Ohio State to hold moment of silence for Nick Mangold, Bob Maggs
Ryan Day expressed his sympathies to the families of Nick Mangold and Bob Maggs and said they will pause to honor them before the Penn State kickoff.
Ohio State football is Wide Receiver U.
It is becoming increasingly hard to argue the Buckeyes don’t have that distinction, having produced five first-round receivers in the NFL draft over the last four seasons. With Jaxon Smith-Njigba’s breakout season with the Seattle Seahawks and Emeka Egbuka’s strong rookie campaign, the case is growing for Brian Hartline’s position group.
Despite what the program has sent to the NFL in recent seasons, the cupboard still isn’t bare, as Carnell Tate and Jeremiah Smith are among the best wide receivers in college football in 2025. The duo has combined for 83 receptions for 1,189 yards and 13 touchdowns.
“The numbers are the numbers,” Garrett Wilson said in an interview with the Player’s Tribune in June. “We’ve had 12 first-round picks out of that receiver room. Men lie, women lie, but the numbers don’t.”
Here’s what you need to know about Ohio State’s wide receiver factory:
Carnell Tate, Jeremiah Smith stats 2025
Here’s a look at how Tate and Smith have performed for the Buckeyes this season:
Jeremiah Smith, sophomore: 49 receptions for 602 yards and seven touchdownsCarnell Tate, junior: 34 receptions for 587 yards and five touchdownsOhio State consensus All-America WRs
Marvin Harrison Jr. was a consensus All-American wide receiver in 2022 and 2023. He was the only player in Ohio State football history to garner that honor, until Smith joined him in that group during the 2024 season as a freshman.
Ohio State football first-round receivers in NFL draft
The Buckeyes have had five first-round picks at receiver over the past four drafts.
Emeka Egbuka was the most recent first-round selection, going 19th overall to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2025. Marvin Harrison Jr. went fourth overall in 2024, while Garrett Wilson (No. 10) and Chris Olave (No. 11) were selected in the 2022 NFL Draft in back-to-back picks.
“Most guys want to go and be the guy,” Wilson told ESPN in August 2024. “At Ohio State, it’s like, no, no, no, come here and learn for a little bit and put in the work and learn how to practice, learn how to go about your business, and it will all pay off on the back end.”
“To go to Ohio State, you’ve got to know there’s going to be two five-stars in the room at all times,” Smith-Njigba told ESPN in the same interview. “You can’t be scared to compete. And I knew that if I could line up next to those guys [Wilson and Olave], be in the room with those guys, that I would be better.”
In 1995, Joey Galloway became the first Ohio State receiver selected in the first round. Since then, 11 more receivers have gone in the first round, includes five over the last three draft cycles.
Tate (2026) and Smith (2027) are two more prospects who could go in the first round over the next two seasons. Here’s a look at Ohio State’s first-round receivers:
1995, Pick 8:Â Joey Galloway, Seattle Seahawks1996, Pick 7:Â Terry Glenn, New England Patriots1999, Pick 8:Â David Boston, Arizona Cardinals2004, Pick 29:Â Michael Jenkins, Atlanta Falcons2006, Pick 25:Â Santonio Holmes, Pittsburgh Steelers2007, Pick 10:Â Ted Ginn Jr., Miami Dolphins2007, Pick 32:Â Anthony Gonzalez, Indianapolis Colts2022, Pick 11:Â Chris Olave, New Orleans Saints2022, Pick 10:Â Garrett Wilson, New York Jets2023, Pick:Â Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Seattle Seahawks2024, Pick:Â Marvin Harrison Jr., Arizona Cardinals2025, Pick 19: Emeka Egbuka, Tampa Bay BuccaneersOhio State wide receivers in the NFL
Through eight weeks in the 2025 NFL season, Smith-Njigba leads the NFL with 819 yards, while rookie Egbuka is seventh with 562 yards and Olave is 13th with 503 yards. Olave is second in the NFL in targets with 83, while Smith-Nijigba is tied for fourth with Keenan Allen with 70.
According to Ourlads.com, nine former Ohio State receivers are on NFL rosters for the 2025 season:
Curtis Samuel, Buffalo Bills (2014-16)Parris Campbell, Philadelphia Eagles (2014-18)Noah Brown, Washington Commanders (2014-16)Terry McLaurin, Washington Commanders (2014-18)Chris Olave, New Orleans Saints (2018-21)Garrett Wilson, New York Jets (2019-21)Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Seattle Seahawks (2020-22)Marvin Harrison Jr., Arizona Cardinals (2021-23)Emeka Egbuka, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2021-24)
Other notable wide receivers from Ohio State to play in the NFL include: K.J. Hill (2015-19), Devin Smith (2011-14), Santonio Holmes (2003-05), Michael Jenkins (2001-03), David Boston (1996-98), Joey Galloway (1991-94), Terry Glenn (1993-95) and Cris Carter (1984-86), among others.
Top Ohio State wide receiver recruits
Hartline could be a candidate for some big-time coaching roles down the road. The former NFL receiver played a large role in helping the Buckeyes land Smith in the 2024 recruiting class, holding off late runs from in-state schools Florida, Florida State and Miami.
According to 247 Sports, Hartline has been credited with recruiting 10 5-star and 23 4-star recruits to Ohio State. That list also includes quarterbacks CJ Stroud, Kyle McCord and Air Noland.
Here are some of his notable top recruitments at WR:
Jeremiah Smith: No. 1 overall player, No. 1 WR in 2024 class, 5-starJulian Fleming: No. 3 overall player, No. 1 WR in 2020 class (transferred to Penn State), 5-starJamier Brown: No. 5 overall player, No. 1 WR in 2027 class, 5-starEmeka Egbuka: No. 10 overall player, No. 1 WR in 2021 class, 5-starChris Henry Jr.: No. 19 overall player, No. 2 WR in 2026 class, 5-starQuincy Porter: 23 overall player, No. 5 WR in 2025 class, 5-starJaxon Smith-Njigba: No. 29 overall player, No. 5 WR in 2020 class, 5-starMylan Graham: No. 33 overall player, No. 7 WR in 2024 class, 5-starBrandon Inniss: No. 38 overall player, No. 5 WR in 2023 class, 5-starCarnell Tate: No. 58 overall player, No. 9 WR in in 2023 class, 4-starJameson Williams: No. 82 overall player, No. 13 WR in 2019, 4-starMarvin Harrison Jr.: No. 97 overall player, No. 14 WR in 2021, 4-star