The Ohio State wide receivers have been criticized for the better part of two years now for their overall lack of production. The 2015 team had Michael Thomas to lean on, and last year there was Curtis Samuel, but there was never really a Robin to their respective Batman.
The 2017 season has started with similar criticisms, and early on it would appear that the Buckeyes don’t even yet have a Batman.
And Urban Meyer said as much on Monday.
“There’s not that Michael Thomas right now where you say he’s your go to all the time,” he said.
Meyer then clarified his statement on Wednesday saying that there is not the same delineation between one-through six now that there was in 2015. He also added that he believes a go-to guy will step up, but that this is a young group and the season is still very early.
Ohio State rotates six receivers throughout a game, which they also did way back in 2014 when everything was going so well after two weeks. The Buckeyes have a two-deep at each of their three receiver positions, and these six players roll in and out of the game for all four quarters.
All six of them are listed as starters because they play equal minutes, but offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson believes the Buckeyes actually need to be even deeper.
“I think the way we play – if we execute and stay on the field – you need two to three tailbacks, and I think you need to be pushing really seven or eight receivers because I just think they get gassed running around, flipping sides, down the field, perimeter blocking,” he said.
“Same with the tight ends. We need to get two or three going. So, I think at every skill position offensively, you’ve got to be about two-and-a-half deep. To me, six is actually our number, but I wish we were playing seven or eight.”
He then added a very key point.
“It’s one thing to play six, seven, or eight,” he said, “but you need guys you can count on and execute, and that’s what we’ve got to get to.”
In order to get the number up, however, the Buckeyes would have to rely on their true freshman receivers Trevon Grimes, Jaylen Harris, or Ellijah Gardiner. Unfortunately, none of them are yet ready to be part of a rotation. That doesn’t mean they won’t see the field, it just means the right spot for them needs to be found.
“We’re pushing and fighting them hard,” Wilson said. “They’ve made some plays, but as young players… Trevon is coming off a knee injury. He missed the bulk of last year and missed a lot of spring training. So it’s really just getting him confident and strong and being consistent. But they show flashes and they’re going to be really, really, really good, and it’d be nice to be really, really good really, really soon, but they’re kind of inconsistent right now.”
The inconsistency is key, especially for a passing game that is already dealing with confidence issues at the moment.
“Earning the trust and confidence to get on the field, you’ll see flashes and they’ve made plays and they’ve made them all camp, but it’s a little hot, little cold,” Wilson said. “We need to flip it on. They’ve had good weeks in practice.”
Getting the freshmen to a point to contribute and push the incumbents would make everybody better, but until that happens, the current rotation is going to have to step up and help in every way that they can.
Wilson is confident that they can eventually get there.
“We’re moving in the right direction and we’ll see if we can keep the train on the track and work as a complete unit,” he said. “Get that run, get that pass going. Like I’ve said, when we get playing with 11 guys together and get clicking, those guys will be open. They should be able to make us plays, the run game will work, and we’ll have good offense. We’ll see how close we get this week to getting that thing back to being elite like we need to be and we should be.”