COLUMBUS – It’s reasonable to be skeptical about Ohio State’s wide receivers.
The Buckeyes weren’t particularly good at the position last year. Even if they had been, the Buckeyes’ three most productive receivers from last season – Curtis Samuel, Noah Brown and Dontre Wilson – have all moved on to the professional ranks.
That means Ohio State will be relying on a group of wide receivers that either barely saw the field last season or barely produced when they were on the field – on an offense that could have used their help.
Even so, Ohio State’s coaches are expressing confidence that their inexperienced group of players at the position will step up.
Head coach Urban Meyer’s confidence comes from the work ethic those wide receivers have shown.
"It's one of the best groups we've ever had culturally," Meyer said Monday. "There’s zero issues. I mean, it's just show up, go to work, be at your body weight and give your very best. They are unproven, but those kind of players usually turn out to have very good careers."
Those wide receivers need to prove they can translate that hard work into making plays on the football field, but the talent should be there; the Buckeyes have nine wide receivers on their roster who were four-star recruits.
Ultimately, new offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson would like to have eight wide receivers ready to play, but the Buckeyes first need to make sure they have at least three.
Redshirt sophomore K.J. Hill, who had 18 receptions for 262 yards last season, is Ohio State’s leading returning wide receiver. None of Ohio State’s other returning wide receivers had more than Parris Campbell’s 13 catches for 121 yards last year. Yet as Meyer and offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson have talked up some of Ohio State’s other wide receivers since last week’s Big Ten Media Days, early indications are Hill might not even be among the Buckeyes’ starting wideouts.
“It's one of the best groups we've ever had culturally."– Urban Meyer, on Ohio State's wide receivers
Campbell is in line to be a starter, playing the same H-back role that Curtis Samuel played last year. Samuel had a breakout season last year, catching 74 passes for 865 yards after catching just 22 passes for 289 yards in 2015. Is Campbell capable of making a similar leap in 2017? Time will tell, but Meyer believes Campbell has the potential.
"He hasn’t done it yet, but he has everything, including the guts, toughness, character, work ethic," Meyer said last week at Big Ten Media Days. "He’s (one of the) top five hardest-working guys on the team."
Terry McLaurin, the only other returning wide receiver who had double-digit receptions and triple-digit receiving yards last season (11 receptions for 114 yards), is also likely to be a starter, Meyer said last week.
Ohio State could potentially end up starting three redshirt junior wide receivers from its 2014 class. Johnnie Dixon has only caught seven passes for 55 yards over the last two seasons, as his Buckeyes career to date has been plagued by knee injuries, but Meyer and Wilson have both raved about his development dating back to the spring.
"Johnnie Dixon’s been awesome," Wilson said. "We saw him in the spring game (in which Dixon had six receptions for 108 yards and two touchdowns). He had an awesome summer, and that’s lifting weights and running … but his summer was good."
Wilson said Hill has been working primarily as a slot receiver along with Campbell and Eric Glover-Williams, who moved to wide receiver this spring after working with the safeties for his first two years as a Buckeye.
The wide receivers who are currently competing with McLaurin and Dixon for starting spots on the outside are sophomores Austin Mack and Binjimen Victor.
Wilson said Mack, who had two catches for 15 yards as a true freshman, "had an awesome first go and had a good summer."
Austin Mack is among the candidates for a breakout year at wide receiver.
Meyer said Victor, who had four catches for 64 yards last season, is as "talented as can be." In order for Victor to play a bigger role in the offense, however, Meyer says he needs to get stronger and more consistent.
Ohio State hasn’t started setting its depth chart yet, but it appears Campbell, McLaurin, Dixon, Hill, Mack and Victor – in an order to be determined – would be the wide receivers who make up the two-deep right now. Having now had at least one full season to work with all of them, Buckeyes quarterback J.T. Barrett said those are the six receivers he trusted going into fall camp.
"Those guys have been here a minute," Barrett said. "They know the system, know what’s going on and just now getting those reps and a better understanding of what’s happening on the field."
With that being said, Meyer and Wilson have both said that they expect true freshman wide receivers Trevon Grimes, Jaylen Harris and Elijah Gardiner to compete for playing time as well.
The standout among that group so far has been Harris, Meyer said Monday.
"He's kind of a playmaker, but he's still a very immature player, which is not a negative yet," Meyer said. "It will be if I'm still saying that 10 days from now. But he's shown that he's got the skill set to play here, no doubt."
Grimes was the most highly-touted recruit of that trio, but he has been limited to non-contact work in practice so far as he continues to work his way back from tearing his left ACL last October.
Ohio State has more than enough receivers with high upside to be rightfully confident in its potential at the position. There’s also more than enough uncertainty, however, to be rightfully skeptical of how those players will produce until the games begin.
