Wyatt Davis Announces He is Turning Pro, Declaring for the NFL Draft

Davis is perhaps the best interior lineman in the country. He's the first Buckeye to declare for the draft and if the Big Ten reschedules the season, Davis won't be on the field.

Ohio State redshirt junior guard Wyatt Davis, a projected first round pick in the NFL Draft next April, is declaring for the draft and opting out of any potential Ohio State season.

While the Big Ten still hasn't announced plans for a rescheduled football season, Davis was unwilling to wait any longer before making his decision.

Davis returned to Ohio State for a fourth season with hopes of competing for a national championship. As the Buckeyes' chances to compete in the College Football Playoff have seemingly waned with the postponed season, Davis tells Pete Thamel of Yahoo! Sports that he had to make a tough decision and move forward to prepare for the draft.

“My family and I were waiting to hear any good news that there would be a possibility to play in the fall,” Davis told Yahoo Sports. “As the weeks went on, after the initial cancellation, the news didn’t seem in favor that we would have an opportunity to play for a national championship if there was a season. At this point, my family and I made the decision that it would be my best decision to take the next step.”

Davis is 6-foot-4, 315 pounds and is widely regarded as one of the best (if not the best) interior offensive lineman in the country. He is devastated by the fact he won't be able to wear Scarlet and Gray again, considering he could've declared for the draft last year.

“It’s really heartbreaking,” he said. “I believe that we would have won the national championship this year. It’s really unfortunate. I feel for all those guys, especially the younger players going into this year having that taken away from them. It’s tough, but we are in a pandemic. It’s just really unfortunate. We had something really special.”

Davis anchored an offensive line last season that saw J.K. Dobbins and Justin Fields run wild. The Buckeyes finished 2019 No. 3 in the country in scoring offense (46.9 points/game), No. 5 in rushing offense (266.7 yards/game) and No. 4 in total offense (529.9 yards/game).

He earned First Team All-American honors last year from three different media outlets, while taking Second-Team All-American recognition from three others.

“Everyone was truly bought in,” Davis said. “Guys were taking the initiative to not be out in public and to truly follow protocols. Everyone wanted to play. Coach Day and Gene Smith were both fighting extremely hard and they still are. Coach Day cares for us, man. He wants nothing but the best for us.”

Davis was a 5-star offensive lineman (by Rivals, 247Sports and Scout) as a senior at St. John Bosco and was one of the Top 25 players in the nation overall, with Scout ranking him No. 16 among his peers, Rivals No 22 and 247Sports No. 24. A tackle for head coach Jason Negro, Davis was considered the No. 1 guard prospect in the nation by all three of those rankings services and the No. 3 guard by ESPN, which also listed him No. 38 on its ESPN 300.

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