2024 spring practices started for Ohio State this week, but there is still time to start looking towards 2025 and on Wednesday afternoon, Buckeye fans started to get their hopes up.
Ohio State Is Looking To Make A Splash At Receiver In 2025
Steve Wiltfong from 247sports.com crystal balled 2025 four-star wide receiver Jaime Ffrench to the Buckeyes over Alabama, where Ffrench was committed until head coach Nick Saban retired in January, leading Ffrench to decommit.
Ffrench is from Jacksonville, Florida, and in addition to Ohio State and Alabama, teams like Texas, Miami, FL, and Florida State are all interested in his services.
According to 247sports.com, Ffrench is the 30th overall prospect in the 2025 class and is ranked fourth among all wide receivers.
Ohio State is known as the best college for a receiver to develop at, and if Ffrench does commit to the Buckeyes, he will be entering a program with giant shoes to fill.
Buckeye Receivers Are All Over Round One
The Buckeyes have had a first-round receiver in the past two NFL Drafts and will have one in the first five picks when Marvin Harrison Jr. is drafted this April.
In 2022, the New York Jets took Buckeye receiver Garrett Wilson with the tenth pick, and then a pick later, his teammate Chris Olave went to the New Orleans Saints.
Last year, the Seattle Seahawks took Jaxon-Smith-Njigba with the 20th pick, which shows all the excellent work current receiving coach Brian Hartline has done since joining the Ohio State coaching staff in 2017.
Ohio State is bringing back senior receiver Emeka Egbuka, who would’ve been a fringe first-rounder or at least a second-rounder in this year’s draft and will most likely be a first-rounder in 2025.
The Buckeyes also brought in the number one receiver and player in the 2024 class Jeremiah Smith, so the receiving room will be intense for many seasons.
Every year, college football fans know the Buckeyes will be trotting out the best and, if not the best, one of the country’s top five receiving rooms, and many current high school recruits have noticed this and want to play their college football there.
Ohio State’s New Alabama Connection
The Ohio State receiving room is one of the most challenging rooms in the country to break into. A few years ago, we saw Jameson Williams leave Ohio State because he would be a third or fourth receiver in the room and head to Alabama. He became the number one option on a team that lost to Georgia in the National Championship game. A year after transferring from Ohio State, Williams was a first-round pick in the NFL Draft.
We have seen a handful of Alabama players transfer or decommit from the program after Saban retired, and the Buckeyes were able to grab safety Caleb Downs and quarterback Julian Sayin from the portal and now could be landing another former Crimson Tide commit in Ffrench.
Ffrench still has yet to commit anywhere, but being crystal balled to a program by 247sports.com indicates where the player might be heading.