All 11 defensive starters from Ohio State’s 2024 national title team became NFL Draft picks

PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA - APRIL 23: Sonny Styles of Ohio State celebrates after being selected seventh overall pick by the Washington Commanders during Round One of the 2026 NFL Draft at Acrisure Stadium on April 23, 2026 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images) | Getty Images Ohio State has always been loaded with NFL talent, but the Buckeyes’ 2024-25 national title team may have been their most stacked roster to date. With the conclusion of the 2026 NFL Draft, all 11 defensive starters from Ohio State’s College Football Playoff National Championship victory over Notre Dame on Jan.

20, 2025 have now been drafted to the NFL, with each and every guy being taken within the first five rounds of the last two NFL Drafts. As if that wasn’t impressive enough, several rotational guys on defense from that year’s squad are also now on their way to the league. In fact, every defensive player to receive at lease five snaps against the Fighting Irish has either been drafted to the NFL or is still on the Ohio State roster waiting for their chance in the 2027 NFL Draft.

The only outlier among that group is Mitchell Melton, who played eight snaps in the national title game but transferred to Virginia, where he became an UDFA and signed with the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday. Here is where every one of those 11 starters was taken in order of draft position between the 2025 and 2026 NFL Drafts. All recruiting rankings are based on the 247Sports Composite.

The Starters Sonny Styles – 2026 Rd 1 Pick 7 – Commanders A homegrown talent, Styles came to Columbus as a five-star safety out of Pickerington, Ohio. Despite reclassifying and getting to Ohio State a year early, Styles did play a little bit for the Buckeyes as a freshman when he should’ve still been a high school senior. Styles then played more than 540 snaps as a sophomore at safety, where he racked up 53 total tackles with 4.