Urban Meyer rarely went a week last season without either praising Parris Campbell, Terry McLaurin or Johnnie Dixon, or complimenting the trio as a whole.
All three senior wideouts served as team captains, with Campbell and McLaurin earning the distinction for the second year in a row, and each of them started and took significant on-field strides in their final years. But they’re gone now.
For a while, K.J. Hill thought he’d be leaving too. Though he didn’t say so publicly, as he prepared for the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, he thought his collegiate career had just one more game, planning to head to the NFL after his redshirt junior season.
“To be honest, I feel like I was out the door,” Hill said after the first spring practice. “But then again, I had to think about what I really wanted to do. So when I went home for an extra week, I really thought about it and I wanted to come back to school.”
A conversation with legendary Buckeyes wideout Cris Carter helped ease Hill’s mind about returning to Ohio State. Another chance at a national championship, an opportunity to become a leader and the possibility to raise his NFL draft stock aided in his decision, as well. He referenced the chance to play in the Senior Bowl and take advantage of other opportunities given to seniors as a reason for why he wanted to be a Buckeye for a fifth season.
Regardless of how Hill ultimately changed his mind, Ryan Day and Brian Hartline are just glad he opted to stay one more season. He’s the surest of sure things with the surest of sure hands in a relatively inexperienced receiver room.
Hartline said Hill has the best hands on the team, noting his “great ball skills” and that his only drops came late in games when frustration set in, something he’s working to fix.
“I don't think there's anything he doesn't do,” Hartline said. “To me, he's not going to be a Parris Campbell burner, but there's a lot of things he does that Parris maybe didn't do. He's being a great leader, he's growing up. I think it's an absolute pleasure, and we are blessed to have him back this year, and I'm glad that he came back to not only lead this group, stay on my hip and just get better. K.J. Hill's in a phenomenal spot, and he's a staple right now in our receiver room.”
Without Hill returning, the Buckeyes would have been in a dire spot at the H-back position.
Jaelen Gill has the potential to be a game-changing H-back, but he played just 15 snaps last season as a true freshman, eventually redshirting. He’s also making the transition from running back to receiver, which as Demario McCall found out last year, can be difficult. C.J. Saunders impressed coaches enough to earn a scholarship last spring, but he had just 10 receptions as a junior last season and has a limited ceiling.
Hill’s return changed what could’ve turned into a precarious situation into a position of strength. He had 70 catches for 885 yards and six touchdowns last season and is just 50 catches from breaking the program’s career receptions record of 191 that David Boston holds.
Hill doesn’t have Campbell-level speed. He’s not a game-breaker with the ball, and he isn’t a big-play wideout. But he’s steady. Dwayne Haskins relied on him and Campbell to catch passes underneath while McLaurin and Dixon took the tops off defenses.
“I feel like my game went through the roof with coach Hartline because it was always the little things, you know, and when the little things are corrected, you turn into a whole different player,” Hill said.
Either Justin Fields or Matthew Baldwin, whichever quarterback wins the starting job, should build the same camaraderie in the passing game with Hill, a polished route-runner with strong hands. Hill’s role might not change much, but Hartline seemed open to playing the H-back on the outside at times.
“I think it was the best thing for him (to return),” Hartline said. “It wasn't just like I tricked a guy. That's not what it was. It was the best thing for him, and now this last year, to make that next step and get outside and learn the outside routes and really what do the guys do on the outside that never really does on the inside. Working those skills will be huge for him, and he's doing a phenomenal job both leading by example and communicating with the guys.”
Beyond Hill, Ohio State has a talent-laden receiver room filled with players who haven’t proven much at the collegiate level.
Saunders, Austin Mack and Binjimen Victor are the other seniors, but Mack is returning from a season-ending foot injury and Victor has battled inconsistency for the majority of his career. Chris Olave exploded in the final few games and is expected to take a significant step forward next season, but he had just 12 catches as a freshman. Jaylen Harris had just two catches, and Ellijah Gardiner didn’t have a reception. High expectations surround Garrett Wilson, but he’ll be a true freshman, along with Jameson Williams. The impending transfer of L'Christian Smith and ACL injury to Kamryn Babb removed two possible options.
Day and Hartline know exactly what they’ll get from Hill, though. He’ll start at H-back and be a primary target for either Fields or Baldwin.
“I'm just taking this year as my last go-around, doing the little things right, trying to do everything right,” Hill said. “Since I'm older, I'm wiser, so there's more things I've learned on the road and I can just emphasize those things.”
