USC recruit Alijah Arenas in induced coma after crash, per sources​

Five-star prospect and USC commit Alijah Arenas has been placed in an induced coma after he was involved in a serious car crash in the Los Angeles area early Thursday morning, sources told ESPN.

No details of the crash were immediately available. Sources told ESPN that initial tests showed no broken bones for Arenas.

Arenas, 18, is the son of former NBA star Gilbert Arenas. He is the No. 13-ranked recruit in the Class of 2025.

He reclassified to the 2025 class in December then committed to USC in January. Arenas joined a Trojans recruiting class that also includes Bryce James, the son of Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James.

You’re Nuts: Which Buckeye do you want selected in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft?
Brett Ludwiczak via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
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Your (almost) daily dose of good-natured, Ohio State banter.

The 2025 NFL Draft kicks off in Green Bay on Thursday night. Over the three-day event, over 250 college players will see their dreams of being drafted into the NFL realized. Some will go on to win the Super Bowl and possibly earn their place in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Others will be released before the regular season begins and will be forced to evaluate what their future holds.

Today, we are only going to focus on what might happen in the first round of this year’s draft on Thursday night. While the Tennessee Titans sound like they’ll be selecting Miami quarterback Cam Ward with the top pick, everything that will happen after is up in the air. While there is a lot of uncertainty about the picks we’ll see following the Titans' pick of Ward, there should be a couple of Buckeyes selected in Thursday night’s first round.

What we want to know is which Ohio State player you are hoping is drafted in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft on Thursday night. We don’t care if it’s realistic that the player you are caping for actually has a shot at being drafted in this year’s First Round; we just want to know who you want to see taken within the first 32 picks.

Is there a fringe player you are hoping a team has graded highly and selects him before the end of Thursday? Or your choice could be a player who has been mocked in the first round for months, and you are just eager to see which team he lands with. With at least 10 Ohio State players predicted to be drafted this year, there are plenty of options to choose from.

Today’s question: Which Buckeye do you want selected in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft?​

We’d love to hear your choices. Either respond to us on Twitter at @Landgrant33 or leave your choice in the comments.​

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Brett’s answer: Jack Sawyer​

It’s hard to think of another Buckeye who loves Ohio State more than Jack Sawyer. The defensive end easily could have entered last year’s NFL Draft after his strong finish to the 2023 season. Instead, Sawyer and a bunch of his teammates on the defense knew they had some unfinished business to take care of and returned to Columbus for another season. Even though Sawyer’s Ohio State career finished without a win over Michigan, the Pickerington product was a key figure in the national title run of the Buckeyes.

A few weeks ago I wrote an article stating that a fun landing spot for Sawyer would be with the Cincinnati Bengals. The move makes perfect sense since former Buckeye defensive end Sam Hubbard announced he was retiring, and the Bengals are dealing with Trey Hendrickson’s hopes for a new contract. Sawyer would instantly become a fan favorite since he grew up just a couple of hours up I-71. The only thing that worries me about Cincinnati taking Sawyer is that they currently have the 17th pick in the first round, so I don’t think they’d take Sawyer quite that high. Sawyer could be in play if the Bengals decide to trade down and accumulate more draft capital, since they’ll likely need it after breaking the bank on Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins in the offseason.

Another interesting landing spot for Sawyer could be with the Detroit Lions at pick 28. Imagine the defensive line of Detroit if they brought in Sawyer just a few years after drafting defensive end Aidan Hutchinson with the top pick. Those two would definitely push each other to be the better defensive end, since there is already the rivalry factor between the two since Hutchinson went to Michigan. Since the Lions are already loaded on offense, it makes sense for Detroit to focus on improving their defense in the draft after they were torched by Washington in the playoffs.

In reality, Sawyer is likely going to be a day two pick in this year’s NFL Draft. Just because he wasn’t drafted in the first round doesn’t mean he won’t be able to make an impact at the next level. Really, the only difference is Sawyer’s paycheck won’t be as big as those who are taken ahead of him. When it comes to heart and determination, there aren’t many players in this year’s draft who can match Sawyer. Hopefully, Sawyer can become the latest great defensive end from Ohio State in the NFL.

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Matt’s answer: Will Howard​

Look, I know this isn’t going to happen, but the prompt isn’t about which Buckeye player do we think is going to be taken in the first round, it is which player do we want to be taken in the first round, and that makes it easy for me to go with Will Howard. Of course, I want Emeka Egbuka, Tyleik Williams, TreVeyon Henderson, Quinshon Judkins, and the rest of the draft-eligible Buckeyes to float up to the top of the draft, but I don’t think that OSU’s one-year quarterback gets nearly the acclaim that he deserves.

To be honest with you, I want him to go as high as possible and have an incredible pro career, in part, just to stick it to those ass-hat Michigan fans who ridiculously tried to convince the internet that his NFL Combine performance was anything other than stellar.

Perhaps it was growing up in Pennsylvania, but for whatever reason, the moment that Howard got to Columbus from Kansas State, he just seemed to emanate the essence of what it means to be a Buckeye. A lot of times with first-year players in the program — freshman and transfers alike — that can come off as a little forced and fake, but with Howard, it felt so genuine that it immediately endeared him to me, long before he ever took the field as OSU’s QB.

Then, he went out and led Ohio State to its first national championship in a decade, and was largely dismissed as just an average guy surrounded by a “bought-and-paid-for” roster. We all know the idiocy of people claiming that Ryan Day and company “bought” a national title, and have rightly fought back against it, but Will Howard was an exceptional quarterback for Ohio State.

No, he didn’t have the arm of Dwyane Haskins, he didn’t have the skill of Justin Fields, he didn’t have the accuracy of C.J. Stroud, but he had enough of each of those guys to be the perfect signal-caller for OSU this season, and I would love to see him continue that into the NFL.

Even though I know it won’t happen, I would love to see him taken late in the first round by a team with an established quarterback. This will allow Howard to learn on the bench of a winning team and wait for his opportunity to step into the spotlight. It’s not the exact same thing as going from Kansas State to Columbus, but if things play out that way, it would feel somewhat similar.

So, give me Will Howard to the Buffalo Bills with Pick No. 30.

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