INDIANAPOLIS – Eleven outgoing Ohio State players will be attending the NFL Scouting Combine this week at Lucas Oil Stadium and the Indiana Convention Center.
That group includes RB CJ Donaldson, WR Carnell Tate, TE Will Kacmarek, TE Max Klare, DE Caden Curry, DT Kayden McDonald, LB Sonny Styles, LB Arvell Reese, CB Davison Igbinosun, CB Lorenzo Styles Jr. and SAF Caleb Downs.
They are among 319 players invited by the NFL to participate in the combine. Texas A&M will have the largest contingent of players at the combine with 13, followed by Alabama with 12. Ohio State and LSU are tied for third.
Tate, Klare, McDonald, Reese and Downs all opted to leave OSU after three years in college to enter the NFL a year early. The rest were outgoing seniors. Other than transfers Donaldson and Lorenzo Styles Jr., the four other seniors were all at least four-year players for the Buckeyes. In their tenure, they helped OSU post a 48-8 record and win the national championship in 2024.
Some of these players figure to wait and work out at Ohio State's pro day in mid-March.
Mock drafts are split between four and five first-round picks for Ohio State. Everybody seems to agree that Reese, Styles, Downs and Tate will go in the first round. But there are some projections that also have McDonald in the first round.
Miami (Fla.) (in 2004) and Alabama (in 2021) have each had a record six first-round picks. OSU's best showing has been five first-rounders in 2006 and 2016. OSU also had four first-round picks in 1971 and 2025.
Whoever goes in the first round will add to Ohio State's all-time lead in NFL first-round draft picks. OSU has had 95 all-time first-rounders, including 26 over the last 10 years. Next up are USC, 86; Alabama, 84; Notre Dame, 71; Miami (Fla.), 68; Florida, 59; Michigan, 55; LSU, 53; Georgia, 52; and Texas, 51.
Typically, the combine is a weeklong job interview for college players. Players go through registration, orientation, interviews with team personnel, a medical exam, media interviews and then on-field workouts and testing at Lucas Oil Stadium.
The schedules, including media interviews and team interviews (Day 1), on-field workouts and measurements (Day 2) and bench press (Day 3), for the Buckeyes:
* Feb. 25-27 (DL and LB) – Curry, McDonald, Reese and Sonny Styles.
* Feb. 26-28 (TE and DB) – Kacmarek, Klare, Downs, Igbinosun and Lorenzo Syles Jr.
* Feb. 27-March 1 (QB, WR, RB) – Tate and Donaldson.
* Feb. 28-March 2 (OL) – No Ohio State players.
We will be in Indianapolis over the next several days to share interviews with each of these outgoing Ohio State players prior to their on-field workouts. NFL Network will have coverage of on-field workouts.
The 2026 NFL Draft will be held April 23-25 in Pittsburgh.
Below, we will look at each of the 11 combine participants from Ohio State with their draft rankings and what they will look to do this week in Indianapolis. We will cite the CBS Sports player rankings as well as the latest mock drafts produced by CBS Sports. The heights and weights are from OSU's postseason roster.