Breaking down projected Buckeyes wide receiver depth chart
COLUMBUS — The leader of the Ohio State wide receiver room, Emeka Egbuka, has a chance to break career pass-catching records this fall.
Every single other receiver on the roster is largely inexperienced. But that room still sure is talented, even with the lack of big-time experience from seven of the eight scholarship receivers.
Even with the young room, Ohio State has a fairly defined pecking order at wide receiver.
Lettermen Row is rolling along with Wide Receiver Week by breaking down, in-depth, the Ohio State receiver position and its projected depth chart. Let’s dive in.
The starters are nearly set
Yes, Marvin Harrison Jr. is gone, a Heisman Trophy finalist and Biletnikoff Award winner who won’t be easy to replace. But Emeka Egbuka, who had more than 1,000 yard receiving in 2022, returns alongside second-year receiver Carnell Tate, who was incredibly impressive for a true freshman during his first season with the Buckeyes. From there, the room has a lot of unproven talent, but still enough to be the deepest room on the offensive side of the ball.
The Buckeyes are expecting huge things from Brandon Inniss this fall after he developed during his freshman season last year. Brian Hartline and Ryan Day raved about him all spring — until he missed the last couple of weeks with an injury.
READ MORE: How Brandon Inniss can thrive in slot role for Buckeyes
Egbuka is the clear-cut leader of the room. From there, Tate and Inniss are going to be big factors in this loaded, but inexperienced, wide receiver unit.
And then the elephant in the room needs to be addressed: do we include five-star freshman Jeremiah Smith, the No. 1 overall prospect in the 2024 recruiting cycle, as a starter? He lost his black stripe earlier than any freshman in program history and made numerous highlight plays during his inaugural spring. Ohio State knows how special he already is. Does that push him into the lineup to open the season? We think so.
READ MORE: Ask the Expert: Are first-year expectations for Jeremiah Smith realistic?
Potential playmakers for Buckeyes
Ohio State is still hoping to see a true breakout from fourth-year receiver Jayden Ballard, and he showed them flashes of what that could look like during the back half of spring ball. Ballard has always shown game-breaking speed off the line of scrimmage. Can he put the rest of his game together and become a breakout star for the offense? He still has two years of eligibility remaining, but it does feel like a now-or-never offseason for Ballard.
Second-year receiver Bryson Rodgers also flashed during spring practice, and he’s in the running to be a contributor after earning a lot of snaps over the two months of spring ball. Rodgers made the most of his time on the field in March and April, even running with the first- and second-team offense at times after Inniss went down with an injury that sidelined him for the back half of spring. Rodgers has a real chance to beef up the depth in the slot for the Buckeyes.
Will anyone else become contributor?
The bottom line is that as talented as the Buckeyes wide receiver room is, it’s a very thin room. The only other two receivers in the room are third-year receiver Kojo Antwi, who has no career statistics for the Buckeyes, and true freshman Mylan Graham, who joined the roster this month to begin his career. Graham was a five-star prospect in the 2024 class, although he was largely overshadowed by virtue of being in the same recruiting class as Smith.
Antwi plays on the outside. Graham is a slot weapon for the future. Both have uphill climbs to make a push for playing time, although it’s not out of the question entirely.
Walk-on receiver David Adolph could be one to watch. He is a hard-worker who deserves to have his name known by Ohio State fans.
The post Breaking down projected Buckeyes wide receiver depth chart appeared first on On3.
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