Tag: Xavier Johnson

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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Two Ohio State players injured and out for rest of spring practice

Out for spring, but should be back for preseason camp. #GoBucks

We hate to see it, but injuries are part of the game. With only a week until the annual spring game, Ohio State will be without starting linebacker Steele Chambers and jack-of-all-trades, Xavier Johnson, the rest of the way.

Chambers was seen using crutches and Johnson was in a walking boot toward the end of the week. Ryan Day confirmed the news but with a silver lining. Day believes both players will be ready to go heading into the season.

Speaking on the injury to Chambers, Day had this to say.

“He’ll be back. He’ll have a procedure done and should have a pretty good summer.” – Ryan Day on Steele Chambers injury

With both starting linebackers out for the spring now, several backups will get a chance to shine and show their worth. … Most notably five-star recruit C.J. Hicks. However, it also opens the door for guys such as Gabe Powers and Reid Carrico.

As for Johnson, it sounds like his injury is a little more severe, but nothing to worry about.

“Xavier is probably a little bit longer, but still, we’ll have him for the summer. It’s not going to be something that’s going to affect him in the preseason.” – Ryan Day speaking on Xavier Johnson’s injury

It’s good to hear that neither injury looks to be long term. Both Chambers and Johnson played pivotal roles in the Buckeye’s run to the College Football Playoff last season. Chambers had the second most tackles on the team with 77 and Johnson had explosive plays in key moments while contributing three touchdowns.

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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.

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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Ohio State adds Illinois WR Nolan Baudo as a preferred walk-on

Ohio State adds a PWO to the 2023 class #GoBucks

Although walk-ons don’t typically see the field much, the [autotag]Ohio State[/autotag] football program has done a good job of finding some that do.

This past season wide receiver [autotag]Xavier Johnson[/autotag] made some huge plays when games counted for the Buckeyes. His touchdowns against Notre Dame and Georgia were extremely important.

The Buckeyes might have found another player to fill that role. Illinois wide receiver [autotag]Nolan Baudo[/autotag] announced he will join the team in the fall as a preferred walk-on. At 5 feet, 10 inches and 170 pounds, he has slot receiver written all over him.

Baudo comes from the same high school, Marist, as 2023 signee [autotag]Carnell Tate[/autotag] before he transferred to IMG in Florida. Every year the program sends multiple players to Power Five schools. Their program is one of the best in the Chicagoland area.

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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 …

Ohio State offensive coordinator Brian Hartline says three Buckeye receivers in the first round of ‘24 NFL Draft

That’s a high expectation #GoBucks

There is something to be said about what [autotag]Ohio State[/autotag] offensive coordinator [autotag]Brian Hartline[/autotag] has done with his wide receiver group. Two of his “graduates” just came off 1,000-yard seasons in their rookie NFL seasons, the Saints’ [autotag]Chris Olave[/autotag] and Jets wide receiver [autotag]Garrett Wilson[/autotag].

Another, [autotag]Jaxon Smith-Njigba[/autotag], is expected to be selected in the first round of this coming NFL draft, following the footsteps of the two above. We know that [autotag]Marvin Harrison Jr.[/autotag] is most likely to do the same in the following draft but Hartline thinks there will be two more.

The recently elevated leader of the Buckeye offense replied to a Twitter thread that he believes three more will join Olave, Wilson, and soon-to-be selected JSN as first-round picks.

We obviously expect Harrison Jr. to go and the other clear choice is [autotag]Emeka Egbuka[/autotag] as mentioned in the thread, but who would be the third? Could it be [autotag]Julian Fleming[/autotag]? Maybe [autotag]Xavier Johnson[/autotag]?

It’s hard to know who Hartline was inferring, but his track record speaks for itself. If he believes that three will get selected, I don’t think many are going to doubt Hartline’s statement.

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Ohio State vs. Georgia Chick-fil-A halftime review: Three and out

Ohio State vs. Georgia halftime review: three things #GoBucks

The Ohio State Buckeyes are currently beating the Georgia Bulldogs to the tune of 28-24 going into halftime and Ohio State is sitting in the ideal situation. Most experts expected the SEC champions to be blasting the Buckeyes at this point, but Ohio State is in a prime position to snag an upset victory and a bid to the CFP national championship game.

It it can hold on.

Georgia does receive the ball to start the third quarter and the Buckeye defense hasn’t exactly been in lockdown, but they have been solid and had a strong drive to end the half and all of the momentum heading into the locker room. Let’s dive into three things that were most notable about the first half in this College Football Playoff semifinal.

 

Watch: Ohio State takes lead back right before half on another Stroud touchdown pass

The Buckeyes take the lead back before the half #GoBucks

The Buckeyes led for the majority of this contest against Georgia in the [autotag]College Football Playoff[/autotag] semi-finals but found themselves trailing for the first time all game with just 1:44 before the half. [autotag]Ohio State[/autotag] head coach [autotag]Ryan Day[/autotag] had been adamant about being aggressive, taking chances and he took one.

With no timeouts, the Buckeyes drove right down the field in four plays, spanning just 55 seconds to retake the lead. Quarterback[autotag]C.J. Stroud[/autotag], who has been on fire during this game, went 4-for-4 finding [autotag]Xavier Johnson[/autotag] to start the drive, with a pass to [autotag]Emeka Egbuka[/autotag] and [autotag]Julian Fleming[/autotag] sandwiched around another pass to Johnson which was the scoring play. Stroud found the walk-on over the middle for a 37-yard touchdown pass to give Ohio State a 28-24 lead just before the half.

The response was much needed as the Bulldogs were on a 17-0 run to take the lead. The Buckeyes would go into the half a slim lead in the [autotag]Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl[/autotag].

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One more Notre Dame Crossroads Classic loss for the road

The Irish won’t miss this event at all.

INDIANAPOLIS — Notre Dame’s decision to back out of the Crossroads Classic led to the event’s demise. Given its history in the event, it probably won’t missed in South Bend. Indiana dealt the Irish one more bad memory by beating them, 64-56, to give the program a final event record of 4-7.

During the second half, the Irish (4-5) erased a 10-point Hoosiers (9-2) lead with an 11-1 run, tying the game at 46 with over eight minutes to go. That was as good as it got for the rest of the game as the Hoosiers went on an 8-0 run that came too late for the Irish to overcome. Soon after, a two-handed dunk by future NBA player Trayce Jackson-Davis served as the final dagger and whipped the heavy Hoosiers contingent at Gainbridge Fieldhouse into a frenzy.

Appropriately, Jackson-Davis was the most productive Hoosier with 17 points and 12 rebounds, completing a double-double. Parker Stewart had 12 points, most of which came on three 3-pointers. Xavier Johnson scored 11 despite shooting only 3 of 11 from the field and committing four turnovers. Race Thompson also had 11.

Dane Goodwin, one of three active Irish players to play in the Crossroads Classic four times, was responsible for much of the Irish’s scoring with a team-high 15 points. Blake Wesley was just behind with 14 points, though he was compounded by 5-of-16 shooting from the field. Paul Atkinson Jr. had a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds to go with four steals.

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