Tag: Jayden Ballard

Ohio State football vs Missouri: Five observations halftime review

Ohio State football vs Missouri: Five observations halftime review #GoBucks

Welcome to halftime of the Cotton Bowl and despite the low score, the Ohio State Buckeyes are in solid position with a 3-0 lead over the Missouri Tigers. It isn’t all doom and gloom despite what is being shared on social media. This Missouri team is extremely talented and Ohio State is dealing with injuries at the quarterback position.

It is a bit odd that Ryan Day is refusing to open up the playbook at all, but I want to reserve my anger until the second half. We have seen Devin Brown struggle and then get hurt and a true freshman in Lincoln Kienholz, who is clearly not ready, be not allowed to throw the ball, which is very odd given the constantly stacked boxes.

Again, it sounds like I am upset, but I am really not, I feel that the Buckeyes are in good position going into halftime and I am very excited to see what Ryan Day comes up with in the second half. Let’s dive into he top five most interesting topics from the first half.

Five Ohio State football players who could enter the transfer portal this offseason

Which Buckeyes do you see leaving via the portal after the season ends?

As the college football regular season winds down, Ohio State football, like many other teams across the country, will be watching the transfer portal to see who will be on the move.

Some players have already submitted their names, while others are waiting for their seasons to play out before making a decision.

The Buckeyes have not seen many players leave, although that might change this offseason.

I want to preface this list by saying it is pure speculation, educated guesses about which Ohio State football players could be on the move after this season. Here is who I think could be looking for a new football home.

Ohio State football: Five players on offense poised for a breakout in 2023

Who do you think breaks out on the national scene? #GoBucks

With fall camp starting for [autotag]Ohio State[/autotag] Thursday, one can only dream of what to expect during the season.

Like every year in college football, there is plenty of turnover, but one thing we know about the Buckeyes, they don’t rebuild, they reload. Multiple stars from the 2022 team have gone on to the NFL, but Ohio State isn’t short of talented players waiting in the wings.

This season, there are more than a few non-returning starting spots open, so there will be new names we’ll see on Saturdays making an impact. Here are five Buckeyes that I believe will have breakout seasons and become household names on the offensive side of the ball.

Don’t worry, we’ll hit the defense next.

On3 ranks Ohio State as the top wide receiver unit in college football

I mean, it’s really no surprise here, right? #GoBucks

On3’s Jesse Simonton started releasing his position group rankings for next season last week.

Given the strength of the Buckeyes’ wide receiver room, it comes as no surprise that they come in at number one on this list. With Jaxon Smith-Njigba out with a hamstring injury for most of last season, Ohio State returns their top six leaders in receiving yards.

The headliner of the unit is Marvin Harrison Jr. who is the consensus top wide receiver in all of college football. Harrison Jr.’s talent was apparent in his true freshman season and last season he broke out leading the team in catches (77), receiving yards (1,263), and receiving touchdowns (14).

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The expectations for Harrison Jr. this season are sky-high as he will be an integral part of the Buckeyes offense and could even be a dark horse Heisman contender.

One of college football’s best receivers last season also returns with big expectations for this season. Emeka Egbuka is perhaps a bit under shadowed because he plays alongside Harrison Jr., but he was an integral part of the offense last season and will be this season as well.

Harrison Jr. and Egbuka are the clear top two target leaders in the offense and that third receiver option is also likely locked down as well.

Julian Fleming was third on the team in receiving yards with 533 yards in last season. The former five-star from the 2020 class would likely be the top receiver on many teams across college football.

Jayden Ballard is another good option as he could provide more of a deep-threat element to the offense.  Ballard showed out with a good performance at the Spring Game including a one-handed catch.

Returning for his sixth season with the Buckeyes will be Xavier Johnson. He has shown consistently that he can step up when he’s called upon as he caught two big touchdowns last season including a third-down strike over the middle against Notre Dame to give Ohio State the lead late in the third quarter.

The Buckeyes also bring in a very talented group of freshmen receivers.  Carnell Tate, Noah Rogers, and Brandon Inniss all were top ten ranked wide receivers in the 2023 class.

While they may not make a major impact this season, they will be important factors in the offense very soon.

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Watch: Ohio State wide receiver Jayden Ballard with a crazy one-handed catch

SportsCenter Top 10?!? #GoBucks

It’s just the spring game but [autotag]Ohio State[/autotag] is going to have a to find a fourth wide receiver behind [autotag]Marvin Harrison Jr.[/autotag], [autotag]Emeka Egbuka[/autotag] and [autotag]Julian Fleming[/autotag].

One of those candidates is [autotag]Jayden Ballard[/autotag], who has shown that he can the speed to take any pass to the house. His hands? Well I think he answered that question during the Scarlet and Gray game.

On a play during the second quarter, quarterback [autotag]Kyle McCord[/autotag] looked to his left, fired a pass to Ballard where only he could catch and and made a spectacular one-handed grab on the sidelines. The third-year receiver was able to get a foot down inbounds as well to complete the grab. Check it out the amazing catch below.

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Ohio State early enrollee wide receiver Carnell Tate impresses during scrimmage

Might Tate crack the lineup in his freshman year? #GoBucks

Show me a deeper room among college football than the [autotag]Ohio State[/autotag] wide receivers. It’s an extremely difficult task.

There is talent all over, from proven stars such as [autotag]Marvin Harrison Jr.[/autotag] and [autotag]Emeka Egbuka[/autotag], to solid contributors like [autotag]Julian Fleming[/autotag] and [autotag]Xavier Johnson[/autotag]. That’s not even including [autotag]Jayden Ballard[/autotag], who many believe is the next player to makes waves among the group.

It’s an extremely hard lineup to crack but early enrollee [autotag]Carnell Tate[/autotag] is making his case to play right away. The freshman wowed during today’s scrimmage and as someone who has known the Illinois native since his freshman year of high school, it doesn’t surprise me one bit.

Check out below some of the clips of practice along with reactions from Tate’s impressive showing.

Watch: Ohio State football recaps Pro Day with epic video

Up next, the NFL for many of these Buckeyes #GoBucks

The [autotag]Ohio State[/autotag] Pro Day brought in plenty of NFL eyes and rightfully so, multiple Buckeyes are expected to be selected during the draft’s three days.

This was a chance for the outgoing Ohio State players to give NFL executives one more chance at seeing what each of them has to offer at the next level.

Not only that, the Buckeyes have done a great job at previewing some of their younger players, this year’s wide receivers [autotag]Marvin Harrison Jr.[/autotag] and [autotag]Jayden Ballard,[/autotag] were catching passes from potential No. 1 overall selection, [autotag]C.J. Stroud[/autotag], who did the same last year.

Check out the video that Ohio State football Twitter shared from last week’s Pro Day action.

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Ohio State offensive coordinator Brian Hartline likes receiver depth

WRU? You bet #GoBucks

After last year’s rash of injuries, [autotag]Ohio State[/autotag] will try and create depth throughout the whole roster. One position where you wouldn’t expect much of that is wide receiver, but new offensive coordinator, [autotag]Brian Hartline,[/autotag] wants to have multiple players ready to go.

When [autotag]Jaxon Smith-Njigba[/autotag] went down in the season opener and wasn’t able to get right, he eventually sat out the remainder of the season with a hamstring injury. This wasn’t the only time a recent Buckeye star has gotten hurt and then missed their final season — see Nick Bosa.

The receiver group has plenty of firepower, but they’re all upperclassmen. [autotag]Marvin Harrison Jr.[/autotag], [autotag]Emeka Egbuka[/autotag], and [autotag]Julian Fleming[/autotag] could all leave, and reloading the position is something Hartline wants to do this year.

When asked about the receiver depth, he mentioned that the group is six or seven deep. Hear from Hartline below.

We know the first three-plus [autotag]Xavier Johnson[/autotag], but the remaining three to four are unknown. There is some hype around [autotag]Jayden Ballard[/autotag] and early enrolling freshman [autotag]Carnell Tate[/autotag] has already lost his black stripe in record-breaking time.

At this moment it’s just a guess as to who will make their mark on one of the deepest position groups in the country, but you feel pretty good about there being plenty of options.

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Ranking Ohio State wide receivers by 247Sports composite recruiting rankings

Ranking Ohio State wide receivers by 247Sports composite recruiting ranking #GoBucks

The Ohio State football program has 13 wide receivers on scholarship and appears super deep. Still, as any Buckeye fan knows, this unit took a massive hit last season with the injury to Jaxon Smith-Njigba, but the youngsters stepped up in a big way.

It was a bit shocking to see Xavier Johnson return, not that he was an early-round lock for the NFL, but he will undoubtedly get a shot at the next level. There is also a ton of excitement surrounding the stud freshman arriving on campus.

We rank the scholarship wide receivers on the roster based on their 247Sports recruiting rankings. You might be surprised by some of these …

Receiver Jayden Ballard loses his black stripe

We now “officially” have a new member of Zone 6!

We’ve got another Ohio State newcomer that lost his black stripe on Tuesday to become an “official” Buckeye.

Jayden Ballard came to OSU as a 4-star prospect out of Massillon, Ohio. He was ranked as the No. 15 wide receiver and 99th overall recruit in the 2021 class. He’s been working hard, and now he has been welcomed into the brotherhood as a member of Zone 6.

Ballard said a few words in a short ceremony in front of the team on Tuesday.

“I just want to thank all y’all for pushing me every day, and I appreciate all of y’all,” said Ballard. I want to shoutout to Zone 6 — Go Bucks!”

Ballard won’t likely factor into the game plans too much in meaningful situations in 2021, but he’s got the skill set to be a big part of the plans in the not-too-distant future.

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