Ryan Day: Dwayne Haskins' Ohio State receivers are 'crushed'

Dwayne Haskins was a special type of quarterback who put together a standout career at Ohio State. Because of how successful he was at playing his position and the way he treated his teammates, he made everyone around him better – especially the wide receivers he threw to over the years, and that’s why the news of his sudden passing has really affected his past Buckeyes’ teammates and coaches.

While Haskins – who finished his Ohio State career with 5,396 passing yards, 54 touchdowns and nine interceptions – had the chance to play with some high-caliber wide receivers such as Parris Campbell, Terry McLaurin, Johnnie Dixon, K.J. Hill, Austin Mack and Binjimen Victor, he helped make them all better players.

Meeting with the media on Monday, Ohio State head coach Ryan Day spoke about the late quarterback and said that he knows the aforementioned wide receivers are deeply saddened with Haskins’ passing.

“I know that all those guys are crushed right now,” Day said. “Really hurting. There was a special relationship there. I know that they had talked a lot going into that season of what ’18 could be like. … And then as they were putting it on the field, it was just neat and fun to be around. Practice was great. I mean, those guys really worked.

“Terry and Parris really became self-made. Johnnie was the same way, and K.J., Austin and Bin. … They all worked hard for that opportunity, so they really believed in who Dwayne was – and because of that, they were all having a lot of success and there was a lot of excitement around that. And then afterwards, I know they stayed very, very close.”

Haskins had most recently played for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the NFL and had been training with teammates in South Florida at the time of his tragic passing. He was 24 years old.