After Staff Changes, the Pressure is on Zach Smith and Ohio State's Wide Receivers to Produce in 2017

These are names that came through Ohio State's wide receivers room at one point or another in their careers and either got drafted or made it to the NFL in some capacity under Zach Smith.

Though Curtis Samuel played both running back and wide receiver for Ohio State in 2016 and it remains unclear how the team that drafts him will use his talents, we will include him in that list because he led the team in receptions this past season. Samuel will get drafted, and another wide receiver who left early — Noah Brown — will too. Two seniors from the group, Dontre Wilson (a hybrid like Samuel) and Corey Smith, await their professional fates but are likely to go undrafted.

There are many other players from Smith's time at Florida under Urban Meyer that turned pro but our focus will remain on the Buckeyes.

Smith's success putting players into the league deserves to be celebrated. Not all of them are still currently on rosters — but they got there. They earned a chance to make it. What comes of the Ohio State receivers room in 2017, however, is arguably the most essential piece of the puzzle in deciding whether or not the program returns to the College Football Playoff.

Samuel returned in 2016 as the team's leading receiver after Miller, Thomas and Marshall turned pro. He caught 22 passes for 289 yards and two touchdowns as a sophomore. With him and Brown onto the NFL and Wilson's graduation, Ohio State's leading returning pass catcher is tight end Marcus Baugh. At receiver, K.J. Hill caught 18 passes for 262 yards and one touchdown in 2016 despite missing two games with an ankle injury.

Hill's yardage numbers trump the combined output of Terry McLaurin and Parris Campbell — two starters— in 2016. The two caught just 24 passes for 235 yards and a pair of scores, both by McLaurin.

Ohio State's passing game dealt with issues all season. The play calling left something to be desired, so Meyer swiftly changed the minds responsible. Tim Beck left for Texas and Ed Warinner for Minnesota, with Ryan Day stepping in as quarterbacks coach and Kevin Wilson as the new offensive coordinator and tight ends coach.

The three names on Ohio State's offensive staff that didn't change? Running backs coach Tony Alford (the Buckeyes, led by 1,000-yard rusher Mike Weber) led the Big Ten in rushing at 245.2 yards per game; offensive line coach Greg Studrawa (2016 was his first year in Columbus, Pat Elflein won the Rimington Trophy as the nation's top center); and Smith.

Smith is the lone member of Meyer's 2012 offensive staff — his first at Ohio State — still employed by the university as an assistant coach. Former tight ends and fullbacks coach Tim Hinton remains with the program, though he became a special assistant to Meyer and Executive Director of Football Relations last January.

Smith also serves as Ohio State's recruiting coordinator, a role at which he has excelled. Meyer called the wide receivers room a "clown show" after his first few years at Ohio State and Smith responded, helping to nab the following players at the position: Marshall, Smith, Campbell, McLaurin, Brown, Hill, Alex Stump, James Clark, Johnnie Dixon, Austin Mack and Binjimen Victor. You can even throw Wilson and Samuel in that group, though they were hybrid players for their careers. The one thing all of those guys have in common? All were considered 4-star prospects by 247Sports.

In the 2017 class, Smith and the Buckeyes are set to sign 5-star Trevon Grimes from Florida and 4-star Jaylen Harris, though the former is rehabbing an ACL injury that prematurely ended his high school career. Tyjon Lindsey, another 4-star, seemed all Buckeye before he surprisingly rescinded his commitment early Wednesday morning.

Early enrollee Brendon White is in line to try his hand at receiver. The same goes for Eric Glover-Williams, a special teams terror the last two seasons who the Buckeyes recruited as a corner, moved to safety and now look to try on offense.

As it stands, the dwellers in Smith's receiver room are set to be Campbell, McLaurin, Hill, Stump, Clark, Dixon, Mack, Victor, Grimes, Glover-Williams, White and Harris. Combined career numbers: 61 catches, 686 yards and three touchdowns. Campbell has shown value at kickoff returner as well, averaging 27.8 yards per attempt including a 91-yarder against Indiana. McLaurin is also a terrific gunner on punt team.

Smith rotated a bunch of bodies at the position at the beginning of the 2016 season, which Meyer said was an effort to keep them crisp. That didn't apply to Samuel, who the Buckeyes needed on the field as much as possible for his explosiveness and game-breaking ability.

But when the Buckeyes needed to count on the position the most — in a loss at Penn State and then against Clemson in the College Football Playoff — production was difficult to find.

“There's certain plays that I'll get involved in that when I want certain guys in. Other than [that], I let Zach because he knows the rotation and as far as getting guys fresh when their number's called we want you to be fresh, ready to go. Curtis is an exception to that. He plays a lot,” Meyer said the Monday after the Buckeyes lost to the Nittany Lions 24-21, where their two leading receivers were Samuel with eight catches for 68 yards and Baugh with five grabs for 55 yards and a touchdown.

“But what we expect out of our guys, it's hard to play 60, 70 plays every snap. So we have a rotation going. And I'm trying to think — there's not a big differentiation in our group right now,” Meyer continued. “And you kind of wish one would separate. And I don't see that happening. Noah is a pretty reliable guy and had nice plays. The other ones need to elevate.”

It didn't really happen down the stretch, at least not to the level Meyer wanted it. Victor made a nice grab in the Fiesta Bowl loss, Samuel caught a bunch of short tosses that totaled only 43 yards and Smith caught two balls for 27 yards in the final game of his college career. Brown, Hill and McLaurin combined for four catches and 32 yards. The issues on offense in that game (and during the season) fell on the offensive line, quarterback play and at receiver.

“It's hard to put it on one thing. There's a multitude of things,” Meyer said after the Penn State loss. “When you have a young — I guess not young anymore — but we did not play very well in a couple of areas on offense. And what do you do? You just identify it, work on it, make personnel changes if you have to. And move on to the next game.”

The next loss caused Meyer to change his coaching staff, yet he kept Smith at his post. The last time Smith spoke with reporters was Nov. 9, in the middle of back-to-back games the Buckeyes won 62-3 first against Nebraska and then at Maryland.

Samuel helped lead a resurgence in the passing game against the Cornhuskers, and McLaurin joined Brown in the end zone with touchdown catches. Against the Terrapins, Wilson, Samuel and Victor all scored. Ten different plays caught at least one pass in both games.

“We just want to do our job. Make plays when plays present themselves,” Smith said Nov. 9. “Whoever is in the game, we're going to be accountable that they're going to get it done.”

It happened in those two games and earlier in the season but not with enough consistency down the stretch. The unit's inability to create separation consistently hurt the offense all year but especially in Ohio State's two losses. A lack of a viable deep threat also proved fatal, as teams dared Barrett and the Buckeyes to beat them through the air by stacking the box.

Yet Smith is set to lead the wide receivers once again in 2017. How much Grimes and Harris figure into the plans will be a hot item of discussion, because the lack of development and production from those players entering their third or even fourth year in the program is glaring.

With Brown and Samuel's exit, it is difficult to see another receiver on the current roster that will play at the next level. If Smith and Ohio State want to continue their trend of sending capable wide receivers to the NFL, something needs to change in 2017.