How they got here: Mapping out career path of each Buckeyes WR so far
The summer offseason is in full swing, and Lettermen Row is trying to survive it with our annual Position Week breakdowns. By the time all nine units and coaching staff at Ohio State have been covered, training camp and media days will nearly have arrived, and the return of football in the Horseshoe will be just around the corner. We’re continuing with our fourth positional week with an incredible collection of talent: the Buckeyes wide receivers.
COLUMBUS — Marvin Harrison Jr. is already projected to be the highest-drafted wide receiver since NFL Hall of Famer Calvin Johnson Jr. went No. 2 overall in 2007. Emeka Egbuka is regarded as not only the second-best wideout on this year’s Buckeyes but also the second-best wideout in college football in 2023. Three years removed from being the No. 3 overall prospect in the 2020 cycle, Julian Fleming finally started to come into his own last year as Ohio State’s WR3 and could be on the verge of a breakout.
This year’s Buckeyes receiving corps could be the program’s best yet.
“I think Marvin is an elite player. I think Emeka is an elite player. I think Julian’s an elite player,” Ohio State offensive coordinator/wide receivers coach Brian Hartline said last month. “We can keep going down this list over and over and over again. But I think that what makes these guys so elite is the way they prepare, the way they work, the way they do the extra things outside the allotted time, the way they study film, the way they live. I think that everything they do plays a part in what you see on Saturday.
“It has not been given to them. They have earned it.”
They are the just the first layer of an ultra-talented — and hardworking — Buckeyes wide receiver room. Lettermen Row is mapping out how that trio, plus the other eight Ohio State wideouts on scholarship, got to this point of their careers.
Marvin Harrison Jr.
On3 Industry Ranking (2021 Recruiting Class): No. 73 nationally, No. 11 WR, No. 4 Pennsylvania
Marvin Harrison Jr., the son of NFL Hall of Fame wide receiver Marvin Harrison Sr., teamed up with Ohio State quarterback Kyle McCord at St. Joseph’s Prep in Philadelphia to win three straight state titles. In the process, Harrison piled up 2,625 receiving yards and 37 touchdowns — both reset Philadelphia Catholic League records. Harrison caught 144 passes at St. Joe’s, eight of which came in a state championship victory over Central York, during which he also accounted for 156 receiving yards and a pair of touchdowns. Harrison enrolled early at Ohio State in January 2021 along with McCord.
Harrison got his chance to shine at the end of his true freshman season. With Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson opting out of the Rose Bowl, Harrison rose to the occasion to the tune of three touchdowns in a thrilling comeback win over Utah. He carried over that success to 2022 when he emerged as a Biletnikoff Award finalist as a sophomore. Harrison didn’t drop a pass the first 11 games of the season and rounded out the year with 77 receptions for 1,263 yards and 14 touchdowns. He starred in the Peach Bowl College Football Playoff semifinal against Georgia with five catches for 106 yards and two scores in three quarters of work. Had Harrison not been concussed at the end of the third quarter, Ohio State could have very well sealed the deal against the Bulldogs and maybe even won a national title the next week.
Emeka Egbuka
On3 Industry Ranking (2021 Recruiting Class): No. 15 nationally, No. 1 WR, No. 2 Washington
Like Harrison, Egbuka also enrolled at Ohio State in January 2021, but only after he made his mark as a five-star prospect at Steilacoom High School, where he amassed 199 receptions, close to 4,000 yards and 61 touchdowns. Since Washington moved its 2020 high school football season to the spring, Egbuka didn’t get to play his senior season. The proof was already in the pudding, though. As a junior in 2019, he had reeled in 83 passes for 1,607 yards and a whopping 25 touchdowns, en route to becoming the state’s Gatorade Player of the Year. He also returned three punts for touchdowns and added four more scores on the ground, finishing the season with 2,240 all-purpose yards. At defensive back that season, he picked off eight passes, two of which he brought back to the house.
Egbuka showcased how elusive he can be in the open field early in his true freshman season — Week 4 against Akron, to be exact — when he had an 85-yard catch and run. He played 122 offensive snaps that season, according to Pro Football Focus, including 18 against Utah in the Rose Bowl. Egbuka didn’t have the breakout game Harrison did, however, he did match a season high with three receptions for 46 yards against the Utes, and he ran back a kickoff for 39 yards. Like Harrison, Egubka joined the 1,000-yard receiving club in 2022. Manning the slot for 67.8% of his pass snaps, according to PFF, he notched a team-high 526 yards after the catch. Egbuka caught at least five balls in nine of the Buckeyes’ 13 games last season.
Julian Fleming
On3 Industry Ranking (2020 Recruiting Class): No. 3 nationally, No. 1 WR, No. 1 Pennsylvania
To say Fleming’s high school career was prolific would be an understatement. He was the No. 3 overall prospect and top wide receiver in the cycle for a reason. Fleming was Pennsylvania’s Gatorade Player of the Year in 2019 and a finalist for the Gatorade National Player of the Year award. He finished his career at Southern Columbia High School with 255 receptions, 5,514 receiving yards and 77 touchdown grabs. His senior year alone included 72 catches for 1,582 receiving yards and 22 touchdowns. At 6-foot-2, Fleming arrived at Ohio State with good height to play outside, but his speed was evident, too — after all, he won the Class AA 100-meter dash at the PIAA Track and Field Championships.
Fleming first made his mark at Ohio State in the 2020 Big Ten Championship. With Olave sidelined, Fleming played a season-high 52 snaps, per PFF, and caught four passes for a team-leading 53 yards in a 22-10 win over Northwestern. In 2021, Fleming topped that playing time only once — Week 10 at Nebraska — and wrapped his sophomore campaign with just 12 catches for 86 yards and a score. Fleming, who has battled shoulder injuries throughout his career, took his play and work ethic up a notch last season. And it paid off. After being sidelined the first two games of the year, he jumpstarted a productive 2022 with a two-touchdown performance against Toledo. Fleming found the end zone in his first five games last season and was on the receiving end of C.J. Stroud’s longest career touchdown pass: 79 yards versus Iowa. He finished strong, too, catching five passes against Michigan and Georgia.
Xavier Johnson
On3 Industry Ranking (2018 Recruiting Class): No. 808 nationally, No. 137 WR, No. 36 Ohio
Xavier Johnson is in his sixth year with Ohio State. His unorthodox yet inspiring Buckeyes career started as a preferred walk-on. Before that, he was a versatile playmaker at Summit County Day in Cincinnati, where he scored rushing, receiving, kickoff return, punt return and interception return touchdowns as a senior. The three-star prospect accounted for 766 receiving yards, 623 rushing yards and a combined 18 offensive touchdowns that season. He committed to the Buckeyes as PWO with the intention of playing defensive back. He wound up in the receiving room. After that, he moved to the running back. Then he moved back and forth between the two, all while contributing on special teams. Johnson earned a scholarship during the 2021 season, and he broke out last year. Known as “weapon X,” he logged 297 yards and three touchdowns from scrimmage: one score helped clinch a season-opening win over Notre Dame and another came in the Peach Bowl College Football Playoff semifinal versus Georgia.
Jayden Ballard
On3 Industry Ranking (2021 Recruiting Class): No. 85 nationally, No. 14 WR, No. 4 Ohio
Along with Harrison and Egbuka, Jayden Ballard was also part of a big early enrollee class in January 2021. Ballard was the No. 14 wide receiver that cycle, three spots behind Harrison, according to the On3 Industry Ranking. Over his final two seasons at Massillon Washington, Ballard reeled in 25 touchdowns. His junior season stat line stood out the most: 68 receptions, 1,202 yards and 18 scores. Ballard left Massillon as the school’s all-time leader in career receiving yards and touchdown catches. The speedy 6-foot-2, 196-pound wideout has played a combined 136 offensive snaps across two seasons with the Buckeyes. He caught just one pass as a true freshman but added eight receptions for 155 yards and a touchdown last year as a sophomore. Ballard’s catch-and-run touchdown went for 72 yards against Toledo. Ballard has wheels. That said, to see the field extensively he needs to be more than just a burner.
Carnell Tate
On3 Industry Ranking (2023 Recruiting Class): No. 41 nationally, No. 8 WR, No. 11 Florida
Carnell Tate became the first member of the Ohio State 2023 class to shed his black stripe. But, first, the Chicago native made a name for himself at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. He averaged 20.3 yards per reception as a senior in 2022, a season in which he posted 750 receiving yards and eight touchdowns in eight games. Perhaps most notably, he scored twice and caught passes for 103 yards in a 27-16 win over nationally ranked St. Frances Academy (Baltimore, Maryland). Tate was the talk of the town during Ohio State spring practice. He showcased his footwork near the boundary in scrimmages and scored a 37-yard touchdown in the spring game that saw him beat cornerback Jyaire Brown down the sideline.
Brandon Inniss
On3 Industry Ranking (2023 Recruiting Class): No. 35 nationally, No. 5 WR, No. 10 Florida
Brandon Inniss didn’t enroll early at Ohio State like his three classmate wide receivers, but he did spend a good chunk of time at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center this spring. The anticipation for Inniss’ impact is high. After all, he’s a four-star prospect who set American Heritage single-season records for receptions (66) and receiving yards (1,244) as a senior, not to mention his 14 touchdowns. Prior to transferring to American Heritage, Inniss notched 30 receptions, 723 receiving yards and 10 scores as a junior at TRU Prep Academy in Miami Gardens. Depending on how fall camp goes, Inniss and/or Tate could be earning playing time early this season.
Kyion Grayes
On3 Industry Ranking (2022 Recruiting Class): No. 104 nationally, No. 19 WR, No. 2 Arizona
Kyion Grayes averaged 19.9 yards per reception with 10 touchdowns as a junior at Chandler High School in Arizona. He then missed the first half of his senior season because of injury. Still, Grayes returned for five games and caught 21 passes for 388 yards and four touchdowns. Grayes played only 16 offensive snaps last season, according to PFF: 11 against Toledo, five against Iowa. His first career reception, which went for two yards versus Toledo, was his lone catch of the season.
Kojo Antwi
On3 Industry Ranking (2022 Recruiting Class): No. 191 nationally, No. 31 WR, No. 19 Georgia
Kojo Antwi accumulated 20 career touchdowns at Lambert High School, where he averaged 15.2 yards per reception and recorded 121 total catches for 1,839 yards. In addition to his role in Lambert’s aerial attack, Antwi chipped in on the ground as well. He ran for 222 yards on 32 carries as a senior. The Suwannee, Georgia, native has played 28 offensive snaps last year as an Ohio State true freshman, appearing in five games. He didn’t, however, log more than seven offensive snaps in any of those outings, per PFF. Antwi had a solid spring this year with a handful of highlight-worthy catches. Antwi and Grayes are two remaining Buckeyes wideouts from the 2022 class.
Noah Rogers
On3 Industry Ranking (2023 Recruiting Class): No. 52 nationally, No. 9 WR, No. 2 North Carolina
Noah Rogers wrapped his career at Rolesville High School in North Carolina with north of 3,200 receiving yards. He demonstrated his potential as a junior when he tallied 70 catches, 1,432 receiving yards and 22 touchdowns. The 6-foot-2, 194-pound Rogers averaged 20.5 yards per reception that season. On3 was higher on Rogers than other sites, even rewarding him with a fifth star. He affirmed that status during the Ohio State spring game when he caught a slant pass and broke tackles, en route to a 57-yard score.
Bryson Rodgers
On3 Industry Ranking (2023 Recruiting Class): No. 356 nationally, No. 55 WR, No. 65 Florida
Bryson Rodgers compiled 110 receptions, 1,625 receiving yards and 29 touchdowns in 26 games at Wiregrass Ranch High School in Wesley Chapel, Florida. Rodgers is originally from Warren, Ohio, though, so committing to Ohio State meant a homecoming of sorts. Rodgers combined for 89 catches and 24 touchdowns during his sophomore and junior seasons. As an early enrollee with the Buckeyes, he didn’t find the end zone in the spring game like Tate or Rogers, but he did make one reception for three yards.
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