Ohio State Freshman Wide Receiver Caleb Burton Loses Black Stripe

The freshman wide receiver from Austin, Texas, was “officially” initiated as a Buckeye on Tuesday when he became the 21st member of Ohio State’s freshman class of 2022 to have his black stripe removed.

newest member of zone 6, @calebburtoniii #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/0P2b6ZGgjg

— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) December 20, 2022

A one-time five-star recruit in the class of 2022, Burton finished the 2022 recruiting cycle ranked as the No. 132 overall prospect and No. 21 wide receiver in the class, but he still arrived at Ohio State with plenty of hype. Following in the footsteps of fellow Texas natives Garrett Wilson and Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Burton hopes to make a similar impact in Columbus, and there are plenty of believers that he will.

“He's just so electric,” freshman quarterback Devin Brown said in February. “He just has a big frame and catch radius. To be honest, I did not expect him to be so smooth, and he's just so twitchy.”

Given the stacked talent in Ohio State's wide receiver room this season, Burton did not appear on offense or special teams during the first 12 games of his college career. But Burton took a major step toward earning future playing time Tuesday.

Burton is the second Buckeye freshman of the day to shed his black stripe, following linebacker Gabe Powers, and the 27th Ohio State player to earn the honor overall in 2022.