It’s official. Though he had already accepted an invite to the Senior Bowl, Ohio State football offensive tackle Dawand Jones had yet to officially announce his intentions of declaring for the 2023 NFL draft.
Until now.
Jones took to Twitter on Wednesday to share a thank you note and announce his decision to move on to the next chapter of his life and enter his name into the draft. He joins fellow linemen Luke Wypler and Paris Johnson Jr. as Ohio State players that will hopefully hear their names called in April.
Out of Ben Davis High School in Indianapolis, Indiana, Jones was a bit of a diamond in the rough for the Buckeyes. At 6-foot, 8-inches, and 360-pounds, he was only listed as a 3-star recruit in the 2019 class. His size and athleticism as a multiple sport athlete — especially his ability to move around the basketball court — got him on OSU’s radar as a guy that could be light on his feet, yet move big bodies in the Big Ten.
Jones was a full-time starter for the last two seasons and has a total of 40 games under his belt at the collegiate level including 26 starts. He was a consensus All-American at tackle this past season, the first to do so since Orlando Pace in 1996. Still, Jones has a ton of untapped potential and could develop into a beast in the NFL for whichever team decides to draft him.
New Journey 🧩 pic.twitter.com/VkqsEVVBII
— Dawand Jones (@dawandj79) January 11, 2023
With the announcement, Ohio State has now officially lost three starters off of the 2022 line that helped pave the way for the nation’s No. 2 ranked offense in both yards and points.
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