Former Buckeyes NFL Stars are making headlines as NFL postseason honor nominations begin to roll out.
As the NFL season comes to a close, two of the most recent former Ohio State Buckeyes set the pace in the NFL amongst all of the other rookies.
Wide receiver Emeka Egbuka and running back TreVeyon Henderson are both finalists for the NFL's Rookie of the Year Award. Together, the two former National Champions are the only two former teammates in college to be up for the prestigious award.
It's hard to believe all of the talent that was on Ohio State's roster just 12 short months ago. When they took the field against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in Atlanta, they had some of the top talent in all of College Football on one roster.
Obviously, it was enough for them to earn the National Championship and etch their name in the history books forever. Now, they have their sights set on becoming the same caliber of player in the NFL.
The tales of their seasons were completely opposite. Egbuka jumped onto the scene right away and looked like he was going to be more than just the Rookie of the Year. His season cooled off towards the end, at the same time that TreVeyon's season heated up.
Henderson's first touch of his career in the preseason was a lightning strike. He took the opening kickoff of the preseason back 99 yards for a score, and everyone thought that New England struck gold, again.
It wasn't the smoothest start for Henderson in the regular season. He struggled to find playing time early on, but once he started getting carries, he reminded everyone of his big-play tendencies.
Egbuka finished the year with 63 catches for 938 yards and six touchdowns on the year. In the first nine games of the year, he eclipsed 100 yards on three separate occasions, with his season high being a seven catch, 163-yard, one touchdown performance against the Seattle Seahawks.
Henderson tallied 190 carries for 911 yards and nine touchdowns on the year, with 35 catches for 221 yards and a score. Again, in his first nine games, he only touched 75 yards once and got over 50 yards just one other time.
Then, on the home stretch of the year, he had games of 147 yards and 148 yards while never rushing for less than 50 yards, if not for an injury. He had eight of his nine touchdowns in the last eight games.
These two were the headliners of Ohio State's rookie class, and they represented the Buckeyes, and will be staples in this league for a long, long time.