Brian Hartline Must Quickly Turn Prospects Into Producers As Ohio State Reshapes Its Pass-Catching Pecking Order

Fans love to tout their favorite college football team's ability to reload versus rebuild. 

The phrase insinuates having ready-made talent primed to step in for departed stars without missing a beat 100% of the time. 

That sounds good and all, and in most cases at Ohio State the results lean toward a successful reload but that process shouldn't be taken for granted. A lot has to come together.

The staff needs to have accurately evaluated the player and secured his commitment to Ohio State, the player often has to display patience while putting in the work despite not receiving early playing time, and the position coach has to accelerate the player's development and polish so he's ready when the time comes. 

Such efforts are important every offseason but as it relates to catching the football at Ohio State in 2024, the focus must be real as the Buckeyes lost three of their top four targets from 2023 including the college game's best receiver in a generation in Marvin Harrison Jr. 

Harrison's 2023 campaign resulted in 67 grabs, 1,211 yards, 14 touchdowns and a Biletnikoff Award as the Martian served as Kyle McCord's top target, security blanket and big play machine while his sheer presence helped free up space for the other pass catchers on the field. 

Reloading him isn't realistic but Ohio State definitely needs to make sure it has a primary target ready to roll for recent transfer and presumed starting quarterback Will Howard. 

Tight end Cade Stover, in a rare occurrence in Columbus, stood as Ohio State's second-most prolific pass catcher a year ago with 41 grabs for 576 yards and five scores despite missing a game and being less than 100% in numerous others. For perspective, Stover finished just 65 yards short of the most productive single-season ever recorded by an OSU tight end. 

While Julian Fleming never lived up to the hype of being the No. 1 receiver in the 2020 class, he did finish last season with the team's fourth-most catches and receiving yards while playing the second-most snaps among receivers. Fleming was also a capable and experienced blocker. 

The point is Ohio State lost a significant amount of experience and production from its 2023 group of pass-catchers and while the receivers room appears loaded and the tight end room looks fine, there's still the matter of actually turning all that promise into tangible results. 

Ohio State's 2024 hopes received a huge boost on January 11 when Emeka Egbuka announced he would return for a third year with the Buckeyes despite NFL Draft projections having him going as high as the first round. 

Egbuka had a down 2023 campaign due to a midseason ankle injury requiring tightrope surgery, costing him three games. Across 10 contests, some of which he still wasn't 100%, Egbuka put up 41 catches for 515 yards and four touchdowns, totals that make him alone account for 44% of the team's returning receptions and receiving yards and 57% of the team's returning touchdown catch production from a season ago. 

To say Brian Hartline's receivers room needs Egbuka to stay healthy and shine as a No. 1 receiver in 2024 cannot be overstated. That said, considering his healthy 2022 season produced 74 catches, 1,151 receiving yards and 10 touchdown grabs, though not as a No. 1 receiver, there's reason to be bullish on Egbuka's runway. 

Joining him as a mini veteran in the receivers room is sophomore Carnell Tate. Tate's five-star pedigree is real and he wowed coaches and teammates alike with his work ethic and practice production as a true freshman a season ago. On the field, he logged 18 grabs for 264 yards and a touchdown in 292 snaps, showing flashes of an extremely high ceiling. Of course, the hard part now is translating those flashes into consistent production and evolving his skill-set under Hartline's tutelage. Everyone expects Tate to take big leap this fall but again, nothing is guaranteed. 

Sophomore receivers Brandon Inniss and Carnell Tate are primed for breakout seasons for the Buckeyes this fall. 

Like Tate, fellow sophomore Brandon Inniss is in search of a breakout season. Unlike Tate however, Inniss played just 32 snaps as a true freshman, recording one catch. That one grab went for a 58-yard touchdown however which just further fanned the flames of what fans will expect from him this fall. Another five-star in Hartline's stable, there's certainly reason to believe Inniss can flourish in the slot in 2024 but to call him proven would be unfair. 

Speaking of unproven but extremely highly touted, Ohio State of course welcomed the No. 1 overall recruit in the 2024 class to the receiver room in the form of Jeremiah Smith just a few weeks ago. After some signing day uncertainty, Smith kept his commitment to Ryan Day and Hartline, giving the Buckeyes what is projected to be the rare true freshman that can step in and be a legit factor from Day One. 

The 6-foot-3, 200-pounder out of Hollywood, Florida is the highest ranked wideout to ever sign with the Buckeyes and gives off some serious Harrison Jr. vibes due to his length, body control, hands, speed and polish. He seems like a sure thing right from jump street but again, this is a guy with zero collegiate snaps under his belt as he enters the 2024 campaign as a potential starter for the Buckeyes. 

Ideally, Egbuka, who could see increased snaps on the outside this year instead of being a full-time slot, Tate, Inniss and Smith can form a quartet logging the bulk of the snaps at the three traditional receiver spots because that would likely be the result of the three young guys performing as advertised. 

In addition to those four receivers, Jayden Ballard enters his fourth year in the program though he has just nine catches for 159 yards and a touchdown on his resume including zero catches in 2023. Anyone in the fifth or sixth spot in the overall rotation isn't likely to see much meaningful action barring injuries meaning Ballard, who could conceivably start higher on the depth chart early on until Smith proves his mettle, would be battling with guys like class of 2022 products Kyion Grayes and Kojo Antwi, 2023 signee Bryson Rodgers and true freshman Mylan Graham. 

At tight end, it's hard to see anyone on the current roster coming close to Stover's pass-catching production from a year ago but that should not be needed considering the depth in the running backs room and the potential in the receiving corps. 

Fifth-year senior Gee Scott Jr. seems poised to team with Ohio University transfer Will Kacmarek, a redshirt junior, to give Ohio State a serviceable and experienced 1-2 punch. Redshirt freshman Jelani Thurman's upside will hopefully see him increasingly mesh into the fold with the two veterans as the season wears on. With that trio and three others in Keenan Bailey's tight ends room, the young coach has plenty of pieces to work with. 

All of this wraps back around to Hartline where the elite recruiter and talent developer will need to show up in spades in 2024 if the Buckeyes are going to successfully onboard a new signal-caller and improve what was a mid offensive attack - by Ohio State's standards - a season ago.

Anything less than another elite receiving corps - youth be damned - will compromise Ryan Day's need to beat Michigan for the first time since 2019, win the Big Ten for the first time since 2020 and make a deep run in the new 12-team College Football Playoff.