Ohio State struggled to gain yards after catch in 2025, but it's been a priority – with current players, the additions in the portal and on the coaching staff – heading into this season.
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Ohio State’s Passing Game Had a YAC Problem in 2025 – And Fixing It Could Define the Buckeyes’ Offense in 2026
For the first time in the transfer portal era, Ohio State added a wide receiver from the transfer portal – two, to be exact. It also added a new wide receivers coach and offensive coordinator.
Part of that was due to the attrition that happens in today's college football landscape, but Brian Hartline taking his talents to South Florida also played a part. However, another reason is that Ohio State needs to have a more explosive passing attack, one that generates more yards after the catch.
In 2025, Ohio State had 3,755 receiving yards as a team. Only 1,595 of those yards came after the catch (5.1 YAC/reception), per Pro Football Focus. The Buckeyes were the 15th-worst Power Four team in that category. After averaging 5.2 YAC/REC during an undefeated regular season, OSU averaged only 4.7 YAC/REC in its two postseason losses (4.0 vs. Indiana and 5.3 vs. Miami).
It's the worst OSU has been in that category throughout an entire season since 2020, when it averaged 4.5 yards after catch per reception.
Only five Buckeyes had more than 100 yards after catch last season, led by Jeremiah Smith, whose 378 YAC were tied for the 50th-most in the country. While 10 Ohio State players averaged more than 5.0 YAC/REC, only two of those players had more than 100 yards after catch, and none were a wide receiver who had more than six receptions.
The Buckeyes had two of the best receivers in the country (a top-four pick in the 2025 NFL draft and arguably the best player in college football in both 2025 and 2026), yet Ohio State’s pass-catchers didn’t make many game-changing plays after the catch.
Top Five Buckeyes in Yards After Catch in 2025
| JEREMIAH SMITH |
378 (4.3) |
| CARNELL TATE |
231 (4.5) |
| MAX KLARE |
224 (5.2) |
| BO JACKSON |
196 (10.3) |
| BRANDON INNISS |
158 (4.4) |
For comparison's sake, Indiana and Miami – the only two teams to beat Ohio State last season and the national championship matchup – had 1,712 yards after catch (5.9 YAC/REC) and 2,384 yards after catch (6.7 YAC/REC), respectively. Malachi Toney led the country in the statistic, with 841 (7.7 YAC/REC).
"It's something that's definitely an emphasis point," Day said. "I think we've been solid at it, but I certainly think we can get better."
Smith agreed. After he had 491 yards after catch (6.5 YAC/REC) as a freshman in 2024, those numbers dropped to 378 and 4.3 in 2025. However, it was a problem for the entire group, not just for the star wide receiver.
"We really had no guys that had juice when they had the ball in their hands," Smith said in the spring. “I am always trying to find ways to get better. This offseason to really try to advance my IQ of the game, be better at yards after the catch. That really is the biggest emphasis in our wide receiver room this year, especially a goal for us.”
Given its importance for Ohio State’s passing attack to take another step and reach its full potential, the Buckeyes have been focused on improving in making plays after the catch since the beginning of the offseason. Hiring Cortez Hankton to replace Hartline was the first step in doing so. A college wide receivers coach since 2012, Hankton has a proven track record of developing receivers who gain yards after the catch.
YAC/REC of Teams with Cortez Hankton as WRs Coach Over the Last Five Years
| LSU (2025) |
5.9 |
| LSU (2024) |
6.2 |
| LSU (2023) |
7.1 |
| LSU (2022) |
5.4 |
| GEORGIA (2021) |
7.1 |
"It's a part of my personality, just in terms of who I am and what I've coached over a number of years," Hankton said in March. "And it was something I felt like we could improve on. And so when I came in, Coach ironically said, 'Hey, this is an area where I could feel like we can improve.' And so I felt like it was right in my wheelhouse."
Ohio State's wide receivers have taken notice since Hankton came to Columbus in January.
"Just making guys miss. That's really it. Running through a soft shoulder," Smith said of how Hankton has coached him to gain more yards after catch. "Coach Hankton does a good job of showing me clips and stuff like that about how to run through a soft shoulder and making guys miss. I feel like that's something y'all gonna see from me a lot this year."
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