ESPN ranked the top 50 players in the College Football Playoff. Nine Ohio State players made the list, but where, and who?
There will be no shortage of talent on the field when the No. 2 seed Ohio State Buckeyes take on the No. 10 seed Miami Hurricanes on New Year's Eve in the College Football Playoff quarterfinal Cotton Bowl Classic. As it stands, there's quite a bit of talent on the field with the eight teams remaining in the 12-team field, and ESPN took a stab at ranking the top 50 players.
The worldwide leader put this ranking out before James Madison, Oklahoma, Tulane, and Texas A&M were eliminated, but the fact remains that a ton of Ohio State players appeared on the list; in fact, nine total out of the 50, more than any team in the CFP. If you are doing the math, that's 18% of the list coming from one out of 12 teams.
So, which nine players does ESPN have as the top 50, and how high do Ohio State players rank? Here's where ESPN says each OSU player ranked inside the top 50 of players lands.
No. 44 - Austin Sierveld, Ohio State offensive tackle
2025 notable stats: 759 snaps, 0 sacks allowed
No. 26 - Carnell Tate, Ohio State wide receiver
2025 notable stats: 48 rec, 838 yards, 9 TDs
No. 21- Sonny Styles, Ohio State linebacker
2025 notable stats: 45 solo tackles, 1 FF, 1 INT
No. 16 - Arvell Reese, Ohio State linebacker
2025 notable stats: 6.5 sacks, 10 TFL, 62 total tackles
No. 13 - Kayden McDonald, Ohio State defensive tackle
2025 notable stats: 28 solo tackles, 3 sacks, 2 FFs
No. 11 - Caden Curry, Ohio State defensive end
2025 notable stats: 36 solo tackles, 11 sacks, 1 FF
No. 7 - Caleb Downs, Ohio State safety
2025 notable stats: 18 solo tackles, 1 INT
No. 5 - Julian Sayin, Ohio State quarterback
2025 notable stats: 3,323 passing yards, 31 TDs
No. 2 - Jeremiah Smith, Ohio State wide receiver
2025 notable stats: 1,086 rec yards, 11 TDs
In case you are wondering, the No. 1 player according to ESPN is Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza. The top ten outside of the Ohio State players are No. 3 Jacob Rodriguez, linebacker from Texas Tech, No. 4 David Bailey, also a linebacker from Texas Tech, No. 6 Cashius Howell, defensive end from Miami, No. 8 CJ Allen, Georgia linebacker, No. 9, Miami defensive end Rueben Baine Jr., and No. 10 KC Concepcion, Texas A&M wide receiver.
This article originally appeared on Buckeyes Wire: Ohio State the CFP: 9 Buckeyes named among top 50 in playoff by ESPN
Category: General Sports
