Ohio State could be without two of its top wide receivers Saturday, and the next two names on the depth chart are already the ones Ryan Day has been talking about.
Brandon Inniss and Devin McCuin were listed as questionable on the Buckeyes’ initial availability report for Saturday’s homecoming game against Maryland. The report, released Wednesday night, does not specify the nature of either injury. If either or both are limited or unavailable, true freshmen Brock Boyd and Chris Henry Jr. are in line for the biggest roles of their careers, possibly including their first starts, alongside Jeremiah Smith.
Ohio State (4-1, 2-0 Big Ten) hosts Maryland (2-3, 0-2) at 4:15 p.m. ET on Big Ten Network. The Terrapins have lost three straight.
McCuin and Inniss are the Buckeyes’ leading receivers behind Smith through five games. McCuin has 17 catches for 245 yards and two touchdowns. Inniss has 10 receptions for 147 yards and one score. Inniss returned last week at Iowa and finished with two catches for 14 yards.
Smith remains the constant. He has 44 receptions this season, well clear of McCuin, and recently passed Ohio State’s career marks for receptions and receiving touchdowns. The concern is everything around him.
Boyd and Henry have been the first receivers off the bench all season. Henry, a five-star early enrollee and the son of the late Bengals receiver Chris Henry, has three catches for 105 yards and two touchdowns, including a 75-yard score. Boyd, the third-fastest freshman in program history to shed his black stripe, has six catches for 110 yards.
According to Pro Football Focus, Henry has played 122 snaps, third among Ohio State receivers behind Smith (233) and McCuin (190). Boyd is fifth with 111 snaps, just behind Inniss (121). Most of the time the two freshmen have been on the field together, it has been a run play. On passing downs, the ball has usually found Smith.
Day said Wednesday he expects that to change.
“They’re playing with confidence,” Day said. “I could see them getting more and more opportunities in the passing game. When you run routes and you get open on film, the ball just finds a way to get to you. I think it’s going to happen.”
Eleven Warriors reported that if McCuin and/or Inniss cannot play, Boyd and Henry could make their first career starts next to Smith. The Columbus Dispatch also reported that LSU transfer Kyle Parker is expected to make his season debut this week, giving the room another option if the veterans are limited.
The rest of the availability report is mixed. Right tackle Phillip Daniels, who has missed three straight games, is questionable, as are defensive end Khary Wilder, linebacker Braxton Rembert and running back Anthony “Turbo” Rogers. Safety Leroy Roker III, wide receiver Amari Valerio-Hudson and offensive linemen Jaxon Powell and Vasean Washington are out. Nickel Jay Timmons, a game-time decision last week at Iowa, was left off the report and is expected to play.
Questionable is not out. Inniss and McCuin could still suit up Saturday, and Ohio State has not said how either would be managed if they do. What the report does make clear is that the next wave is no longer a depth-chart footnote.
Day has said for weeks that Boyd and Henry would become major pieces in Big Ten play. Maryland, winless in conference and on a three-game skid, is the first real test of whether that timeline just moved up.
