Ben Hartsock’s decades-old story is rather quaint by today’s college football recruiting standards.
Coming out of Unioto High School in Chillicothe, the former Ohio State and NFL tight end set his heart on playing at OSU, not for the money or with an eye on the NFL, but because he had followed the Buckeyes from an early age.
“I’m a dinosaur; I wanted to go to Ohio State because I loved it,” Hartsock said hours before the 2026 NFL draft. “I wanted to play in the Shoe because I watched Eddie [George] and [Chris] Spielman play there. The NFL was a distant dream when I was selecting schools.
“The NFL didn’t become a thought until my redshirt junior year, after realizing I could cut it as a starter.”
How times have changed. While it remains true that some high school recruits choose OSU because they suckled on scarlet and gray from the time they could babble “Go Bucks,” today’s players abide by two main deciding mantras: 1. Show me the money. 2. Develop me into a high NFL draft pick.
Of those two, development may be the bigger influencer, at least among the most elite players. Dozens of schools can write a fat check to lure recruits or portal transfers into the fold, but to capture their attention long term requires convincing them they will be more NFL-ready when they leave than when they arrived.
Such talk is cheap, but Ohio State backs it up in gold. Everything the Buckeyes coaching staff does revolves around the message, “We prepare you better for the NFL than anyone.” Or, as signage inside the Woody Hayes Athletic Center proclaims, “Developed Here.”
Strong words, but OSU has the numbers to back it up.
Ohio State has 507 picks since the first draft in 1936. Eight of those went on to become Pro Football Hall of Famers. Yet only recently has OSU gone all-in with building its reputation for not just getting guys to the NFL, but having them make a splash when they arrive.
Ohio State wide receivers make plenty of noise in NFL
Consider the wide receivers who have come through the OSU pipeline of late, led by Jaxon Smith-Njigba, the 2025 Associated Press offensive player of the year. Other successful receivers include Emeka Egbuka, Marvin Harrison Jr., Chris Olave, Garrett Wilson and Terry McLaurin.
The latest star attraction at WR was Carnell Tate, who went fourth overall to the Tennessee Titans in the April 23 draft. Tate chose to attend OSU because he considered it “Receiver U,” specifically explaining how he wanted to be developed into a first-round pick.
Mission accomplished.
Ohio State’s other first-round picks, linebackers Arvell Reese and Sonny Styles and safety Caleb Downs, also expressed a desire to be developed into top-shelf NFL selections. Reese went No. 5 to the New York Giants, Styles No. 7 to Washington and Downs No. 11 to Dallas. The Buckeyes came close, but Michigan State in 1967 remains the school to produce four top-10 picks.
There’s a reason OSU coach Ryan Day hires former NFL coaches as coordinators. Not only to win games but to win recruiting battles. Are Ohio State offensive coordinator Arthur Smith and defensive coordinator Matt Patricia, both of whom spent years in the NFL, any better at teaching fundamentals than assistants who came from Penn, Navy or Florida State? Not necessarily, but both have the bona fides that convince recruits and transfers that signing with Ohio State equals being a step ahead come draft day.
OSU has turned development into something special when it really is just a normal part of the job. Credit the Buckeyes for cleverly leaning into what most football people take for granted – making players better – and turning it into a marketing campaign: “Come to OSU to become an NFL star.”
Bobby Carpenter followed great linebackers at Ohio State
It wasn’t always the case that young players picked OSU based mostly on how quickly coaches could develop them into high draft picks. Bobby Carpenter was not obsessed with becoming an NFL standout when he signed with the Buckeyes in 2002. But if Carpenter was a high school recruit in 2026?
“It would have mattered a lot more for me just how successful guys are in the NFL, and how well-prepared to train they are,” he said.
Former OSU wide receiver Dee Miller, who lined up opposite David Boston in the late 1990s, initially leaned toward signing with Tennessee because the Vols offered a better path to the NFL, not because they developed players but simply because they had players.
“Tennessee was Wide Receiver U at that time,” Miller said. “I thought the NFL would be more attainable there, and OSU was not throwing the football much. Also, Peyton [Manning] was in my class and I thought that would be cool.”
Not a cool million. Just cool.
“My dad felt life after football would be better for me if I attended OSU,” Miller said. “He wanted me to achieve my dream, but he was all about graduating and finding a good job. He would always tell me, ‘OSU takes care of its own.’”
Right about now, you may be thinking, “But what does developing players for the NFL do for Ohio State fans now?”
Glad you asked. Being human, you surely have spoken the words that get only mouthed inside the OSU football program: “With all this talent, how did we lose in the Big Ten Championship game and first round of the College Football Playoff?”
Fair question. My twofold answer? It’s hard to win national titles with first-time starters at quarterback; Julian Sayin was a tad too shaky in the postseason. And the timing of offensive coordinator Brian Hartline taking the job at South Florida caused just enough chaos to slow the offense when it needed to hum.
Still, emphasizing NFL development risks alienating fans who rue the optics of focusing more on the future than the present. The counterargument is that talent trumps all, and it’s hard to argue against Ohio State selling player development when it has become an on-ramp to attracting the best players in the nation.
A compromise is in order. Instead of “Developed here,” which is too forward-looking, Day should improve the optics by making it “Developed here … and now.” Because for Buckeye Nation, the present matters more than the future.
Sports columnist Rob Oller can be reached at roller@dispatch.com and on X.com at @rollerCD.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State NFL draft success proves ‘Developed Here’ is more than a slogan
Reporting by Rob Oller, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
