Chris Olave had it made.
There isn't much of an argument against Olave being the best wide receiver for the Buckeyes in 2020. Even after being held out of the Big Ten Championship against Northwestern, Olave still led the team in both catches and yards and receiving touchdowns. Against Clemson, the last game that I'll acknowledge Ohio State played last season, Olave easily led the team in receptions and yards, and put to bed any delusions of a Tiger comeback with this ridiculous touchdown catch:
If that was the final, authoritative image of Chris Olave, Ohio State wide receiver, then fans had nothing to be upset about. Olave had an incredible career at OSU and did everything asked of him and more; the wide receiver renaissance may not have started with him, but by God it didn't end with him, either. Thank you, Chris Olave. We'll wave at you, teary-eyed, as you gallop off into that NFL sunset.
Olave forgot his ten gallon hat in Columbus and decided to stick around for a while. Which is great! The 1-2 punch of Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson gives whoever ends up throwing footballs in the fall what's most likely the best wideout duo in the country. If your goal as Ryan Day is to give your new starting quarterback as much cushion as possible, those are the guys to provide it.
But there are other guys. Lots and lots of other guys.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Julian Fleming, Kamryn Babb hopefully, Jameson Williams, Demario McCall kind of, Gee Scott, Jr., Jayden Ballard, Jaylen Harris, Marvin Harrison, Jr., Emeka Egbuka, and here's the thing man none of these guys caught more passes than a freaking tight end named Jeremy Ruckert... all of them will be competing for playing time and passing attention. And I probably forgot someone.
This is what we in the sports business refer to as "a ton of dudes." Almost all of these players are or were highly regarded recruits out of high school, and have proven themselves on the field. It's one of the best possible problems to have as a young-ish football team, but it is a "problem" in the sense that the game of football is intentionally singular and not plural. That's a ton of talent to share one ball, and I've identified three possible solutions and one possible nightmare apocalyptic scenario that must be avoided at all costs, so let's consider all four:
Safety blanket
Wide receiver is not the most important position in football; that, for people who just stumbled upon this article in a drunken stupor aka the core audience of Johnny Ginter posts, happens to be the quarterback.
Let's make a wild assumption and say that C.J. Stroud is the next great Buckeye QB and wins the starting job in the fall. For a guy who has zero collegiate passing attempts, it might be incumbent on Ryan Day and company to give him all the experience he needs at wide receiver to minimize risk and maximize the fact that Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave are absolute bonkers kickass players.
This is, by the way, something that ended up happening in 2020 with an experienced Justin Fields; Wilson and Olave combined to catch 93 of Fields' 158 completed passes, and the next closest wideout had 10. Things seemed to work out pretty well regardless, and while the same approach in 2021 might lead to some inevitable transfers or grumbling, the goal is to win games and the Buckeyes have 4891298 receivers on the roster.
Spread things around
A truncated 2020 saw Wilson and Olave occupy the bulk of the attention in terms of receiving, but it's easy to forget that in 2019 no less than twenty Ohio State players had at least one catch in a game. In a year when K.J. Hill caught 57 passes, six other players had 14 or more of their own (including Olave, who had 48).
I believe that it is possible to keep everything relatively balanced, even with two NFL-ready starters on the team. All it requires is that whoever is passing the ball to them ends up being an otherworldly quarterbacking god with freakish accuracy, a rocket arm, and impeccable vision while also having the leadership skills necessary to manage a team from day one. You know, easy shit.
Uhhh how many of you guys played defensive back in high school?
That's a real question, by the way. As loaded as the wide receiver room is, there is always the possibility that one (or two) of these players could help the team in other areas. Is Marvin Harrison, Jr. likely going to make the switch to safety to help shore up a thin depth chart? Probably not! But if young players are looking to make an impact and are looking at limited reps, that might not be a bad way to find them.
They had Troy Smith playing running back at one point, is all I'm saying.
A Gray Goo scenario
In Kurt Vonnegut's novel Cat's Cradle, ice-nine is a substance that, when exposed to water, instantly transforms that water into more ice-nine. And because Cat's Cradle is a Vonnegut novel, eventually the ice-nine ends up in the ocean and all the water on the planet is turned into more ice-nine (this is sometimes referred to as a Gray Goo scenario, although that refers more to nanomachines but whatever).
I am somewhat concerned that Brian Hartline has created a receiver room filled with the football equivalent of ice-nine. The reason Ohio State has so many receivers is because all who enter are doomed to become one, and if allowed on the field, these players will instantly transform all other players into wide receivers themselves. Eventually the entire sport of football will consist of nothing but thousands of wide receivers, which would be horrific, but hey: defensive back problem solved!
What I find fascinating (and exciting) about this upcoming season is that Ryan Day has shown a willingness to adapt his offensive approach to best fit the personnel that he has. The potential for an offensive juggernaut is there; it's up to the coaching staff to decide how it should rack up the points.
