Ohio State’s Passing Game Has a Glaring Problem — And the Fix Has Been on the Roster All Along

Ohio State Can’t Keep Relying on Jeremiah Smith Alone

After a devastating loss to Texas, one thing has become impossible to ignore for Ohio State: the Buckeyes need real production from receivers not named Jeremiah Smith. And the most obvious candidate to solve that problem has been sitting on the roster the entire time — two-time captain and Block “O” recipient Brandon Inniss.

Just How Dependent Has Ohio State Become on Jeremiah Smith?

The numbers from the Texas loss make the imbalance impossible to spin. Julian Sayin threw for 278 yards in that game, but Smith alone accounted for 164 of them — nearly 60% of Ohio State’s entire passing production. Smith remains the most dangerous receiving threat in college football, but that level of dependence on a single player raises real questions about how sustainable Ohio State’s passing attack actually is once defenses start committing extra attention to him.

Ryan Day isn’t dodging the issue. “We gotta get that going, there’s no question,” Day said about getting receivers other than Smith more involved. “Between Devin, Brandon, Brock, Chris … we gotta get that going. This next month, we’ve got to build chemistry there.” Day made clear the concern extends beyond just the receiver room, too, saying he also wants to see more involvement from the tight ends and running backs, while noting he’s seen encouraging progress in practice since the Texas loss.

Why Brandon Inniss Has Been Surprisingly Quiet Through Two Games

Inniss has clear big-game credentials. In 2025, he caught 36 passes for 271 yards and three touchdowns, delivering in genuinely important moments — including a 4-yard touchdown catch from Sayin right before halftime in Ohio State’s 27-9 win over Michigan. He finished that season without a single drop, won 6 of 10 contested targets, and scored against Wisconsin, Rutgers, and Michigan. Still, his overall production trailed both Smith and Carnell Tate, leaving him in a clear third-option role.

With Tate now gone to the NFL, this season was supposed to be Inniss’s opportunity to step into a bigger role. During fall camp, he spoke openly about improving his speed, explosiveness, and overall versatility, expressing real confidence in his growth as a complete receiver. He even told a teammate that fans were going to see “something Buckeye Nation hasn’t seen before” from him this year.

That offseason optimism hasn’t yet shown up in the box score. Inniss caught three passes for 36 yards in Ohio State’s blowout win over Ball State, then managed just a single catch for 19 yards against Texas — hardly the workload of a team’s supposed No. 2 or No. 3 option.

Was Brandon Inniss Actually Losing His Job Before the Season Started?

Part of what makes Inniss’s slow start so notable is that it was reportedly a real possibility heading into the season. According to CBS Sports’ Brad Crawford, UTSA transfer Devin McCuin looked so sharp and confident during fall camp that one source indicated McCuin could actually be ahead of Inniss in the competition to become Sayin’s No. 2 target behind Smith — a significant development for a transfer who arrived without the five-star pedigree of some of his new teammates. Through two games, McCuin has validated some of that hype, recording seven receptions for 102 yards and a touchdown.

That competitive pressure isn’t necessarily a bad thing for Ohio State, even if it’s complicated things for Inniss individually. Those who know him best describe him as a fundamentally team-first player — his high school coach at American Heritage, Patrick Surtain Sr., once described Inniss as someone who cared more about winning than personal accolades, even while being recruited as a five-star, top-50 national prospect.

Is Yards After the Catch the Real Issue Holding Inniss Back?

One specific technical issue may be part of the explanation. Ohio State’s entire receiver room struggled to generate yards after the catch in 2025, averaging just 5.1 yards per reception after the ball was caught — the first time the Buckeyes were under six yards in that category since 2020, and the 15th-worst mark in the Power Four conferences, according to Pro Football Focus. Inniss himself averaged just 4.4 yards after the catch last season. New wide receivers coach Cortez Hankton has made fixing that a specific point of daily emphasis, with Inniss and Smith both leading a room-wide effort to be quicker and more decisive with the ball in their hands rather than dancing behind the line of scrimmage.

What Would It Take for Brandon Inniss to Have a Breakout Season?

Analysts who’ve studied Inniss’s game closely point to a familiar profile: reliable hands, sharp route running, and strong spatial awareness against zone coverage, paired with a physical, running-back-like mentality as a blocker that Ryan Day genuinely values. The concern, as one NFL Draft scouting profile put it, is that his career catch volume remains low and he’s never carried a truly featured workload — meaning there’s a real, unanswered question about whether his game holds up if his target share suddenly increases. His relatively modest size for the position could also allow more physical cornerbacks to reroute him and disrupt Ohio State’s timing.

Still, the opportunity is clearly there. As Land-Grant Holy Land put it heading into the season, Inniss has already proven his value as a steady third receiver and return specialist — but if he can hold off Ohio State’s talented younger receivers and produce when the offense calls his number, this could be the long-awaited breakout year that also boosts his NFL Draft stock.

Why Kent State Is the Perfect Opportunity to Get Brandon Inniss Going

Saturday’s matchup against Kent State gives Ohio State a low-pressure opportunity to address its passing-game imbalance before Big Ten play begins. Day has said he wants to get freshmen Chris Henry Jr. and Brock Boyd more involved as well, while continuing to build on McCuin’s early success. But getting Inniss more involved should be just as high a priority. With only four catches for 55 yards through two games, the veteran captain needs more opportunities to make an impact — both for his own season, and to give Ohio State the more balanced, less predictable passing attack it will need once conference play arrives.

Why This Matters for Ohio State’s Bigger Picture

Inniss himself has already spoken candidly about what’s at stake for this Ohio State team beyond just individual production. Reflecting on last season’s late collapses, he told ESPN that Ohio State’s failures in the fourth quarter against Miami and Indiana were the team’s own fault to own. Building a more balanced passing attack now — one that doesn’t live and die entirely on Jeremiah Smith’s targets v could be exactly the kind of fix that helps Ohio State close out tight games differently this time around. Whether Brandon Inniss becomes that difference-maker starts with what happens Saturday against Kent State.