Dane Brugler's evaluation of unheralded Ohio State prospect proves he's a sleeping giant in 2025 NFL Draft

Most Ohio State 2025 NFL Draft Draft prospects have household names after a stellar College Football Playoff run. The 2024 Buckeyes were headlined by recognizable seniors who had been on the field for years. 

While the team has as many as 15 draftable players from their roster in the class, the expectation was for unheralded names like Ty Hamilton to fall deep onto Day 3. The 6-foot-3, 290-pound defensive tackle might go a lot higher than expected, though.

Hamilton's mock draft projections have ranged between around 100th overall around the National Championship but dipped to the undrafted range in March. 

However, The Athletic's top draft analyst, Dane Brugler, sees Hamilton much differently. In his 2025 NFL Draft Guide, called The Beast, Hamilton is ranked as the 11th-best tackle and top-100 prospect.

Here's what Brugler wrote in Hamilton's evaluation:

"A two-year starter at Ohio State, Hamilton played out of position as the nose tackle in former defensive coordinator Jim Knowles’ four-man front. A late bloomer on the football field, like his older brother, he added 30 pounds for a move from defensive end to tackle and evolved into a valuable part of the Buckeyes’ national title-winning team in 2024.

With his initial quickness and block awareness, Hamilton initiates leveraged contact to stack blocks, create push and shed versus the run. Though he has one-gap traits, he plays with two-gap technique and was asked to do a lot of dirty work in college to make life easier for the linebackers. 

Overall, Hamilton needs pass-rush development, but he is quick, forceful and urgent to create disruption within the structure of the defense. His coachable attitude and positional versatility raise his NFL floor as a role player and potential starter."

With only eight sacks on his career resume, Hamilton might be overvalued a bit by Brugler here. However, he is coming off a tremendous season where there was real improvement. 

It'd be fun to see an undervalued piece of a National Championship winner get picked higher, so we'll see where Hamilton ends up landing.