Ohio State Football: Projecting the depth chart at WR

The Ohio State football team has the deepest room of wide receivers in the country. All of their guys are previous four or five-star recruits coming out of high school. The Buckeyes might be losing two first-round picks at receiver, but they will reload.

It’s tough to determine the depth chart once you really look at it. Jaxon Smith-Njigba was a great slot guy, but he will likely shift to one of the outside spots to make room for Emeka Egbuka in the slot. Marvin Harrison Jr. seems locked in as the other outside guy too.

Julian Fleming is likely the guy who comes in for rotational snaps as the fourth guy on the depth chart. He just hasn’t been able to stay healthy enough to garner snaps to showcase his skills. Egbuka is a better slot than he is and Flemings not better than Harrison Jr. or Smith-Njigba on the outside.

After Fleming, it gets a bit tricky to project. I think the fifth guy on the depth chart will likely be either Jayden Ballard or Caleb Burton. Burton is the third-lowest rated of the incoming freshman, but his body gives him the ability to play either inside or outside.

I believe Ballard will be the fifth guy and Burton will be the sixth. Neither are likely to see many snaps in meaningful games and will likely on see time in blowouts. But those snaps are still valuable. Those can help develop players too.

It’s good to have such a deep room at a really important position. It shows just how good of a recruiter Brian Hartline has been for the Ohio State football team over the years. With as good of an offense as the Buckeyes have this year, I’d expect some fireworks yet again this season.