Ohio State football: OSU receiver group must avoid injuries

For the Ohio State football team to be great, the receivers have to stay healthy this season.

Ohio State has what is acknowledged as the best receiver group in the country. While they are a group of extreme talent, unfortunately, they are not a group of extreme depth. Receiver coach Brian Hartline’s group will enter fall camp next week with just seven healthy scholarship players.

A combination of transfers, retirements, and injuries has taken its toll on this group. Mookie Cooper (Missouri) and Jameson Williams (Alabama) transferred. After graduating, Jaylen Harris retired due to medical reasons and Elijah Gardiner decided it was time to retire from football.

Kamryn Babb, who missed all of Spring practice with yet another injury (he’s had three major knee injuries since his senior year of high school), is still out and there is no timetable for a return. All of this has depleted the Buckeye receiver group to a dangerously low level.

There is no margin for error here. Any type of injury resulting in missed time is cause for alarm. If there is an injury, the seventh receiver of the group will obviously move into that spot on the depth chart. I’m guessing that will be true freshman Jayden Ballard. After him, the options are moving Gee Scott, Jr. back from tight end or using a walk-on.

Is there a C.J. Saunders in the group of walk-ons? If you recall, Saunders earned significant playing time (27 career catches) and was even voted a team captain for the Buckeyes after beginning his career as a walk-on. He was signed as a free agent by the Carolina Panthers in early June.

If Hartline needs to play a walk-on, he has a few to choose from. Chris Booker jumps out at me right away. He’s been a special teams regular who is a big-bodied receiver (6’3”). Xavier Johnson is another special teams regular, but was a running back for the first three years as a Buckeye and is still learning to play receiver. I don’t doubt there is going to be a fierce battle among the walk-ons to position themselves for the possibility of more than just mop-up playing time.

Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson are bona fide college football superstars. Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Emeka Egbuka, Marvin Harrison, Jr., Julian Fleming, and Jayden Ballard are stars-in-the-making. They are an immensely talented group, but they need to be an immensely talented, HEALTHY group throughout the upcoming season.

The Ohio State coaching staff charts every rep in practice and I’m sure this group will be very limited in any type of contact situation. But, it is safe to say we’re all going to hold our breath each time one of them takes a hard hit in a game.

This group is going to be a lot of fun to watch, but injuries are definitely a concern. The overall health of this group is going to go a long way in determining how potent the Ohio State football team’s offense becomes.