When Devin Smith wore a Buckeye uniform, it seemed he was a home run threat every time he touched the field.
The speedster averaged averaged over 20 yards a catch during his career at Ohio State, including over 28 yards a catch during the 2014 season. That season, he had an eye-popping 11 catches for over 40 yards.
Since his departure, the Buckeyes haven't been able to replicate that sort of production from any of their receivers, leading many to believe the team simply lacked a deep threat. However, the problem is a little more complex than that, according to wide receivers coach Zach Smith.
Smith said the absence of a consistent deep ball is not necessarily reflective of one particular unit's failure or the absence of one particular type of athlete, but of the state of the offense as a whole.
"It’s never been a guy issue, it’s been an offensive issue,” Smith said.
According to Smith, the team has had the personnel, but a number of things have kept the Buckeyes from connecting deep with consistency, be it offensive line play, miscommunication, a poor throw or the receiver failing to get open.
"It’s never been a guy issue, it’s been an offensive issue.”– Zach Smith
“Call it the perfect storm," Smith said. "When a wideout would get wide open, maybe there would be a sack or J.T. would miss it or whatever.”
That's where the work begins. Ohio State began putting emphasis on the deep ball immediately after its 31-0 loss to Clemson, attempting to solve the problem as a unit.
“This whole spring we’ve been putting emphasis on the deep ball," Parris Campbell said back in April. "We’ve been charting our deep ball throws, the completion rate and percentages and all that. That’s really been the emphasis of the whole spring.”
The Buckeyes also brought in new offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson and quarterbacks coach Ryan Day to help fix that broken part of the offense. Simply put, the deep ball wasn't good last season, and the offense is working together to fix it this offseason.
“There’s no solution other than the whole offense needs to do that better," Smith said. "So we’ve put an emphasis on it and we’re doing it right now.”
