Ohio State football: 5 great players who didn’t live up to the NFL hype

Ohio State football stars who were NFL busts.

With eight National Championships in program history to go along with seven Heisman Trophy winners, the pedigree of Ohio State football can never be put into question. The Buckeyes have an extensive history of excellence over the years, being great even if they aren’t capturing any hardware as well.

And amidst all of their success, it’s no surprise that there has been a bevy of Buckeyes greats that went on to awesome NFL careers. From NFL legends such as Jack Tatum, Eddie George, Orlando Pace and Cris Carter to contemporary stars such as Joey Bosa, Ezekiel Elliott and Michael Thomas, Ohio State football have been a funnel to the pros with great talent.

Of course, no college football program has a perfect record in this regard and the Buckeyes aren’t an exception. These five Ohio State football standouts never quite found the same success in the NFL.

Terrelle Pryor switched from quarterback to receiver.

Coming out of high school as a celebrated two-sport athlete, Terrelle Pryor chose football over basketball as he headed to Columbus to play for the Buckeyes. And right away, it was clear that the physical phenom was going to be a problem for the rest of the Big Ten with his dual-threat ability at quarterback.

While he didn’t begin his career as a freshman starter in the 2008 season, he had taken over the job by the end of the first month of his first season with the team. In fact, in his first career start, Pryor threw for an Ohio State freshman record four touchdowns. He went 8-1 as a starter in his freshman season, though he didn’t get the start in the Fiesta Bowl, an eventual loss for the Buckeyes.

Over the next two seasons, Pryor threw for almost 5,000 combined yards with 45 touchdown passes along with over 1,500 rushing yards and 11 scores on the ground as well. He also won two Big Ten Championships in his time with the Buckeyes as one of the most dynamic players in school history. Unfortunately, his college career ended prematurely when Pryor was suspended and ultimately left the program due to NCAA sanctions for selling signed memorabilia.

Pryor was selected by the Raiders in the third round of the 2011 NFL Supplemental Draft and played quarterback for his first three years, struggling as he went 3-7 as a starter, completing under 57 percent of his passes with nine touchdowns and 12 picks. He then converted to wide receiver and, though he had a 1,000-yard season for the 1-15 Browns in 2016, he had just 492 yards combined over the next two seasons and didn’t play a snap in the 2019 campaign.