The Ohio State Buckeyes football team's selection of WR Brandon Inniss as a captain ahead of the 2025 season was a decision The Columbus Dispatch's Bill Rabinowitz believes only casual fans didn't see coming. DB Caleb Downs, LB Sonny Styles, and OL Austin Siereveld were the other three.
Rabinowitz believes Inniss is a better fit for the role from the WR room than Carnell Tate or the consensus best player in college football, Jeremiah Smith.
"Styles was a no-brainer as one of the four captains, as was Downs. Siereveld was not a surprise after the growth he has shown. But wide receiver Brandon Inniss might have been an eye-opener for casual fans," Rabinowitz wrote.
"To those inside the program, it wasn’t. As a backup last year, Inniss earned much respect for the way he supported his teammates. He’s a more natural vocal leader for the wide receivers unit than the quieter Jeremiah Smith or Carnell Tate."
Eleven Warriors' Garrick Hodge sees Inniss as Emeka Egbuka's successor in the leadership department.
"Inniss may not lead OSU's receivers in yardage this season, but he's the most vocal leader in the room. Inniss and Emeka Egbuka were Ohio State’s most vocal wideouts last season and now Inniss will take the torch from Egbuka both on and off the field, as he replaces Egbuka in the starting lineup at slot receiver alongside Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate," Hodge wrote.
Inniss was WR4 in 2024, hauling in fewer receptions than tight end Gee Scott, who's since gone on to the NFL and is with the New England Patriots as of this writing, running backs Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson.
WR4 from an on-field perspective anyway. When someone can be a locker room difference-maker in his sophomore season and his team wins it all, that player becomes captain-worthy under most circumstances.
Inniss's numbers didn't lend themselves to him being a captain. If his importance was stressed more by the storytellers, perhaps the casual fan would've had a better idea.