INDIANAPOLIS — Barely five weeks after immersing themselves in scarlet and gray confetti at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium, several Ohio State players stood and smiled in front of cameras and microphones once again. Only this time, the now-former Buckeyes recalled their national title run in the past tense and enthusiastically answered questions about their NFL futures.
But with Ohio State’s and Notre Dame’s seasons concluding with the Buckeyes’ 34-23 victory on Jan. 20, many players forfeited between two and six weeks of draft preparation while chasing a championship. It’s a small price to pay to obtain the ultimate collegiate prize, but it does have residual effects. Unlike other players who opted out of bowl games, players at Notre Dame and Ohio State didn’t have as much rest and recovery time and were unable to dedicate more than a few weeks to training and skill refinement.
“We had a late season — thankfully. It ended late, and (we were) able to win a national championship,” Ohio State defensive end Jack Sawyer said Wednesday at the NFL Scouting Combine. “So we didn’t have a whole lot of time training. I flew straight out to California the next week after the game to start training.”
The combine is known for the on-field workouts, but it’s also valuable for medical examinations and player interviews. All the players will see doctors and spend time with various teams. As for the workouts, Sawyer will participate in on-field defensive line drills but save other testing, like the 40-yard dash and bench press, for Ohio State’s pro day. Notre Dame defensive tackle Howard Cross III, who missed three games in November but returned for the College Football Playoff, will bench and jump but wait to run at his team’s pro day.
JACK SAWYER SCOOP-AND-SCORE 😱
Ohio State is one step closer to advancing to the national championship! pic.twitter.com/BPoV5FBRGZ
— ESPN (@espn) January 11, 2025
“Like us, Ohio State and two or three other teams, we obviously, frankly, don’t have a couple weeks compared to other players that have had a couple months to get ready,” said Cross, after acknowledging he is healthy now. “But that’s still no excuse.
“You need time to relax and get yourself together before you can train. A lot of guys didn’t have enough time, especially the other guys at Notre Dame. So that’s gonna affect what we do.”
If there are fears among championship participants that their workout numbers might not reach their peak performance, NFL general managers assuaged those concerns publicly this week. If anything, competing in the CFP perhaps enhanced the players’ NFL prospects more than what they could have achieved in combine workouts.
“You’re evaluating everybody individually,” Seattle Seahawks general manager John Schneider said. “How do they play? What kind of injuries do they have? What are the analytics people thinking? What do the science people think? How do the coaches evaluate the player? What’s the fit?
“If you’re talking about, like, height-weight-speed … we’re actually more interested in the person and the competitor, what kind of football player they are, more than the GPS times, weight, speed, what they’re doing here.”
But that doesn’t mean NFL teams won’t judge how they perform.
“Yeah, we’re evaluating these guys in the workout,” Schneider said. “But it’s more about the football — like, what’s their tape tell us? — and then getting to know the person a little bit more here. And the biggest thing is the medical.”
Perhaps no players boosted their NFL profile in the postseason more than Sawyer and fellow Ohio State defensive end J.T. Tuimoloau. Sawyer had 4 1/2 sacks and three pass breakups in the Buckeyes’ four CFP games and delivered one of the iconic moments of the postseason with his 83-yard sack, scoop and score against Texas. Tuimoloau was even more prolific statistically, with 10 tackles for loss and 6 1/2 sacks in four games.
The Buckeyes’ late-season performance created a ton of memories for the players and their supporters, but it accelerated every phase of their draft preparation.
“It really just tested me on how I managed my time going back, getting your body right, as well as training,” Tuimoloau said. “There’s no time to just let things go to waste. So, you get to be very critical with your time, and that’s what it taught me.”
“Really, just taking care of your body and eating the right stuff,” Sawyer said. “I think we’ve done a really good job of that — all the guys, too. So, we all feel pretty good.”
