Will the departures of Ohio State receivers push Brian Hartline to deploy a tool he’s never used before?

admin | January 3, 2024 | Other Clubs | No Comments

Only one Ohio State football position coach has never used the transfer portal to bolster his team.

Last week, Brian Hartline spoke with pride about how relationships developed through traditional high school recruitment had maintained the room loaded in both high-end quality and depth.

“I have nothing against the transfer world — there are a lot of reasons to do it, have it, and use it,” Hartline said last week, before of the Cotton Bowl. “However, we have yet to accomplish this in the receiver room, which is a goal.” The idea is to identify high school young men who suit our mold.

“And we choose them as they choose us.” Then you see those players on Saturdays. “I think we’re very proud of the progress we’ve made in our room.”

Hartline made those remarks less than a week before losing his fourth and fifth receivers in the last eight months to free agency. On Sunday, Bryson Rodgers and Noah Rogers both stated their desire to pursue a transfer. They follow receivers Kaleb Brown, Caleb Burton, and Julian Fleming in leaving the program since April.

The departures may have no effect on the starting corps, or even the two-deep, in 2024. Emeka Egbuka has expressed interest in returning for a fourth season. Jeremiah Smith (winter) and Mylan Graham (summer) are two five-star prospects joining the 2024 signing class.

Even if Egbuka returns — and no other attrition occurs — Ohio State is presently projecting only eight scholarship receivers for 2024. Coach Ryan Day previously stated that the program prefers to have 11 receivers to fill up three teams’ worth of practice lineups while accounting for injuries and other absences.

While it seems unlikely that OSU will add three additional people between now and August, it may need to add at least one. That might also come from any unsigned high school players who are still eligible for the late signing period in February.

It’s also possible that Hartline will need to use the transfer portal for the first time to fill out the depth in his group.

That is the reality of the transfer industry. Rogers and Rodgers were not the first to notice a longer growth arc or road to the field and advance to more advantageous playing-time conditions. The additional enticements offered through name, picture, and likeness options suggest that this trend will likely accelerate before slowing.

Hartline can still be proud that, unlike some other position groupings, he does not need to bolster his starting lineup. Egbuka, fellow rising fourth-year Jayden Ballard, rising sophomores Carnell Tate and Brandon Inniss, and Smith, the nation’s top prospect regardless of class.

Also, players that remain around despite a paucity of playing time early on — Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Marvin Harrison Jr., Egbuka, Julian Fleming — tend to have long-term success. Ballard may be one of the few exceptions, but he started in the Cotton Bowl and might compete for a starting spot next season.

“Every single guy that you’ve seen leave into the NFL, there’s been hard days, sitting there — I’m not going to expose anybody — tears and crying and ‘it’s hard’ and ‘I want to go home,'” Hartline went on to say. “‘Coach, are I good enough to play here?’ ‘Do I have what it takes to play at the next level?’ Those are trying times.”

“But the end result has been pretty awesome and very satisfying, not only as a coach but as the players themselves.”

The health of the top receivers at Ohio State is unquestionable. However, until additional Xavier Johnsons are willing to rise above their walk-on status and take on rotational responsibilities and compete for the two-deep, Hartline may need to burst the seal on the receiving side of the transfer portal.