Ryan Day reveals what it meant to get Julian Fleming back for Ohio State

Ohio State has dealt with injuries at wide receiver all season, but the Buckeyes took a step in the right direction on Saturday with Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Julian Fleming returning to the field.

With Fleming and Smith-Njigba back in the mix, Ohio State head coach Ryan Day had to figure out how to split up all of the reps in a deep wide receiver room. That is a good problem to have, and Day sees great value in relying on other options early in the season.

“Yeah, great. Great for the room,” Day said. “You can see now the depth that we have. When you’re playing a full game, we’re going to need all of those guys, we just are. We knew we’d need all these guys. We didn’t know we’d need all of them in the first game against Notre Dame and then (Xavier Johnson) catches the big touchdown pass. But we’re going to need all of these guys throughout the year.”

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Notably, Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka have stepped up in big ways this season for the Buckeyes. Through three games, Harrison has 18 receptions for 342 yards and five touchdowns, while Egbuka has 20 catches for 324 yards and three scores. Tight end Cade Stover also has eight catches for 137 yards, while Jayden Bullard has six catches for 127 yards and a touchdown.

Smith-Njigba caught two passes for 33 yards in Week 3, giving him four receptions and 36 yards on the season.

Fleming had an encouraging return for Ohio State

On Saturday, Fleming caught three passes for 23 yards and two touchdowns. His return to the field was a productive one, which came as no surprise to Ryan Day.

Day went on to praise Fleming for his mindset while battling back from injury, and knows that he has a lot of value for Ohio State.

“Julian’s had a really good offseason, so to see him come back – because he’s had a few nagging injuries here and there. And then he’s really made good progress, has the Iron Buckeye and the whole thing, has a lot of momentum and then gets this little tweak. The easiest thing to do is get really frustrated. He didn’t do that,” said Day. “He stayed positive, took care of his business, did a great job in rehab and then to go see him make some plays tonight and get rewarded was great. Two touchdown catches, right? So that’s big for him. And he didn’t play a full game. We just wanted to play him for about a half and then hopefully build some momentum into next week.”