COLUMBUS, Ohio -- If the 2021 season taught us anything about Ohio State football’s passing attack, everyone could be a threat if given a chance.
The Buckeyes could have just targeted Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson every game, with everyone else an afterthought. That approach worked in the 2020 season, when they reached the national championship game. Last fall it would have made perfect sense considering C.J. Stroud hadn’t yet thrown a collegiate pass.
A season-opening 45-31 win over Minnesota validated that theory when the two combined for 197 yards and three touchdowns on nine catches. Jaxon Smith-Njigba caught just two passes for 12 yards, despite playing the slot position often featured in the OSU gameplan. But that would be the last time Smith-Njigba wasn’t a factor.
The next week, all three had 100 receiving yards in a loss to Oregon. Then, Smith-Njigba spent the rest of the year piling up targets en route to a Big Ten-best 95 catches for 1,606 yards. That included a record-breaking Rose Bowl performance of 15 catches for 347 yards and three touchdowns -- with Olave and Wilson off the field preparing for this week’s draft.
That’s what happens when you have a future first-round draft pick at quarterback, three more first-rounders as his weapons, a creative play-caller in Ryan Day and a guy steadily building his reputation as one of the nation’s best wide receiver recruiters and developers in Brian Hartline.
So where was that in 2020, when the same scenario was on the table?
“NFL GMs, don’t overthink it and trust what you see and what you’ve said,” Hartline tweeted out ahead of the 2022 NFL Draft. “The 3 best WRs in the draft are Garrett Wilson, Chris Olave and Jameson Williams. Better grab them early bc they will not be available very long.”
The 2020 season featured QB Justin Fields in his second year, while Olave and Wilson were moving into frontline roles. Williams joined them as a top-100 recruit whose development track was right on schedule. But he was an afterthought in 2020, catching just nine passes for 154 yards and two touchdowns, although the bulk of that came in the Sugar Bowl win over Clemson.
Was it the wrong move to filter a passing attack through just two people in 2020? Probably not.
A global pandemic wiped out the spring practice schedule and made for a weird preseason fall camp where at one point, the Big Ten canceled the season altogether. OSU was put in a situation where it was guaranteed only eight games — three of which ended up getting canceled — and no margin for error while chasing a national title. It was smart to lean on experience.
Had 2020 been normal, the season might have played out differently. A 12-game schedule, including some weak opponents, would’ve provided a stage for Williams to get in-game reps. Maybe Ohio State featuring three 1,000-yard receivers happens halfway through 2020. Then all three come back looking to do it again in 2021. No college team in the modern era of the NFL Draft has had three wide receivers go in the first round.
Or maybe it wouldn’t have gone that way. Maybe the Olave/Wilson/Smith-Njigba trio was just a perfect match given how their skill sets complement each other, and Williams heads to Alabama anyway.
A quick scroll through his Twitter profile, and you’ll find an old picture of the statement, “I’m going to NFL. Top 10 pick. Simple.” The chances of getting close to realizing that goal this spring increased by heading south. He went from one of the guys to The Guy for a program that was desperate for wide receiver talent. He added two more scores as a kick returner.
He outperformed his entire OSU career — 15 catches, 266 yards and three touchdowns — within the first five weeks of Alabama’s season on his way to being a Fred Biletnikoff Award finalist. It also transformed him from a third wheel in Columbus to elite NFL prospect. Just as with the Joe Burrow-Dwayne Haskins quarterback battle in 2018, everybody won in the end.
Still, perhaps the Buckeyes missed out on a chance to make history.
More Buckeyes coverage
Cleveland’s Coby Bryant carrying his family into the draft
What Branham’s draft decision means for OSU
Smith brothers climbing from Cleveland Heights to NFL
Will Stroud be 2023′s No. 1 pick? Podcast
Can OSU still land two 2023 RBs? Podcast
DB Hooker enters transfer portal
Resetting the defensive depth chart
Cavazos transfers to North Carolina
Blood clot keeps Herbstreit off draft coverage
YSU replaces San Jose State on 2023 FB sked
Meechie Johnson Jr. transfers to South Carolina
Safety Turrentine enters transfer portal
If football’s defense improves, who deserves credit? Podcast
-
Get the latest Ohio State Buckeyes merchandise: Here’s where you can order Ohio State football gear online, including jerseys, T-shirts, hoodies, hats and much more.