The Ohio State Buckeyes made a statement at the 2026 NFL Draft after a record 11 selections. Out of those selections, one Buckeye drew a different kind of reaction. Ethan Onianwa arrived in Columbus with some real expectations, but never started for the Buckeyes, and still heard his name called on draft weekend.

Ethan Onianwa heard his name called by a franchise valued at north of $6.3 billion. The Atlanta Falcons picked him at No. 231 in the seventh round. That is what made the pick feel strange in real time. Onianwa played all 14 games for Ohio State, but his year never turned into a starting job, which made Atlanta’s seventh-round bet stand out even more.

What’s wild about this selection is that Atlanta knew what it was doing, or at least, what it thinks it sees. This player, besides the heavy expectations upon his arrival in Columbus, didn’t come cheap either for the Buckeyes. Ethan Onianwa walked in with NIL money north of a million dollars tied to the idea that he’d lock down the left tackle spot in 2025, or at least, that was the plan when Ryan Day and the Buckeyes brought him in from Rice. Instead, the opposite happened.

Ethan Onianwa slid down the depth chart and spent most of the year as a third-string guard. Against his favor, he somehow seemed like an outlier in a program that consistently produces O-line talent. The stranger part now is that a player who could not lock down that role still had enough value for an NFL team to make the call.

It doesn’t mean that he lacks talent, though. Maybe the Falcons aren’t drafting the Ohio State version of Ethan Onianwa. Maybe it’s the Rice version who started 34 of 52 games at both tackle spots, 25 at RT, and nine at LT. And right now, Atlanta is in a situation to take chances up front.

Kaleb McGary’s retirement left a gap, so Atlanta went and took Jawaan Taylor in free agency with a one-year deal. Meanwhile, Storm Norton is coming off a lost season due to injury. So it makes sense that the Falcons need big bodies that are both functional and developmental. As far as the eye can see, Ethan Onianwa fits that.

His 6’6, 333-pound size alone puts him in the 90th percentile among tackles. His wingspan, his frame, the way he moves show that there’s real athleticism buried in there. But it’s not hard to understand the unrest. If he couldn’t get a lineup on a CFB program’s O-line, can an NFL opportunity fix that? Still, not everyone was sleeping on him.

Ethan Onianwa could surprise everyone in the NFL 

Sometimes, all it takes is an NFL platform to shut doubters up. Despite his limited production at Ohio State, some kept Ethan Onianwa on their draft boards. EssentiallySports’ NFL Draft analyst Tony Pauline had him locked as a late-round sleeper, noting Atlanta got “a good pickup” in the seventh round. That shows belief in traits over his resume.

Ethan Onianwa plays with a solid knee bend and stays square in pass sets. His hand placement is sound, and there’s explosiveness at the point of attack. 

“Fluid pulling across the line of scrimmage, squares into defenders and shows ability blocking in motion,” he wrote. “Previously lined up at left tackle and displayed footwork as well as range off the edge. Stays with assignments, keeps his feet moving, and seals defenders from the action.”

That’s the version Atlanta is betting on, but then there’s a flip side. Ethan Onianwa doesn’t consistently play to his size and rarely finishes blocks with authority. There’s a lack of nastiness you typically want from a 330-pound lineman. And the knee injury he dealt with at Ohio State didn’t help his development or his chances to climb the depth chart.

Even The Athletics’ Dane Brugler said the inability to win a starting job in Columbus is an “obvious red flag.” But he also noted the intelligence, work ethic, and raw tools that make Ethan Onianwa worth a shot, even though not a guaranteed starter. 

This was never really a bet on Onianwa’s Ohio State tape alone. It was a bet on that one quiet year in Columbus, which did not erase what he had already shown before that at Rice. And while Ohio State celebrates its NFL Draft success, it’ll be interesting to see if the Falcons were right to pick the former Buckeye and if that Rice version of Ethan Onianwa is still in there somewhere. What do you think?