Best 2025 NFL Draft fits for Jack Sawyer after National Championship win

01/21/2025 07:21 PM

On Monday, January 20th, Jack Sawyer finished out his Ohio State Buckeyes career in the most magical way.

A native son of Columbus, Ohio, who chose to stay home for his college education despite drawing interest from darn near every team in the nation, Sawyer played in 53 games for the Buckeyes over his tenure, including appearances in the Rose Bowl, the Peach Bowl, the Cotton Bowl, the Rose Bowl, again, the Cotton Bowl, again, and the 2025 College Football National Championship game, where he led the team to a huge 34-23 victory.

Taking the field right out of the gates as a rookie, the 6-foot-5, 260-pound edge finished out his career with 138 tackles, 20 sacks, 25.5. tackles for a loss, 11 passes defensed, six forced fumbles, and an interception as one of the most decorated players in program history.

Will Sawyer hold a place in the hearts of Buckeyes fans forever? Yes. Will he earn a hero’s welcome every time he returns to the Shoe, and potentially remain a fixture of the community for years to come? You bet, if Sawyer opens a steakhouse in Columbus – my pitch? Sawyer’s Steaks, duh – he will be shaking hands and kissing babies for the rest of his living days. But first, he needs to go to the 2025 NFL Draft, where he will find his new home in the professional football world.

But which team makes the most sense for Sawyer’s services? Well, according to PFF’s draft board, the pride of Columbus is the 22nd-ranked player in the 2025 class, with NFL Mock Draft Database’s consensus board having him noticeably lower at spot 37. So, if Sawyer could end up going to a playoff team at the end of the first round or a rebuilding team at the top of the second, where are the best landing spots for the former five-star prospect to land? Well, read on to find out.

1. Another cornerstone defensive piece for the Philadelphia Eagles

Though it’s technically unclear where the Philadelphia Eagles’ first-round pick will land, be it as early as 29 or as late as 32, if Sawyer is still on the board, Howie Roseman should rush the card up to the podium, as the OSU edge might just be the most Vic Fangio player in the 2025 NFL Draft.

With one of Josh Sweat or Bryce Huff almost certainly gone heading into the 2025 NFL season, plus Brandon Graham’s retirement very much up in the air after losing the final third of his farewell season due to injury, the Eagles could be left with a scare light collection of edge rushers heading into the fall, with 2024 breakout star Nolan Smith locked in on one side, Sweat/Huff penciled in on the opposite side of the defensive line, and now-rookie third round pick Jalyx Hunt behind them as the relief rusher.

In the playoffs, a three-man rotation can work. Over a regular season, it simply can’t.

Enter Sawyer, who has fantastic size for a 3-4 outside linebacker, can attack the pocket from a two-point or four-point stance, and, most importantly of all, can set a strong edge against the run, which is largely why Huff has fallen out of the rotation. Sawyer is a big, strong rusher who can fight through blocks, hunt running backs, and even drop into the flat as an occasional coverage player, as his 11 passes defensed and lone career interception clearly proves. Factor in his hard-nosed, blue-collar attitude and team-first mentality, and the Eagles could view Sawyer as a true building block piece on an offensive line that already features one of the best defensive linemen in the entire league, Jalen Carter.

Would the Eagles really go defensive end in the first round twice in a three-year period? Would they really start four players on rookie-scale contracts in the trenches while pursuing another Super Bowl parade? Based on Roseman’s draft record over the past few years, plus how expensive defensive ends have become in free agency, it feels not only possible but incredibly likely.

2. Jack Sawyer could become the Rams’ super Michael Hoecht

After saying goodbye to Aaron Donald as he rode off into the sunset of retirement like a John Ford hero, the Los Angeles Rams had to get creative to replace one of their all-time great homegrown players, drafting college teammates Jared Verse and Braden Fiske to round out a rotation already featuring Bryce Young, Kobie Turner, and Bobby Brown.

While the Rams didn’t accomplish their goal of returning to the Super Bowl, giving fans something to cheer for in Los Angeles after brutal wildfires destroyed thousands of acres across LA County, they did more than make up for the loss of Donald with an absolutely insane pass rush that really came on down the stretch.

That’s right, over only two postseason games, the Rams sacked opposing quarterbacks 16 times, with the final seven coming in a snowy game in South Philly.

On paper, the Rams might seem like an unusual pick for Sawyer, as if they add a defensive lineman, it should probably be a big nose tackle who can slow down the run. Saquon Barkley ran for darn near 500 yards between his two games against LA, and even the Vikings picked up over 100 yards on the ground despite throwing the ball almost twice as often as they ran it.

And yet, folks thought it was unusual to trade up for Fiske when they’d already drafted Verse, too, and that decision paid off incredibly well. If the Rams see the success they’ve achieved with Michael Hoeht, himself a very large outside linebacker/edge rusher, and want to eventually replace him with a three-down end who could even kick it inside on obvious passing down, then investing the 26th pick into Sawyer’s services could be the kind of move that earns a B- grade in April but incredible flowers come January.

3. Jack Sawyer stays home in Ohio with the Cincinnati Bengals

And last but not least, if Ohio State fans had their say, Saywer would stay in the state of Ohio, playing his pro ball either for the Cleveland Brown or the Cincinnati Bengals, depending on one’s rooting preferences.

Considering how generationally bad the Bengals’ defense was in 2025, it’s safe to assume general manager Duke Tobin will be run out of town if he doesn’t select a defensive player in the first round, with a local prospect like Sawyer earning him a few brownie points after a rough end to the 2024 NFL season.

You see, despite having one of the best offenses in the NFL in 2024, the Bengals never seemed to get over the hump of being a .500-ish team because they gave up points almost as often as they scored them. They allowed 5,921 yards over the course of the season, good for the 25th-worst mark in the NFL, surrendered 434 points on the year, which also comes in as the 25th-worst mark, and didn’t have a defensive unit that even finished out the regular season with an average mark, with their passing defense ranking 21st and their run defense two marks better at 19th.

Would Sawyer fix all of the team’s problems? No, not at all, but he could help a pass rush that only recorded 36 sacks – 17.5 of which came from Trey Hendrickson – and could, more importantly, help to establish a new defensive culture in The Jungle, as he did just that at OSU. If Sawyer is the best defensive player on the board when the Bengals pick, then he should be the pick.

The post Best 2025 NFL Draft fits for Jack Sawyer after National Championship win appeared first on ClutchPoints.