Ask any Buckeye football fan which position group on the team has been most frustrating to them in recent years, and it won’t take long before the wide receivers come up.
Ohio State has pumped out some legendary pass-catchers over the decades, from NFL Hall of Famer Cris Carter to Biletnikoff Award winner Terry Glenn, and current NFL standout Michael Thomas. But since Thomas departed following the 2015 season, the passing game has been inconsistent at times, and nearly invisible at others.
The fan mentioned above will probably also let you know that former quarterback J.T. Barrett was a source of more than a few thrown remote controls during that time.
But with Barrett now on to the NFL, the offense is likely to look a little different this fall, no matter whether Dwayne Haskins, Joe Burrow, or Tate Martell takes over the starting job.
That change could present an opportunity for the receiving corps to finally break out, something Urban Meyer says he wants to see.
“Receiver we’ve been good. We’ve not been elite,” said Meyer. “I’ve challenged (WR coach Zach Smith). I’ve challenged (Co-Offensive Coordinator) Ryan Day who is going to be working directly with them as well.”
Some people took Meyer’s comment to imply that Day’s role was a new, and more hands-on one. Smith said it’s pretty much status quo.
“He does what any coordinator does,” said Smith. “He’s in charge of the offense, he’s in charge of the throw game and in charge of the quarterbacks. He doesn’t coach the receivers or do anything specifically with them.”
Instead, Smith said Day’s role is more of a big-picture one.
“He kind of oversees the offense, oversees everything that’s being taught, everything that’s being done, and then he really just plays a hand in the whole pass game development,” Smith said. “How to run routes, and how to complete the ball, progressions, really normal things that coordinators do.”
Day will be coordinating an offense that does not have a player who has ever cracked 600 yards in receiving in a season. That’s partly thanks to a deep rotation of six guys who are all designated “starters.”
Meyer said he doesn’t evaluate the receiver unit solely based on those stats.
“We looked at much more than just catches,” he said. “We’ve been good. Last year very good group. Maybe not the first-rounder that was making the ridiculous catches all the time, but we look at the blocking. We look at more than just that.”
If Zone 6 wants to go from ‘very good’ to ‘elite’ like Meyer envisions, finding one or two top-level receivers who can work their way up NFL draft boards would be a big help. He thinks those guys are already on the roster.
“There’s some elite people that are potentially in that group,” Meyer said.
One of those players is Austin Mack, who is entering his third year. He had 23 catches for 243 yards and a pair of touchdowns in 2017, and Smith has already laid out some big expectations for Mack’s junior season.
Mack said that it has been useful to have input from the offensive coordinators to help the receivers understand the whole offense.
“Coach Day and Coach (Kevin) Wilson also come in to help us understand the perspective from the quarterback’s perspective. So we make their job easier,” Mack said.
“It’s cool that we have that connection because if you look at Tom Brady, he’s always with his receivers. So it’s like that’s helping us close that gap to be able to be on the right page and the right times.”