Ohio State’s first practices of 2026 are just over a week away.
After a two-month layoff following the Buckeyes’ College Football Playoff quarterfinal loss to Miami, a new-look Ohio State team will take the field for 15 practices this spring, starting next Tuesday, March 10. The Buckeyes have aspirations of competing for a national championship, but there are plenty of questions they need to answer this spring as they replace more than half of their scholarship roster from last season.
With that in mind, we’re taking a position-by-position look at how Ohio State’s roster has changed since last season, the biggest questions and position battles entering spring practice and the overall outlook for each position group ahead of next week’s start of spring. Our previews start at wide receiver, where the Buckeyes return the best player in college football but need others to step up around him.
Who’s Back
Jeremiah Smith (Starter in 2025), Brandon Inniss (Starter in 2025), David Adolph (Second-String in 2025), Phillip Bell (Redshirt in 2025), De’Zie Jones (Redshirt in 2025)
Ohio State’s wide receiver room – and its entire offense, for that matter – will be built around Smith for the third year in a row. That’s a fantastic place to start for new Ohio State receivers coach Cortez Hankton, as Smith has already been a superstar for the past two years, catching 163 passes for 2,558 yards and 27 touchdowns. He has nothing to prove this spring; though the three-time Iron Buckeye will surely be looking to continue improving this spring, the top priority for No. 4 will be staying healthy and being fresh for the fall.
Inniss also returns as a starter and team captain from last season. He’s likely to remain the Buckeyes’ top slot receiver, but Ohio State will be looking for him to make a big jump in production after he caught just 36 passes for 271 yards and three touchdowns in 2025.
Adolph, who was used primarily as a blocker but caught three passes for 31 yards, is the only other returning receiver who played snaps of significance last year. Bell and Jones should be more ready to push for playing time in 2026, though, after redshirting as true freshmen last season.
Who’s New
Devin McCuin (Transfer), Kyle Parker (Transfer), Chris Henry Jr. (Freshman), Brock Boyd (Freshman), Jerquaden Guilford (Freshman), Jaeden Ricketts (Freshman)
Ohio State’s newcomers at receivers this spring include the No. 1 receiver in the 2026 recruiting class (Henry Jr.), another top-50 overall prospect from the new freshman class (Guilford) and two veteran transfers: McCuin (65 catches, 726 yards, eight touchdowns at UTSA in 2025) and Parker (31 catches, 330 yards, four touchdowns at LSU in 2025).
The Buckeyes’ third starting receiver for 2026 will almost certainly come from that group, and all four of them are expected to contend for playing time. All of them will have something to prove this spring, though, as Henry and Guilford start their college careers, McCuin makes the jump from the American Athletic Conference and Parker looks to prove he can be a consistent weapon.
Boyd and Ricketts will likely redshirt as freshmen, though they’ll look to show this spring that they are capable of making an early impact.
Who’s Gone
Carnell Tate (NFL Draft), Mylan Graham (Transfer), Quincy Porter (Transfer), Bryson Rodgers (Transfer), Bodpegn Miller (Transfer), Damarion Witten (Transfer)
Tate, a projected top-15 overall draft pick who caught 51 passes for 875 yards and nine touchdowns in just 11 games last season, leaves massive shoes to fill in the starting lineup opposite Smith.
Graham, Porter and Rodgers are also gone from last year’s two-deep. That leaves the Buckeyes with a lack of experienced depth and makes this spring crucial for Ohio State’s new receivers – and even returning backups like Bell and Jones – to build chemistry with Julian Sayin.
The Big Question
Will a second star emerge alongside Smith?
For the past six years, Ohio State had at least two superstars in its wide receiver room every year. Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson in 2020, joined by Jaxon Smith-Njigba in 2021. Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka in 2022 and 2023. Jeremiah Smith and Emeka Egbuka in 2024, with Carnell Tate emerging as a superstar following Egbuka’s departure last season.
Going into this spring, however, it’s unclear whether the Buckeyes will have a second star to pair with Smith. Henry certainly has the potential to become that, but this spring will give us a better idea of whether he can be that as a true freshman. Inniss is a former top-40 recruit who was expected to be a star for the Buckeyes by now, but he’ll have to make a big leap as a senior to live up to the standard set by the names in the paragraph above. McCuin has the speed to be a dynamic weapon, but it’s always hard to project how well a player will make the jump from the mid-major ranks to playing for one of the top teams in the country.
Former UTSA speedster Devin McCuin is among the receivers who will be competing for a starting job this spring. (Photo: Danny Wild – Imagn Images)
Having at least one other receiver who defenses must consistently account for is crucial for Ohio State to prevent teams from repeatedly double- and triple-teaming Smith. This spring should paint a clearer picture of who’s most capable of being that guy – or guys – for the Buckeyes this season.
Battle to Watch
Devin McCuin vs. Kyle Parker vs. Chris Henry Jr. vs. Jerquaden Guilford
As mentioned above, Ohio State’s third starting receiver will very likely be either a transfer or a true freshman. Four legitimate candidates for that spot all going through their first practices as Buckeyes should make for a fascinating position battle this spring.
McCuin and Parker were both brought in for the purpose of giving Ohio State veteran options at Z receiver, so they’ll likely get most of the first-team reps alongside Smith and Inniss to start the spring. But Henry and Guilford are both more than talented enough to prove they belong in that competition quickly.
Given that McCuin and Parker both had more yards and touchdowns than Inniss last season, it’s not out of the question that they could challenge Inniss for his job at slot receiver, too. But that job will be Inniss’ to lose, with the primary competition set to take place at Z receiver.
Overall Pre-Spring Outlook
Any wide receiver room that includes Jeremiah Smith is going to be one of the best in college football, but outside of Smith, Ohio State’s wide receiver room doesn’t stand out as the best in college football the way it did entering the last several seasons. A lack of impact players at the position behind Smith and Tate already hurt Ohio State’s offense last year, so it’s imperative that multiple receivers around Smith emerge as playmaking weapons for the Buckeyes this offseason.
That said, Henry has all the tools to be next in the long line of first-round picks to emerge from Ohio State’s wide receiver room. McCuin, who’s been timed at 4.37 seconds in the 40-yard dash, adds a level of speed that Ohio State didn’t have outside of Smith at wideout last season. Parker showed big-play ability last year at LSU and has the advantage of familiarity with Hankton, and Guilford enters college as an already-gifted route runner who soared up the recruiting rankings in his senior year for a reason.
If a couple of those receivers have big springs and Inniss takes the next step in his development, Ohio State’s receiving corps could be one of its biggest strengths once again.
