Ohio State Overview: Johnny Dixon scoffed at a potential end of his playing career because of repeated knee issues and had two fine seasons as a junior and senior, and he leaves the program an all-time favorite player to many in Buckeye Nation … Dixon’s relentless display of overcoming injury with great character and tremendous leadership will not soon be forgotten … voted a team captain by his teammates as a senior in 2018, Dixon capped his career with his best season for the Scarlet and Gray with 42 receptions for 669 yards and eight touchdowns … his eight touchdown receptions matched the eight he caught as a junior in 2017 and places him 11th in Ohio State history with 16 touchdown receptions, including one in each of his final three games – all wins – as a Buckeye: vs. No. 4 Michigan, vs. No. 21 Northwestern in the Big Ten championship game and vs. No. 9 Washington in the Rose Bowl … he had a career-high seven receptions and a career-high 129 receiving yards in the Northwestern game, as well … Dixon graduated with his degree in communications during the period in between the Big Ten title game and the Rose Bowl … he closes his career with 41 games played and five starts, plus 67 receptions for 1,146 yards and a 17.1 yards per catch average that is good enough for 12th all-time in school history … he just missed the 20-catch threshold that would have enabled him to have the third-highest single season yards per catch average – 23.4 off 18 catches – in 2017 … Dixon was a part of Ohio State teams that won a national championship over No. 2 Oregon in 2014, Big Ten championships in 2014, 2017 and 2018, and bowl game wins over No. 1 Alabama (in the 2015 Sugar Bowl), No. 8 Notre Dame (2016 Fiesta Bowl), No. 8 USC (2018 Cotton Bowl) and No. 9 Washington (2019 Rose Bowl) … he also played in four victories over Michigan and was red-shirting during another victory.
More on Johnnie: Dixon was one of six from his 2014 recruiting class to enroll in classes in January 2014 … he was a consensus four-star recruit who was rated the No. 34 prospect in the nation on the ESPN 300 and its No. 5 rated wide receiver … also had a fine, No. 62 rating by 247Sports and he was No. 117 on the Rivals 250 … competed at the 2014 U.S. Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio … ranked No. 15 at his position by Rivals and No. 30 by Scout … helped Dwyer High School, coached by Jack Daniels, to its second Florida Class 7A state championship in school history and its first-ever unbeaten season (15-0) in 2013 … named second-team Associated Press Class 7A all-state in 2013 … Dixon played his best football in the state playoffs with 17 receptions for 366 yards and six touchdowns in Dwyer’s five-game run to the state title … had five catches for 55 yards and one score in the 55-39 championship game win over Niceville … had 33 receptions for 610 yards and six touchdowns as a junior … is the son of Latoya Smith.
