Ohio State Football: Putting together the all-time Jim Tressel team
By Ryan Stano
Ohio State Football All-Time Jim Tressel team, Wide Receiver: Michael Jenkins
Ohio State played a lot of ugly offensive games in the Tressel era. One of those games was in 2002 against Purdue. In that game, Michael Jenkins made one of the most memorable touchdown catches in Ohio State football history on fourth-and-1.
Once he caught the “Holy Buckeye” touchdown, his legacy within the Ohio State football program was sealed. Jenkins was quite a good receiver despite playing in an offense that didn’t pass the ball that often. He was clearly a number-one option in his career though.
In that 2002 national championship season, he had 61 catches for 1,076 yards and 6 touchdowns. He finished his Buckeye career with 157 catches for 2,746 yards and 16 touchdowns in three years. He was quite the threat on the outside, standing at 6’4 and 214 pounds.
After a great Ohio State career, he was a first-round pick in the 2004 NFL Draft by the Atlanta Falcons. He went on to play for Atlanta for seven seasons and then played for the Vikings for two years as well. He had a really nice NFL career and was a good player.
Jenkins was a pretty easy decision for me. His size and soft hands made him a really dangerous receiver for the Buckeyes and was clearly one of the best ones that Tressel ever coached. The next receiver on this list was pretty darn good too.