Brandon Inniss, Carnell Tate shine on first day of Buckeyes camp

COLUMBUS — Ohio State has seen the headlines surrounding its wide receiver room this offseason. The hype following its most senior member, Emeka Egbuka, and its newest member, former five-star recruit Jeremiah Smith, has dominated offseason chatter.

Second-year receivers Brandon Inniss and Carnell Tate, however, stayed out of headlines for most of the offseason. Tate played 292 snaps across 11 games last season and was among the few breakout freshmen. Inniss played sparingly and then was injured for the back half of spring ball. They entered camp Thursday with high expectations — but little in the way of hype and fanfare compared to Smith and Egbuka.

Inniss and Tate stole the show Thursday morning on the first day of camp, looking crisp in their route-running and moving fluidly within the offense. That’s a good sign for both of the second-year receivers as they enter a pivotal season as big-time options in the offense.

Day was asked specifically about Tate on Thursday after practice, and his answer was eye-opening and telling.

“The limit for Carnell is through the roof,” Day said. “I don’t think there is a limit to what he can be. He is not someone that you typically hear, but you feel out there, you know? And he takes a lot of pride in his route-running. He’s certainly gifted. I think that’s the first thing that I recognized when he got here, like a lot of precision in his route-running. Takes pride when he gets out there, knowing exactly what he’s doing. He comes in well-prepared. He’s tough. The guys on that team really like who he is. And he showed last year he can do it.

“And so he’s going to have to be a major contributor for our offense this year if we’re going to do what we want to do.”

Tate had the stickiest hands among the wide receivers Thursday, catching nearly everything thrown his way and making his impact felt on the offense. Inniss, meanwhile, did plenty of damage in the slot — even when facing the first-team defense at times. He caught passes from Will Howard, Devin Brown and Julian Sayin.

Ohio State did its normal split-field scrimmaging on Thursday, dividing up the first- and second-team offensive and defensive units up to make sure everyone earns valuable reps during the first few days of camp. Expect that to continue. And while the Buckeyes toyed with different lineups on each of the field, Tate and Inniss felt like a constant out there.

This comes just a week after Day spoke quite highly of Inniss at Big Ten Media Days, just like he did with Tate on Thursday.

“We’re kind of top-heavy there [at receiver],” Day said last week. “Then, okay, where is four, five, six, and seven? Brandon Inniss. You feel Brandon Inniss when he’s out there. So, this is going to be a great opportunity for him.”

Both vacuumed up the darts that were thrown their way. They put the work from the offseason to good use, flashing on the first day of training camp.

This wide receiver room has its senior leader in Egbuka and its superstar newcomer in Smith. While those two provide bookends to the room, Inniss and Tate give Ohio State two elite second-year weapons to work with.

Egbuka is the leader of the room; he deserves the credit for that and for his incredible play during his career. Smith is the shiny new toy who has wowed every time possible so far in his limited time with the Buckeyes.

But Inniss and Tate delivered the first of what should be many reminders that they too can be stars in this Ohio State offense.

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