40 best Ohio State football players this century, ranked

Running back Ezekiel Elliott #15 of the Ohio State Buckeyes celebrates after defeating the Oregon Ducks 42 to 20 in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game at AT&T Stadium on January 12, 2015 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /

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Dwayne Haskins Jr. #7 of the Ohio State Buckeyes. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images) /

Best Ohio State football players this century 6. Dwayne Haskins – Quarterback 2017-18

When looking at it now, Dwayne Haskins might surprise people being ahead of names like J.T. Barrett and Justin Fields, but his one season was beyond special in Columbus. He put up Madden-like numbers in 2018. 4,800 yards and 50 touchdowns sound like one of the best Tom Brady seasons in the NFL, where they now play 17 games in a season. To do it in 14 games is just preposterous. Only seven quarterbacks in the history of college football have broken 50 touchdowns in Division I.

Haskins once again led the Buckeyes to another Big Ten title. He actually threw for 499 yards and five touchdowns in the championship game against Northwestern. His performance against Michigan might be his best. The Wolverines went into the game with the nation’s best defense. Haskins threw for 396 yards and 6 (!!!) touchdowns. He led an Ohio State offense that scored 62 points, the most Michigan has ever allowed. Again, this was the number one defense in the land coming into the matchup.

Somehow, despite these insane numbers, Haskins finished third for the Heisman Trophy. He finished behind Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray and Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. Those three ended up splitting a lot of the quarterback awards.

Haskins left Ohio State after starting for one season. It’s hard to imagine going up from where he was. His numbers were so good, that all he had left to do in college was win a national championship. However, he decided to go to the NFL instead.

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