4 months ago
- Ohio State
- Published: Jan. 06, 2026, 6:00 a.m.
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio State’s wide receiver room is entering a caller era, and 2 factors will determine whether Brian Hartline’s replacement tin proceed what’s been 1 of nan astir awesome runs ever seen.
There’s what Cortez Hankton tin do for nan Buckeyes. But besides what nan Buckeyes tin do for Cortez Hankton.
The erstwhile brings what mightiness beryllium an underrated resume that takes a small discourse to wholly understand what Ryan Day conscionable hired.
If you are worried astir Hankton’s expertise to enlistee astatine nan level astatine which Hartline spent nan past 7 years recruiting, don’t be." Not conscionable because what Hartline did was unrealistic for anybody to accomplish, but besides because Hankton’s way grounds suggests he mightiness conscionable beryllium nan man tin of gathering that unrealistic expectation.
This is simply a man who sewage five-star George Pickens to Georgia successful 2019 astatine a clip erstwhile his location school, Alabama, was besides producing elite receivers astatine a precocious clip. He primitively played a cardinal domiciled successful winning nan conflict for some Dakorien Moore and Bryce Underwood astatine LSU. Then nan business broadside sewage progressive arsenic Brian Kelly made it a constituent to make it known nan Tigers weren’t consenting to ever beryllium nan highest bidder. So Moore yet flipped to Oregon and Underwood stayed location astatine Michigan. Both were contiguous effect players.
He continued that occurrence by winning nan conflict for 2026 five-star Tristan Keys arsenic nan nation’s No. 11 subordinate and No. 2 wide receiver. Then again, nan business broadside sewage successful nan way, truthful Tennessee stole him away.
Ohio State isn’t inexpensive erstwhile it comes to its receivers — conscionable inquire its existent stars aliases its astir caller five-star signee, Chris Henry Jr. Hankton isn’t going to tally into nan problem of having nan business of assemblage shot beryllium nan logic he doesn’t adjacent nan woody connected a target anymore.
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Day has emphasized nan request for his assistants to beryllium top-notch evaluators, too. Yes, onshore nan nation’s champion players, but besides spell find a feline cipher is looking at. That’s what Jaxon Smith-Njigba was to Hartline early during nan 2020 cycle erstwhile he committed agelong earlier he was a five-star enlistee and now arguably nan NFL’s champion receiver. Well, Hankton’s done that too. Ladd McConkey was a three-star rated extracurricular nan apical 1,000 erstwhile Hankton made him a Bulldog. Now he’s astir apt nan Los Angeles Chargers’ champion receiving weapon.
The recruiting portion will return attraction of itself, truthful what astir nan developmental part?
Go inquire Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas Jr. what they deliberation of Hankton arsenic a developer. He’s nan feline who turned them into first-round draught picks while being nan passing coordinator astatine LSU successful 2023. You know, nan aforesaid twelvemonth Jayden Daniels won nan Heisman Trophy.
Hartline had nan nation’s champion receiver that twelvemonth successful Marvin Harrison Jr. Hankton had nan only feline who could look Harrison successful nan oculus successful Nabers.
That’s what Hanktons brings to nan table. He’s a erstwhile NFL wide receiver pinch a ton of power who tin quickly build relationships, fastener successful his guys connected nan recruiting trail, and move connected to nan adjacent class, wherever he’ll repetition that success. Along nan way, he’ll move immoderate of them into productive players pinch first-round upside.
Sound familiar?
Hartline’s occurrence is thing that should ne'er beryllium understated. But he besides sewage to do it astatine a programme tin of maximizing his expertise to perpetually win. That is what OSU tin do for Hankton. He’s coming to return complete what is arguably nan astir important room successful nan program, knowing that he’ll person each imaginable assets to thief him succeed.
Maybe location will ne'er beryllium personification who does what Hartline did. He recruited and churned retired talent astatine an unbelievable level while ne'er erstwhile needing to trust connected nan transportation portal. But that 1 adaptable mightiness extremity up being nan only quality betwixt nan two. More than likely, a transportation will beryllium among nan caller faces successful nan wide receiver room successful 2026.
It is not going to beryllium easy to switch Hartline, conscionable arsenic it won’t beryllium arsenic easy for Hartline to enlistee astatine South Florida astatine nan aforesaid level he did erstwhile he walked into precocious schools pinch a ‘Block O’ connected his shirt.
But Day astatine slightest recovered a feline whose resume suggests that if you springiness him each assets his successor had, a akin consequence isn’t retired of nan question.
Among those resources is getting to coach nan eventual shape of Jeremiah Smith, nan assemblage shot player. Not a bad measurement to get things started.
“We’re excited to invited Cortez and his family to Ohio State,” Day said successful a statement. ”His acquisition recruiting and processing immoderate of nan champion wide receiver talent successful nan state speaks for itself. I deliberation he is going to merge into our program’s civilization and values, which are astatine nan halfway of who we are, very well.”
Stephen Means covers Ohio State shot for Cleveland.com while besides serving arsenic nan big of nan Buckeye Talk podcast. Prior to covering nan Buckeyes, he sewage acquisition moving astatine nan Akron Beacon Journal...
