2017 NFL Draft: Expectations for Ohio State Buckeyes as rookies
By Alec Hartman
Buckeyes’ veteran speedy receiver Dontre Wilson was signed by the Los Angeles Chargers.
Dontre Wilson has been through it all at Ohio State. Buckeye fans everywhere will recognize his name.
Most teams like to categorize players into a single position so they can specialize in it to the best of their ability. However, there are some players out there who can just flat-out do it all. With speed and ball skills like Wilson has, anything is possible.
The Buckeyes utilized Wilson’s talents in several ways such as on special teams, at tailback, and at receiver. His unpredictability as an explosive play-maker made him a constant threat. With the Buckeyes already having multiple play-makers, all it would take for Wilson to go off each time is for them to forget about him.
The Los Angeles Chargers will most likely utilize Wilson in various positions on special teams. This could be inferred by the Chargers’ already plentiful depth at the receiver position with the team also selecting college star Mike Williams with their first draft pick.
He would excel as a return man as he ranked fifth all-time at Ohio State in total kickoff return yards. Wilson’s speed could also land him a beginning role on the team as a gunner on punt or kickoff coverage.
Buckeyes’ veteran punter Cameron Johnston was signed by the Philadelphia Eagles.
The team and fans had to say their last goodbyes to Cameron Johnston as he finished his last season in college. Johnston was one of the most highly decorated punters in Buckeyes history.
Per sports-reference.com, Johnston led the Big Ten in punting in three out of his four seasons and was a finalist for the Ray Guy Award. His most prestigious season came in 2016 where he won the Big Ten conference Eddleman-Fields Punter of the Year award after he ranked first in the Big Ten with a distance of 46.7 yards on average.
The Philadelphia Eagles will most likely give Johnston plenty of opportunity to compete with current veteran punter Donnie Jones. The Eagles have flipped a lot of things on their roster so it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise if they choose to start new at the punter position as well.
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The younger Johnston will have an advantage over Jones as his age may bode better for the team contract wise and long term.