The 2003 Ohio State Buckeyes had a record setting 14 players picked in the NFL Draft the following Spring. How could a team that loaded have had almost no chance of winning the championship? Simply because of the players that weren’t there from the previous year’s ‘02 National Champion team.
Let’s start with the players they lost to the Draft from the defensive side of the ball. Two of them made up what might be the best safety tandem ever to play at Ohio State. All-American Mike Doss and Donnie Nickey were great players and great leaders. And when you lose two seniors in the back line of the defense, that experience just can’t be replaced.