Jan. 18th of 2016 was a pretty good day for the Buckeyes.
With only a few weeks before signing day, Urban Meyer landed three of Ohio State's top targets—all of whom were ranked in the top-100 of the national recruiting rankings. Dubbed as "12-star Monday," the commitments from Dwayne Haskins, Keandre Jones, and Binjimen Victor may have been the biggest moment of the entire 2016 cycle.
The trio has had vastly different career trajectories. Haskins is off to the NFL following his record-setting redshirt sophomore season. Jones made the decision to transfer to Maryland after seeing limited playing time in Columbus. As for Binjimen Victor, the Pompano Beach, Florida product is back for one last hurrah, and he'll try to put it all together in year four of what has been an up-and-down career.
Victor is currently listed at 6-foot-4 and 205 pounds on Ohio State's official roster page. As a senior in high school, he weighed in at about 175 pounds, which was a small concern but also led to plenty of excitement due to Mickey Marotti and the strength and conditioning program. He's got ridiculous length and the thought of a 220-pound wideout with that frame would be a nightmare for defensive backs.
While he hasn't exactly transformed himself into a Metcalf or Megatron, could it be that folks are sleeping a bit on Ohio State's other senior wide receiver?
K.J. Hill elected to stick around for another year, Austin Mack is back following last season's foot injury, and C.J. Saunders will look to find a role in the offense as well. Victor has been healthy during his time in Columbus, but the production has been modest. He caught 23 passes as a sophomore in 2017 and that number somehow went down to 21 in last year's pass-happy offense.
Victor isn't a speed guy (most 6-foot-4 wideouts aren't) and he's not really the possession type either. He's a reliable red-zone target who's shown that he can go up and get the ball over defenders at times. And while he's not a catch-and-run receiver, the biggest play of his career was exactly that.
The old Urban Meyer/J.T. Barrett-led offense is clearly a thing of the past. In 2017, Ohio State's leading receiver caught just 56 passes. With Haskins and the potent throwing game, two different wideouts recorded over 70 receptions. Now it's going to be either Justin Fields or Matthew Baldwin leading the way, and a big part of the spring and summer will be about developing a chemistry with the pass-catchers.
So how might Binjimen Victor fit into the 2019 equation? With a new quarterback, it's really anyone's guess as to how any of the wideouts are going to be utilized, but I think most would agree that Hill will be the guy who's targeted the most. Austin Mack and Dwayne Haskins had a bit of a rapport, so it'll be interesting to see how that goes with Fields or Baldwin. Chris Olave burst onto the scene late last season and the sophomore is certainly going to be in the mix as well.
Victor may very well find himself playing second fiddle to either Mack or Olave on the outside, and there's also all kinds of hype surrounding true freshman Garrett Wilson and his potential early impact. There's no doubt that the senior will see plenty of action, but there's a possibility of it being as more of a role player. Could Ryan Day and Brian Hartline utilize him more so in the red zone than when the Buckeyes are toward the middle of the field? That would make a lot of sense considering the skill set.
Binjimen Victor came to Columbus as one of the country's top wide receiver prospects. Heading into his final year, both he and Hartline have a lot of work to do to help him reach his full potential. With a new quarterback and plenty of talented receivers returning, there should be ample opportunity to develop a chemistry over the next several months.
Though he's a different kind of receiver, we'll see if Victor can go out on a high note much like Parris Campbell, Johnnie Dixon, and Terry McLaurin did a season ago.
