Donovan Jackson is soaking in the moment.
Meeting with media members Friday after getting selected No. 24 overall to the Minnesota Vikings, the offensive guard gave a shoutout to his former coach for making him a better player over the last few seasons en route to a national title in January as Ohio State beat Notre Dame 34-23.
"Pressure's always a privilege," Jackson recalled Ryan Day telling him.
Not just Jackson, but the Buckeyes were arguably under more pressure than anyone in college football. Following their loss to Michigan in the regular-season finale, the Buckeyes went on a run of epic proportions which included wins against Tennessee, Oregon and Texas before the inevitable conclusion.
Lance Zierlein has high expectations for Jackson, although transitioning to the pros can take some time.
"He’s long but punches with wider hands and struggles to consistently maintain his edges when mirroring," Zierlein wrote. "Overall, Jackson has the measurables, power and movement for any scheme as a starting guard."
Donovan could have declared a year early, but he opted to sort out unfinished business. It ended up paying off.
"I woke up one morning and looked at my mom and said, ‘Mom, I want to go back to school,” Donovan told ABC6 in January. "She said, ‘Alright. We have to make a few phone calls,’ So I called Coach Day, called Jack [Sawyer], called Tyleik [Williams] and said, ‘Guys, I’m coming back.’ Coach Day was obviously pretty happy with that decision and I’m pretty happy with that decision as well.”
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It remains to be seen whether Jackson works out, but it's clear the Big Ten has immense talent making the jump to the next level.
Only time will tell.