Linebacker U?

With the dead time between the end of the college football regular season and meaningful bowl games, I thought it might be an interesting exercise to look at Buckeyes in the NFL by position.

The data comes from ESPN and I made one change to it. Because the Jets play a 3-4 defense, Vernon Gholston is technically listed as a linebacker but I changed him back to a Defensive End. Though, if you asked Jet fans, he probably should be listed as on the “unable to perform” list.

Ohio State has 7 players at each of three different positions on active NFL rosters- Linebacker, Cornerback and Wide Receiver. With four players at Safety also, you could argue Ohio State has become Secondary U (insert Michigan joke here).

A bit surprising and at the same time not, is that Troy Smith is the only Ohio State Quarterback on an active NFL roster. Other positions with only one Buckeye include Defensive Tackle, Offensive Guard, Offensive Tackle, Kicker, Tight End and sadly, Running Back.

As for Penn State being “Linebacker U”, while that obviously is more of a historical reference for Nittany Lion fans, the present clearly doesn’t support that claim. PSU has four linebackers on active NFL rosters and two of those are Tim Shaw and Cameron Wake, both of whom I had to look up because I had never heard of them.

Here’s the full list of active Buckeye players for your perusal:

You’re welcome.