Wide Receivers Mix Star Power and Depth in 2025
8/1/2025 1:09:00 PM | Football
Unit is headlined by national awards candidates Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate
COLUMBUS, Ohio – No program in the country has been more synonymous with elite wide receiver play than Ohio State, and on Friday following its second practice of preseason camp, that position group met with the media at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.
The headliner of the group is a player that needs no introduction. Sophomore Jeremiah Smith is widely regarded as the top player in college football, coming off a freshman season that saw him catch 76 passes for 1,315 yards and 15 touchdowns. He'll be a candidate this fall for every major award, including the Heisman Trophy, as he attempts to become just the third full-time wide receiver to earn the honor.
But Smith's star power – and mostly importantly his production – make him primed to add his name to college football's most prestigious fraternity. The last image that fans had of him last season was a catch of third-and-11 late in the fourth quarter against Notre Dame that clinched the Buckeyes' victory over Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff national championship game.
A Room Full of Talent
While Smith is the biggest name in Brian Hartline's wide receiver room, he's far from the only player with high expectations heading into this season. Carnell Tate, a junior, was third on the team last season with 52 receptions for 733 yards and four touchdowns. Brandon Inniss, also a junior, is primed to take on an even bigger role after playing in 16 games last season and contributing 14 receptions for 176 yards and a touchdown.
And some names that fans should expect to hear more of in 2025 and beyond: Bryson Rodgers, a junior, Mylan Graham, a sophomore, and freshmen Quincy Porter, Bodpegn Miller, De'Zie Jones and Phillip Bell.
Ohio State: Wide Receiver U
Coach Brian Hartline, who will also serve as Ohio State's offensive coordinator this season, has unquestionably turned the Buckeyes into Wide Receiver U. The NFL Draft numbers are evidence enough: Ohio State's produced five first-round picks in the last four NFL drafts and leads all schools in total number of wide receivers drafted in the last 25 years.
Hartline not only has proven to be an elite identifier of talent, he's also developed it at a high rate and been part of Ohio State's best stretch of offense in school history. Since he became the wide receivers coach prior to the start of the 2018 season, the Buckeyes have finished with a top-15 nationally ranked passing offense three times and a top-10 scoring offense four times. And in three of the last four seasons, Hartline's room has produced two 1,000-yard receivers. Prior to 2022, that had never happened in program history.
The Buckeyes have had the Big Ten's Wide Receiver of the Year in each of the last three seasons – Marvin Harrison Jr. in 2022 and 2023 and Jeremiah Smith in 2024 – and is the only school in conference history to claim the award in three consecutive seasons.
Wide Receivers By the Numbers
148: Receptions last season among returning wide receivers.
2,048/19: Yards receiving and touchdowns last season by the duo of Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate.
1,000: Ohio State has produced at least one 1,000-yard receiver in each of the last five seasons.
50+: Jeremiah Smith led the nation with six receptions of at least 50 yards: 70 vs. Western Michigan, 68 vs. Northwestern, 60 vs. Nebraska, 56 vs. Notre Dame, 53 vs. Iowa and 53 vs. Marshall.
3: Carnell Tate needs just three yards receiving to reach 1,000 for his career. Entering his third season, Tate's played in 28 games and started 15 times.
