Putting together his best collegiate season during Ohio State’s run to the national championship, former Buckeye cornerback Jordan Hancock earned his professional football stripes on Saturday by being selected with the No. 170 overall pick by the Buffalo Bills in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL draft, becoming the seventh defensive player taken off the board from Columbus.
Once a four-star recruit and No. 4 cornerback in the class of 2021, Hancock saw limited playing time his first two seasons with Ohio State before totaling 41 tackles and two interceptions in 2023 and 48 tackles with an interception and nine passes defended in 2024, all while earning Honorable Mention all-Big Ten in his final season.
Perhaps Hancock’s most valuable trait was his versatility in the back end of the Buckeyes, being able to play a variety of secondary spots such as nickelback and cornerback.
“I feel like I could play every position,” Hancock said on March 26. “Most people can’t say that.”
Now an NFL draftee, Hancock joins Denzel Burke as the first Buckeye cornerbacks to be selected in the same draft since Jeffrey Okudah (No. 3, Detroit Lions) and Damon Arnette (No. 19, Las Vegas Raiders) were selected in the 2020 NFL Draft.
Hancock will also join a Bills cornerback room that also includes Demar Hamlin, Taron Johnson and Tre’Davious White, among others.
