30 college football players who could go from unknown to first-round pick in 2024

Every year, multiple players find themselves outside the NFL Draft conversation, but there's a reason they call 2025 mock drafts "way too early." There are dozens of players hoping to immensely raise their draft stock.

Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl - Ole Miss v Penn State / Todd Kirkland/GettyImages

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4. Jack Sawyer Jr., DE, Ohio State Buckeyes

Jack Sawyer Jr. has the perfect combination of on-field impact, premium position, and high-profile matchups. He plays for THE Ohio State University. With the Big Ten playing in multiple premium matchups all season, this will be a player that is seen and talked about constantly. Ohio State has produced pass rushers before, like Will Smith, Mike Vrabel, and more recently, Joey Bosa. Sawyer could become just as good as they all became.

Sawyer is an Ohio native, making it pretty clear that this is where he wanted to be as a five-star recruit out of the city of Pickerington. He signed with the Buckeyes about two years before he officially enrolled. This was a match made in Heaven, and nothing was getting in its way.

This is a player that has increased his production in each of his three seasons at Ohio State. There were some question marks coming into Columbus, as Sawyer hadn’t played in a little over a year after a torn MCL and a lapsed year due to the pandemic, but Sawyer made it pretty clear he was ready for Big Ten football.

This year, he could see an even bigger impact on the pass rush. After 6.5 sacks in 2023, getting to double digits will have teams putting him up for a first-rounder. He’s the type of player coaches love. His motor is nonstop, and he is magnetic towards the ball. His impact on the defense will be felt on every play, both in his senior year at Ohio State and eventually in the pros.

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