One of Ohio State’s second-year receivers suffered an injury setback on the first day of spring practice.
During his interview session following Tuesday’s first practice of the spring, fellow redshirt freshman Devin Brown said wide receiver Caleb Burton suffered an injury during the opening practice session. Brown said he did not know the extent of the injury, but said Burton said he “heard something pop.”
Burton is one of four second-year receivers who are looking to make a move up the depth chart and earn playing time this spring after a quiet freshman year. Burton was the only one of those four receivers who did not play any snaps as a true freshman, but he had his black stripe removed in December and drew praise for his progression before the Peach Bowl from former Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud.
“Caleb Burton has done a hell of a job,” Stroud said at the time. “He's gotten a lot better.”
Burton’s injury aside, Brown said he has seen a lot of growth from the four receivers in his recruiting class as they collectively go into their second season as Buckeyes.
“There's been a ton of growth,” Brown said. “I think Caleb got hurt today, Caleb Burton, but those four guys have grown tremendously. Their strength in the weight room, even their attitude, some guys came in and were kind of just like, ‘Oh, I'll take it easy this year.’ We've got all these guys in front of me. But you know, I've kind of been staying on those guys and like, ‘No, like, you gotta go now.’ We gotta keep grinding. And if you're not going now, you're not gonna be able to go when your time's up. So it's been a big curve for them, and they've been doing really good.”
With Emeka Egbuka and Julian Fleming both unavailable this spring due to offseason surgeries, those second-year receivers have an opportunity to get more reps and show what they can do this spring. Ryan Day said they need to have a sense of urgency, though, because the three true freshman receivers who enrolled early – Carnell Tate, Noah Rogers and Bryson Rodgers – are already pushing them for position on the depth chart.
“The truth is they're gonna get really pushed by this freshman group,” Day said. “The three guys that came in that made an already impact. We've been very impressed with them. And then Brandon (Inniss) coming in this summer. So you know, this is going to be a really good opportunity with Emeka out, Julian out; we're going to be smart with (Xavier Johnson) and with Marvin (Harrison Jr.), those guys have played a lot of football. So like you said, what an unbelievable opportunity for all those guys to step in and play. And so this is a very, very big spring for them.”
