With three weeks until Ohio State's season opener, four Buckeyes received preseason honors from the Walter Camp Football Foundation.
On Friday, Ohio State wide receivers Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka, running back TreVeyon Henderson and linebacker Tommy Eichenberg appeared on a watch list for the Walter Camp Player of the Year Award watch list, an honor presented to the best player in college football. The Buckeyes are the only team with four players on the watch list, and no other school has more than two nominees.
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— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) August 11, 2023
@MarvHarrisonJr | @emeka_egbuka | @tommyike41 | @TreVeyonH4 pic.twitter.com/mcAjtyp43F
Harrison (1,263 yards) and Egbuka (1,151 yards) had the most receiving yards last season among all Power 5 receivers who returned to college football for the 2023 season. Harrison also scored 14 touchdowns on 77 total catches, while Egbuka had 10 touchdown receptions on 74 total catches. The pair of receivers were also named to preseason watch lists for the Maxwell Award and Biletnikoff Award in August.
Henderson started his Ohio State career as a freshman phenom in 2021, collecting 1,560 total yards and 19 total touchdowns en route to second-team All-Big Ten and freshman All-American honors. Because of that, Henderson entered the 2022 season with lofty expectations. However, he never received a fair chance to live up to them, as a torn ligament in his foot forced him to miss four contests before a season-ending surgery in December. Henderson will look to produce a bounce-back effort for the Buckeyes in 2023 as a member of the Doak Walker Award watch list.
Eichenberg had a breakout season in 2022, recording a team-best 120 tackles, 12 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, three pass breakups, one interception and one touchdown across 13 appearances. Even more, he racked up some of those numbers as he played with two broken hands. After the season, Eichenberg received first-team All-Big Ten and second-team All-American honors. He was also a finalist for the Lott IMPACT Trophy and a semifinalist for the Butkus Award. Eichenberg has been named to watch lists this offseason for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Lott IMPACT Trophy and Butkus Award.
Ohio State wraps up the second week of its preseason camp with a scrimmage on Saturday. In 22 days, the Buckeyes will travel to Bloomington, Indiana, to battle the Hoosiers on Sept. 2. Ohio State head coach Ryan Day will undoubtedly look to Harrison, Egbuka, Henderson and Eichenberg to lead his team in the matchup.
The four players are among 14 Buckeyes who have been named to preseason watch lists for various awards this offseason. Egbuka and Eichenberg lead all Ohio State players with four nominations each. We have collected all of those nominations and included them below.
Ohio State Players on Preseason Watch Lists
- WR Marvin Harrison Jr.: Maxwell Award, Biletnikoff Award, Walter Camp Award
- WR Emeka Egbuka: Maxwell Award, Biletnikoff Award, Paul Hornung Award, Walter Camp Award
- G Donovan Jackson: Outland Trophy
- G Matt Jones: Outland Trophy
- DT Mike Hall Jr.: Outland Trophy
- DE JT Tuimoloau: Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Lott IMPACT Trophy
- LB Tommy Eichenberg: Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Lott IMPACT Trophy, Butkus Award, Walter Camp Award
- LB Steele Chambers: Butkus Award
- S Lathan Ransom: Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Jim Thorpe Award
- P Jesse Mirco: Ray Guy Award
- TE Cade Stover: Mackey Award
- RB TreVeyon Henderson: Doak Walker Award, Walter Camp Award
- RB Miyan Williams: Doak Walker Award
- CB Denzel Burke: Jim Thorpe Award
