Bill Belichick has been spending a lot of time in Columbus, Ohio, over the last two months.
The New England Patriots head coach attended Ohio State’s pro day last month. On Thursday, he spoke at the Ohio State Coaches Clinic and praised Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer and his staff.
“I have so much respect for Coach Meyer, the job that he does here at the university,” Belichick said at the clinic. “We were both fortunate to win a national championship and Super Bowl titles a couple years ago. His staff, Coach (Kevin) Wilson, Coach (Greg) Schiano, who has been a friend of mine for a long time. …
“It seemed like there was one year we went down and drafted his entire secondary, and those ones are still playing for us. He has turned out so many great players, so many great people in that program. So when they asked, I was really honored to accept and be here.”
Belichick spoke at the clinic for 30 minutes and spent time praising Ohio State’s football program.
“This is about football for me,” Belichick said. “There’s a lot of great other sports at Ohio State, I respect all of those, my daughter coached lacrosse here. Nothing is taking anything away from that. Ohio State is about football. And that’s what it should be.”
Because of Belichick’s connection to Meyer and Schiano, it’s worth taking a second glance at some of Ohio State’s top prospects in the 2017 NFL Draft, which takes place in two weeks.
Here are the Buckeyes’ top prospects and when each is projected to be drafted:
CB Marshon Lattimore, Round 1
FS Malik Hooker, Round 1
CB Gareon Conley, Round 1-2
RB/WR Curtis Samuel, Round 2
LB Raekwon McMilan, Round 2
C Pat Elflein, Round 2-3
WR Noah Brown, Round 4
WR Corey Smith, UDFA
P Cameron Johnston, UDFA
WR Dontre Wilson, UDFA
Lattimore, Conley and McMilan are fits for the Patriots from a measureable and testing standpoint, but they could be gone by the time the Patriots are selecting at No. 72 overall. If the Patriots trade up in the draft, those players, plus Hooker, certainly would look good in a Patriots uniform.
Thumbnail photo via Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports Images
