Brian Hartline is gone from Ohio State, but he left behind one final stud-lined class of wide receivers.
Five-star Chris Henry Jr. is the headliner and could work his way into the Buckeyes’ starting lineup in 2026, but two of his classmates are also making waves this spring: Top-50 prospect Jerquaden Guilford and Brock Boyd, whose buzz is far exceeding his three-star rating.
“It's fun to watch them,” Ryan Day said of the freshman trio after the first day of spring practice. “They flashed. They didn't quite know what they were doing all day today, but they were working at it. Chris hit a big post. Quay hit an over (route). Brock had a couple of nice plays. All those guys have bright futures here, all three of them, in different ways.”
Ohio State held off a late push from a slew of suitors to land Henry after Hartline accepted his new head coaching position at South Florida.
The 6-foot-5 son of late former Cincinnati Bengal receiver Chris Henry set a school record as a sophomore at Cincinnati’s Withrow High School in 2023, racking up 1,127 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns on 71 receptions. In eight games as a senior at powerhouse Mater Dei High School in California, he collected 28 receptions for 607 yards and six touchdowns in just eight games. He dominated the recruiting camp circuit throughout his prep career.
Jeremiah Smith, who requires no introduction at this point, knows a thing or two about being a freshman phenom. He sees traces of himself in Henry, who he sees as the “next one up” in the Buckeyes’ great receiver lore. Even in their personalities.
“I thought I'd never meet somebody that's more quiet than me,” Smith said with a laugh on Saturday. “Chris is quiet, he's so laid back, so chill, got that Cali vibe in him. But Chris is another one, just came in, kept his head down, just working. He's the next one up.”
Henry’s path to a first-year starting job isn’t as clear-cut as Smith’s was back in 2024, but the road still exists. Smith is back to start at the Buckeyes’ X receiver position, with Brandon Inniss starting in the slot. That leaves Henry in a battle to be the starting Z. UTSA transfer Devin McCuin, who hauled in 65 receptions for 726 yards and eight touchdowns for the Roadrunners last season, and LSU transfer Kyle Parker, who was one of the first two players to lose his black stripe this spring, are his main competitors for that job.
“Talented, but he's young,” new Ohio State wide receivers coach Cortez Hankton said of Henry. “Like all of the young guys, they have a lot to learn, but he's done a good job. And just trying to get him to truly play at a high level with urgency and playing fast, but he's so efficient and smooth, and he has the length and ball skills. And he's an extremely talented young man. But he still has to improve every single day.”
Still, there have been flashes from Henry.
“He's been great so far,” quarterback Julian Sayin said of Henry. “As a freshman, he's been making great plays. I'm excited about him.”
That hasn’t overshadowed the play of Guilford or Boyd this spring, however. Guilford enters with ample momentum from the recruiting trail, where he leapt from the No. 507 prospect in the 247Sports composite rankings on May 15 to the nation’s No. 44 prospect by the time the final batch of rankings were released on Feb. 2. His senior season at Northrop High School in Fort Wayne, Indiana matched that billing, as he racked up 54 receptions for 1,073 yards and 14 touchdowns.
“Both of them guys, they’re gonna be very special,” Smith said of Guilford and Boyd. “Those guys just came in, keeping their head down, just working. You're gonna see a lot of them. They're gonna get in the field a lot this year.”
If I told you that there was a receiver out there who amassed 3,353 total receiving yards in his final two seasons playing elite competition in Texas and posted a blazing time of 21.77 seconds in the 200-meter dash as a high school junior, would you expect that player to be ranked 729th in the 247Sports composite? The player described is Boyd, and that is, in fact, where he was ranked.
Hartline’s evaluation might be worth trusting over the recruiting services here. That seems to be the case from the praise Boyd is getting inside the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.
“He's made plays when his number has been called,” Hankton said. “What makes Brock truly a good football player is his football IQ, first and foremost. As a young guy, he's truly instinctive, and he understands conceptual football. You can tell that he comes from a (football) family. His dad is a high school football coach, and so he comes from a family where they live, eat and breathe football. And so he understands the game like he's a three-year college student, like he's been here a while.”
The revolving door of talent at the wide receiver position is continuing for Ohio State. It’s great depth for now, and firepower for the future.
“It's good to see a group that has so much talent, right? And from top to bottom,” Hankton said. “I think the freshmen have done a really good job of coming in, buying into the culture and coming out and also putting their skill sets on display.”
