Players to Watch: Chris Henry Jr. isn’t Ohio State’s only standout freshman receiver
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There isn’t much room in the spotlight of Ohio State’s wide receiver room right now with Jeremiah Smith entering his final season of college football.
A National Champion in 2024 and a Consensus All-American in 2025, Smith has been far and away the best receiver (and maybe player) in college football for two years running. He enters his last year in Columbus with very little left to prove, and he will be in the conversation for the top overall selection in the 2027 NFL Draft.
There is even less room in that spotlight with the addition of five-star freshman Chris Henry Jr., a 6-foot-5 pass-catcher expected to play a major role in Ohio State’s offense opposite Smith at wide receiver.
But Henry Jr. isn’t the only talented freshman looking to make a name for himself with the Buckeyes in 2026.
Henry Jr. also wasn’t the only wide receiver in the 2026 class with some late drama in the recruiting process, as fellow freshman Jerquaden Guilford was a highly sought after commodity in his own right.
Former position coach Brian Hartline identified Guilford as a special talent early in the process. When the Indiana native committed to Ohio State on July 18, 2025, he ranked as the No. 50 WR and No. 315 player nationally.
Fast forward to the end of the 2026 cycle, and Guilford finished as the No. 5 WR and a top-50 player overall, even earning five-star status on Rivals. It was another huge victory for Hartline on the recruiting trail, but it wasn’t a straight line from start to finish.
Guilford originally committed to Penn State back in December of 2024, but de-committed by the following February. It was then Ohio State who beat out Ole Miss, Indiana and Michigan to earn Guilford’s commitment that Summer, with the Rebels as the Buckeyes’ biggest competition.
Hartline’s decision to take over as head coach as USF then sent shockwaves through the recruiting world. Ohio State lost five-star wide receiver Kayden Dixon-Wyatt to USC on Signing Day, and there were rumors both Henry Jr. and Guilford could also be on the way out.
While everyone was busy freaking out about the possibility of Henry Jr. flipping to Oregon, Lane Kiffin (having since switched from Ole Miss to LSU) was making a huge push to snag Guilford. Ultimately, Ohio State was able to keep Guilford in the class, and he now enters his freshman campaign in Columbus looking to make an impact in year one.
Guilford shed his black stripe on Aug. 26, and has been making a name for himself during preseason camp. The same guy who put up over 1,000 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns in a breakout senior season at the prep level has come to Columbus looking like a player who could potentially make an instant impact in a crowded position group.
At 6-foot-3, Guilford gives Sayin another big-bodied target alongside Smith (6-foot-3) and Henry Jr. (6-foot-5). His combination of a quick first step, exceptional route running and the ability to win the 5o-50 ball have drawn him comparisons to Carnell Tate, and if the freshman can be anything like the recent top-5 pick, Ohio State will have another star on its hands.
The standout first-year wide receivers don’t end there, though, as Brock Boyd would like to enter his hat in the ring as yet another future stud looking to crack the two-deep right away.
Unlike Guilford, Boyd is not your typical Ohio State five-star wide receiver prospect, but he is yet another guy Hartline locked in on and identified very early in the process.
Going out of his way to flip Boyd from TCU, where he had been committed since July of 2024, Hartline offered the Texas native in January the following year. Come April, Boyd flipped his commitment from the Horned Frogs to the Buckeyes.
Boyd finished the recruiting process as the No. 53 receiver in the country per Rivals, but you’d never know it based on his high school stats and his preseason camp performance.
The 6-foot-1 pass-catcher attended Southlake Carroll, a perennial power prep program at the highest level of Texas high school football and the same school that produced former Ohio State quarterback Quinn Ewers. After posting 75 catches for more than 1,100 yards and 15 touchdowns as a senior, Boyd broke a 20-year standing record for all-time career receiving yards.
Boyd has carried that momentum into his first offseason at Ohio State, where despite almost every other receiver on the roster coming in with more pedigree than the three-star prospect, he has been turning heads almost daily.
“What Boyd has shown in his short time with Ohio State is that he’s a bad dude in his own right. Boyd is fearless on the field and catches everything thrown his way.” said Jeremy Birmingham of On3.
“He’s got elite short-area quickness and has actually drawn some comparisons to Jaxon Smith-Njigba in that way. Obviously Boyd has a long way to go in order to make the impact JSN did in his short time with the Buckeyes but he’s making it quite clear to anyone watching that he’s no afterthought to anyone inside the WHAC and shouldn’t be viewed as one for anyone outside of it, either.”
This is a super deep receiving room for the Buckeyes, headlined by Smith but without a clear pecking order behind him. Guys like Henry Jr., Brandon Inniss and UTSA transfer Devin McCuin are expected to see the bulk of the reps behind Smith, but none of that is set in stone.
If preseason camp is any indication, be prepared to see both Guilford and Boyd making plays for Ohio State in 2026.
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