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Greatest Buckeye Receiver

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Greatest Buckeye Receiver

  • David Boston

    Votes: 32 24.4%

  • Cris Carter

    Votes: 59 45.0%

  • Joey Galloway

    Votes: 7 5.3%

  • Terry Glenn

    Votes: 15 11.5%

  • Santonio Homes

    Votes: 5 3.8%

  • Michael Jenkins

    Votes: 8 6.1%

  • Other

    Votes: 5 3.8%
  • Total voters
    131
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Cannot argue with MHjr's picks. Had forgotten about Boston, and Glenn. Got my own picks, but they cannot stand the test of time over their tOSU careers. If it's a 'WR for the game' type of thing, would offer up others, as well as others for 'WR who beat tsun' - which resonates with me the most. Glenn is having probably the best pro career, and am betting Olave does as well (not to mention Garrett Wilson), and heck, all Chris Carter did was 'catch touchdowns' (pun intended). Was in the Rose Bowl when Boston caught and backed into the end zone to beat ASU. Just idle musings on a Tuesday.
 
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ScriptOhio said:
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If ranking top five, mine would go:

1. Chris Carter (production speaks for itself)
2. Ted Ginn Jr. (regardless of statistics, so fun to watch and add in his kick/punt return skills)
3. Chris Olave (you could argue he is #1 based on longevity, production and being the king of killing Skunk Weasels)
4. Terry Glenn (nothing needs to be said there, all-time great)
5. Anthony Gonzalez (could easily put Boston, Jenkins, Holmes, Galloway or Devin Smith here imo)
 
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RB07OSU said:
If ranking top five, mine would go:

1. Chris Carter (production speaks for itself)
2. Ted Ginn Jr. (regardless of statistics, so fun to watch and add in his kick/punt return skills)
3. Chris Olave (you could argue he is #1 based on longevity, production and being the king of killing Skunk Weasels)
4. Terry Glenn (nothing needs to be said there, all-time great)
5. Anthony Gonzalez (could easily put Boston, Jenkins, Holmes, Galloway or Devin Smith here imo)
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10 solid names.

And the fact that this doesn’t include Garrett Wilson, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, or Marvin Harrison, Jr. shows there’s no recency bias.
 
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BB73 said:
10 solid names.

And the fact that this doesn’t include Garrett Wilson, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, or Marvin Harrison, Jr. shows there’s no recency bias.
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I thought long and hard to try and avoid the recency bias as a 35 year old. I thought to bring up Wilson because he is going to have an incredible NFL career imo, but the longevity wasn't there. JSN falls in the remotely same boat because he pretty much didn't play his last year.

Now MH Jr....he may very well be at the top of this list come February, but he has to go earn it with his last season here. I have no doubts that he will (presuming good health) and he has worked so damn hard to be that guy, but longevity/production is crucial to me (especially after JSN). I might have bumped Ginn up a bit on excitement value, but he did produce for awhile and at a high level. Gotta string 3 years together to get on a list of the best WRs in Columbus.
 
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BB73 said:
10 solid names.

And the fact that this doesn’t include Garrett Wilson, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, or Marvin Harrison, Jr. shows there’s no recency bias.
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Just sayin': I'd add Gary Williams (1979 - 1982) to that list.

(From a 2019 article) Many Ohio State fans won’t remember Gary Williams because he played a little before their time. His stats shout out from a time in which the spread and passing game evolution had yet to really take off though. He was the favorite target during the early years of the Earle Bruce tenure.

Williams is still on the record books at Ohio State as 3rd in career receiving yards (2,792), receptions (154), and per-catch average (18.1). He still holds the record for most games in a row with a catch with 48-straight. It would be interesting to see what he would do in today’s day and age.
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www.landgrantholyland.com

Where does Marvin Harrison Jr. fall in the pantheon of Ohio State wide receivers?

Is Marv the best receiver in Ohio State history?
www.landgrantholyland.com www.landgrantholyland.com

Where does Marvin Harrison Jr. fall in the pantheon of Ohio State wide receivers?​

Is Marv the best receiver in Ohio State history?

While it was to be expected, on Tuesday, it was essentially confirmed that Marvin Harrison Jr. has played his final game in the scarlet and gray. The media assembled in Texas for this week’s Cotton Bowl reported that the reigning Biletnikoff Award winner was at Ohio State’s practice, but not participating in any meaningful way, making it as close to confirmed as possible, that he will not be playing for the Buckeyes on Friday or in 2024.

Though neither the team nor the player has made an official announcement, it seems self-evident at this point that Harrison will forgo his remaining collegiate eligibility to enter the NFL Draft. With $30+ million in guaranteed money waiting for him once he hears his name called this April, no one can fault Marv for seizing the moment and following in his father’s footsteps by heading to the NFL.

But now that his Ohio State career is almost certainly finished, and we still have a few days until the Buckeyes kick off against the Missouri Tigers, I thought it would be worth doing a little cursory examination of where Maserati Marv stands in the pantheon of great Ohio State wide receivers.

Looking back at Buckeye history as a whole, there have been waves of great OSU pass-catchers, ebbing and flowing with the varying offensive approaches employed by various head coaches with crests during the times of Earl Bruce, John Cooper, and now Ryan Day. Harrison is certainly a high-water mark in this proud tradition, but is he “The” high-water mark?

I went back and pulled the stats on 18 of the best wide receivers in program history, and while this list is far from exhaustive, I think that it does a decent job of highlighting the rise in talent at the position over the years while still recognizing the greats of generations past who paved the way for players like Marv in Columbus.

It is impossible to account for the differences in eras of college football, both in terms of offensive and defensive styles, but also rules, season-length, redshirt rules, etc., so this is a fairly crude way of making comparisons, but I think it serves a purpose. I also went with the total number of games played for simplicity’s sake and didn’t factor out games in which the players only appeared on special teams or only saw the field in mop-up duty, but that would certainly impact the final results.

While Harrison does not rank No. 1 in any of the categories included, he is the most consistent WR amongst the group. And while these benchmarks are fairly arbitrary, he is the only player to end his career with more than 16 yards per reception, 65 yards per game, a touchdown in every five catches, and 0.75 touchdowns per game. Only Cris Carter and Chris Olave were able to check off three of those categories and there were five Buckeye legends who did not achieve any of them.

Ohio State Wide Receiver Statistics​

Player Games Receptions Yards TDs Yards Per Reception Yards Per Game TDs Per Reception TDs Per Game
Brian Hartline 38 90 1429 12 15.88 37.61 0.13 0.32
Chris Olave 40 176 2711 35 15.40 67.78 0.20 0.88
Cris Carter 34 150 2421 26 16.14 71.21 0.17 0.76
David Boston 34 173 2690 32 15.55 79.12 0.18 0.94
Devin Smith 53 121 2503 30 20.69 47.23 0.25 0.57
Emeka Egbuka 32 118 1794 14 15.20 56.06 0.12 0.44
Garrett Wilson 33 143 2213 23 15.48 67.06 0.16 0.70
Jaxon Smith-Njigba 23 110 1698 10 15.44 73.83 0.09 0.43
Joey Galloway 43 92 1641 17 17.84 38.16 0.18 0.40
K.J. Hill 50 201 2332 20 11.60 46.64 0.10 0.40
Marvin Harrison Jr. 38 155 2613 31 16.86 68.76 0.20 0.82
Michael Jenkins 38 157 2746 16 17.49 72.26 0.10 0.42
Michael Thomas 39 113 1602 18 14.18 41.08 0.16 0.46
Parris Campbell 43 143 1768 15 12.36 41.12 0.10 0.35
Santonio Holmes 36 140 2295 25 16.39 63.75 0.18 0.69
Tedd Ginn Jr. 37 135 1943 15 14.39 52.51 0.11 0.41
Terry Glenn 29 72 1582 17 21.97 54.55 0.24 0.59
Terry McLaurin 44 75 1251 19 16.68 28.43 0.25 0.43
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I think, of course, MHJr is #1. It's a helluva list and I guess arguments could be made for a few others, but I've seen them all and think #1 is clear. What I think is most interesting about this list and I love it is the #1 name on the list. I love that Hartline is legitimately on the list and I imagine his guys love it. He and they all have to love when they move past him for yards and TDs. He was a better than good, but not great receiver, but I don't think there can be any doubt that he's an elite coach and maybe the goat for receivers coaches.
 
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So many ways to interpret this…stats, longevity, physicality, total play (blocking, etc.). Stats are fun too, I don’t know that anyone off the top of their head would have said the leaders in TD/REC were Devin Smith and McLaurin. But if you look at TD/game it’s Boston and Olave. Yards per game is also Boston.

Bottom line for me is that we had a physically dominant WR who had a knack for finding the end zone. And yes, he was on the really wrong end of one game against Woodson, but in that era with all of those great players he stood out more perhaps than anyone other than OP (who was in a galaxy of his own). Give me Boston.
 
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Bucklion said:
So many ways to interpret this…stats, longevity, physicality, total play (blocking, etc.). Stats are fun too, I don’t know that anyone off the top of their head would have said the leaders in TD/REC were Devin Smith and McLaurin. But if you look at TD/game it’s Boston and Olave. Yards per game is also Boston.

Bottom line for me is that we had a physically dominant WR who had a knack for finding the end zone. And yes, he was on the really wrong end of one game against Woodson, but in that era with all of those great players he stood out more perhaps than anyone other than OP (who was in a galaxy of his own). Give me Boston.
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I'm with you! Boston was one of the best OSU WRs I've ever seen in person. I'd have Boston and MHjr as the 2 best in my book, with Boston edging him by virtue of not having quality QB play(Germaine and Jackson couldn't hold a candle to Stroud or even McCord, tbh). And he put up stats in a run heavy scheme. MHjr has the pleasure of working in a spread system that emphasizes passing.
 
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