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals, Green Bay Packers, Los Angeles Chargers, and the Philadelphia Eagles.
These numbers are a feat for Day, whose name sits among other exceptional Ohio State coaches like Urban Meyer, Jim Tressel, and Woody Hayes. He arrived in Columbus as an assistant with not much to his name in 2017 but orchestrated a record that could cast a shadow on these names.
His winning percentage is .872, with top-10 finishes each season and just one below No. 6 in 2023. He has two Big Ten titles and won the national title in 2024. For Day, Ohio State is all there is and the chance to bring out the best in every recruit class.
“Some days it feels like I just got here,” Day said. “Other days, it feels like I’ve been here for 20 years. You think about when I first got here and where it is right now, there’s not too many places in the world that could provide an opportunity like this.”
What stands out most is his sustained success over a decade, and the promise of more to come. And hopefully the many more to come.