It’s 5 o’clock somewhere, and if you’re an NFC East fan, the 2026 NFL draft might already feel like a happy hour special you didn’t know you were ordering. In a stunning twist, three Ohio State defenders were scooped up within the first 11 picks—all landing in the same division. That’s right, the NFC East went Buckeye-heavy, and the results could reshape the defensive landscape for years to come.

Let’s start with the Washington Commanders, who snagged linebacker Sonny Styles with the 7th overall pick. If you’d told mock draft experts back in January that Styles would go that high, they’d have laughed you out of the room. But here we are. For many Commanders fans, the pick was a pleasant surprise—though some might have preferred versatile safety Caleb Downs, who early on was touted as the top player in the entire draft. Yet, in a twist of fate, both players ended up in the same division, just on different sides of the rivalry.

Speaking of Downs, he’s now a Dallas Cowboy, and new defensive coordinator Christian Parker is already dreaming up ways to use him. Think of Downs as the ultimate chess piece: a hybrid safety who can roam deep as a free safety, crash the box against the run, or line up against tight ends and slot receivers. His elite instincts and range will allow Dallas to disguise coverages and keep offenses guessing. It’s the kind of versatility that turns a good defense into a nightmare for opposing quarterbacks.

Back in Washington, Daronte Jones has his own secret weapon in Styles. At 6-foot-5 and 244 pounds, Styles is a linebacker with a safety’s background—a combo that gives the Commanders “endless possibilities” for pre-snap confusion. He’ll likely line up as a “mugged up” linebacker, threatening the A-gap to force protection shifts before either blitzing or dropping into coverage. And here’s the kicker: in his final college season, he missed just two tackles. Two. That kind of efficiency is gold in an aggressive scheme.

So, which team drafted the most transformative Ohio State defender? The answer might depend on your taste. Dallas gets a versatile safety who can do it all. Washington gets a linebacker who’s a tackling machine and a matchup nightmare. Either way, the NFC East just got a lot more interesting—and a lot more Buckeye.