“I wish I could have run for everybody. That’s kind of the big question with me, but I’m going to be benching. Didn’t want to come here and do nothing so I’ll at least do the bench, talk to teams, do (media) stuff and just try to get the most out of this. Stay positive throughout the whole process and get a good grasp of these interviews and try to kill those.”
Ruckert was not a primary weapon for the Ohio State offense, but he was a key component.
Offensive coordinator and tight ends coach Kevin Wilson likes to say Buckeye tight ends spend half their time at receiver and half at left tackle, and Ruckert embraced the physical part of the game after being essentially a receiver in high school.
“The biggest thing for me was coming out of high school I didn’t play tight end at all — it was mostly receiver,” Ruckert said. “That was the biggest decision for me going to Ohio State was I wanted to be that complete guy, I wanted to adapt to that toughness and their culture.”
His hope heading into the draft is teams will see him as a complete player.
“Looking back from when I got on campus there to where I am now, I’m going to do whatever it takes to win, whatever a team wants me to do,” Ruckert said. “If there is a job as a tight end, I’m going to do it and try to check the box and get after people and do the job the right way. Whatever the team needed me to do, whatever kind of job you need as a tight end, I’m going to do it.”
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