{"id":486458,"date":"2026-02-17T20:34:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T20:34:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/486458\/"},"modified":"2026-02-17T20:34:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T20:34:10","slug":"three-ohio-state-buckeyes-who-will-be-first-round-picks-in-2027-nfl-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/486458\/","title":{"rendered":"Three Ohio State Buckeyes Who Will Be First-Round Picks in 2027 NFL Draft"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5c\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/college\/ohiostate\/news\/ohio-state-represented-by-two-standout-wide-receivers-in-top-10-nfl-ranking-01khm2tdg0yk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Ohio State Buckeyes<\/a> are set to have another successful 2026 NFL Draft, with multiple Buckeyes projected to be taken in the first two rounds including linebacker Arvell Reese and safety Caleb Downs, who have both been projected as top-10 picks. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5f\">The 2027 NFL Draft could prove to be even more prestigious for the Buckeyes, with three players who will be a sure-fire first round pick.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Jeremiah Smith &#8211; Wide Receiver<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/01khngh4sw9pqc4j23xs.jpg\" alt=\"Ohio State Jeremiah Smith Julian Sayin Heisman Trophy NFL Draft Payton Pierce \" title=\"Ohio State Jeremiah Smith Julian Sayin Heisman Trophy NFL Draft Payton Pierce \" width=\"2997\" height=\"2997\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full blur-[5px]\" q:id=\"5s\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Ohio State Buckeyes wide receiver Jeremiah Smith listens to questions during the Cotton Bowl Media Day at AT&amp;T Stadium in Dallas prior to the College Football Playoff matchup against the Miami Hurricanes on Dec. 29, 2025. | Adam Cairns\/Columbus Dispatch \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-4\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5w\">If all goes to plan for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/college\/ohiostate\/news\/jeremiah-smith-reveals-mount-rushmore-of-ohio-state-wide-receivers-01kgwgcg4bpe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Smith<\/a> in 2026, he will enter the 2027 NFL Draft as the best wide receiver available and depending on which team is picking at No. 1 overall, Smith could be the first Buckeye taken with the first pick since offensive tackle Orlando Pace was taken by the Rams in 1997. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-5\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5z\">Smith will be a candidate for the Heisman Trophy in 2026 and is a surefire first round pick in 2027. Smith recorded 87 receptions and had the fourth most receiving yards in the country with 1,243. Smith\u2019s 12 touchdowns were good enough to be tied for sixth in the country in the metric and many believe he could lead the nation in receiving yards and touchdowns in 2026.<\/p>\n<p>Julian Sayin &#8211; Quarterback<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-7\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"65\">Whether or not <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/college-football\/ohio-state-hunting-back-to-back-title-cfp-miami\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Julian Sayin<\/a> declares for the 2027 NFL Draft is yet to be seen, but if he does he will be a surefire first round pick. Sayin was in New York in 2025 for the Heisman Trophy ceremony, and will be among the favorites to not only be there again in 2026 but to win it. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"68\">Sayin threw for 3,610 yards in 2025 while adding on 32 touchdowns and only surrendering eight interceptions. Sayin\u2019s 88.4 QBR was good enough to be ranked third in the country.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-9\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6b\">\u00a0It is possible Sayin will follow the route that Oregon quarterback Dante Moore took and return for another season, but if he wins the Heisman Trophy or is in New York for the ceremony once again, it would be hard to turn down the guaranteed money that would be allotted to him as a first round pick.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Payton Pierce &#8211; Linebacker<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/01khng86bqfthnke6541.jpg\" alt=\"Ohio State NFL Draft Ryan Day Julian Sayin Jeremiah Smith Big Ten Columbus  \" title=\"Ohio State NFL Draft Ryan Day Julian Sayin Jeremiah Smith Big Ten Columbus  \" width=\"3318\" height=\"3318\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full blur-[5px]\" q:id=\"6o\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Dec 31, 2025; Arlington, TX, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes linebacker Payton Pierce (26) celebrates after a fumble recovery in the first quarter against the Miami Hurricanes during the 2025 Cotton Bowl and quarterfinal game of the College Football Playoff at AT&amp;T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images | Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-12\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6s\">Pierce saw a huge uptick in production in 2025, recording 44 tackles while forcing a fumble and recovering it. With the way Ohio State has been able to develop defensive players, Pierce should be the next man up in 2026. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-13\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6v\">Linebacker Arvell Reese is expected to go in the first round in 2026, and Pierce could very well follow him in 2027.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Ohio State Buckeyes are set to have another successful 2026 NFL Draft, with multiple Buckeyes projected to&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":486459,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[559],"tags":[64,63,593,85],"class_list":["post-486458","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/486458","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=486458"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/486458\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/486459"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=486458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=486458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=486458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}