Ohio State football: OSU pursuing transfer receiver

The Ohio State football team isn’t just recruiting high school kids, they’re also talking to transfer portal kids.

The Ohio State football team has offered a scholarship to Jackson State graduate transfer receiver Daylen Baldwin. He received the offer after he turned in an impressive workout for the Buckeyes on Thursday. He said this to 247 Sports afterward,

"“It was definitely good,” he said. “The feedback was good. Coach (Brian) Hartline had told me he can tell I actually work on my craft. They were telling  me you can definitely be here, be part of the team, but the biggest thing for me making sure I’m actually on the field, making sure I’m playing wherever I’m at. I’m still considering what they said but they said you’re definitely good and we can get you to another level — to the next level and another level within yourself with developing and getting better.”"

When you consider the talent Hartline has brought in over the past few seasons, you have to wonder why he’d pursue a receiver from an FCS school. The Buckeyes do have a ton of talent at the position, but depth is becoming a concern.

Mookie Cooper transferred to Missouri in January; Jameson Williams recently left for Alabama. Gee Scott, Jr. has moved to tight end. Letterman Row’s Jeremy Birmingham reported over the weekend Jaylen Harris and Elijah Gardiner are no longer with the team.

Kamryn Babb appears ready to miss yet another season due to injury. That leaves the Buckeyes with just seven scholarship receivers. There is not a lot of room for error. The offer to Baldwin makes sense.

The Michigan native describes himself as a late bloomer. Morgan State, an FCS school, was his only offer above Division II. He was rated as the seventh-best receiver among those players in the transfer portal this year and is now the second-highest rated player overall who is still available.

At 6’3”, 210 pounds, Baldwin makes for a big target. After spending his first two years at Morgan State, where he caught 30 passes for 331 yards and two touchdowns, he transferred to Jackson State. He redshirted there his first year in 2019, but 2020 was a breakout season where he caught 27 passes for 540 yards and seven touchdowns.

The Buckeyes are going head to head with Michigan on this one. The Wolverines have offered him as well and he developed a good relationship with their offensive coordinator, Josh Gattis. Baldwin reportedly said his abilities would be maximized playing for Gattis. A couple of recruiting experts have put in predictions for him to commit to Michigan. Baldwin has set June 20th as his deadline for announcing a decision.

It would be great to grab another receiver from Michigan’s clutches. Everyone in the Ohio State football program loves doing that.