2025 Buckeye Breakdown: The Wide Receivers

While Ohio State has been able to put players at every position into the NFL, it’s the Buckeye wide receivers that lead the way. There have always been great receivers in the scarlet and gray, but ever since Brian Hartline took over as position coach, it’s gotten exponentially better. Ohio State was able to lean on its elite playmakers throughout the national championship-winning season, culminating in a clutch 56-yard catch on 3rd & 11 to officially win it.

Two of the top three weapons return to make the new quarterback’s job much easier. With one of, if not the best player in college football leading the way, the Buckeye receivers are, once again, in a great spot heading into 2025.

Fun fact: Did you know that there are no scholarship senior receivers because the entire 2022 recruiting class transferred out?

2025 Buckeye Breakdown: The Wide Receivers

The Proven

What can be said about Jeremiah Smith that hasn’t already been said? As a true freshman, Smith took no time at all to introduce himself. He kicked off his career with a six-catch, 92-yard, two-touchdown performance. When the confetti fell in Atlanta, Smith finished with 1,315 yards and 15 touchdowns. He posted five 100-yard games and scored in 12 of his 16 games.

Between the catches and the game-breaking plays, Smith is about as polished as a second-year player could be. It could have been analysts being slaves to the moment, but there were plenty of NFL folks saying he could have entered the 2025 NFL Draft and gone in the first round. If there are deficiencies in his game, they may not exist when the Buckeyes kick it off against Texas.

Alongside Smith, the most overlooked potential star has to be Carnell Tate. Last year, Tate had a moderate breakout. When you line up with Smith and first-round pick Emeka Egbuka, there’s only one ball to go around. Even then, he finished with 733 yards and four touchdowns off 52 receptions. He stepped up in the Cotton Bowl and was an integral part of the Buckeyes’ victory. With Smith doubled in addition to safety help over the top, the Longhorns let Tate haul in seven passes for 87 yards.

With all of the focus on Smith, Tate is poised to take another step in 2025. He’s a polished route-runner who can turn 50/50 balls into 90/10. Tate doesn’t have that elite breakaway speed, but he’s able to get separation and can find the holes in the intermediate routes. He can track the deep ball and come down with it as well as anyone. His two-touchdown performance against Northwestern showed how he can take over a game if needed.

Breakout Season?

WR1 and WR2 are set. How about WR3?

The assumption is that Brandon Inniss is going to be next up. Inniss could have seen the talent coming up and decided that transferring out was the best option. Instead, the former five-star receiver stuck through it and is in line to play a role similar to Tate’s from last year. In his first two seasons, Inniss only managed 234 yards and two touchdowns. As the favorite to take over the slot role, it’s fair to expect more.

In limited action, Inniss scored to put the Buckeyes ahead against Penn State, and a 19-yard catch on third down in the national championship. Egbuka rarely left the field, but when he did, there wasn’t much of a drop-off with Inniss. In his new number one jersey, the junior is poised for a breakout.

He’s not the only one. Bryson Rodgers spent time in last year’s transfer portal before returning to Ohio State. Now, approaching his third year, Rodgers is working to get on the field. Also from the 2023 recruiting class, Rodgers logged 163 snaps over 13 games in 2024. He considers himself the country’s best route runner and has breakaway speed to tear down the field when he gets separation.

A name to know for 2025 is Mylan Graham. Overshadowed by Smith in the 2024 class, Graham was a composite five-star receiver in his own right. He was forgotten in 2024 because he didn’t enroll early. Despite that, coaches took note as he grew throughout his redshirt season. This Spring, he began to turn heads. Maybe it’s the fact that he’s wearing the number five jersey, but he evokes memories of Garrett Wilson. Graham made Ohio State fans take notice with a four-catch, 104-yard, one-touchdown performance in the Spring Game.