Garrett Wilson, Chris Olave playing like nation's best receiving tandem

The speculation, debate and conversations about Ohio State never end, and Lettermen Row is always ready to dive into the discussions. All week long, senior writer Austin Ward will field topics about the Buckeyes submitted by readers and break down anything that’s on the minds of the Best Damn Fans in the Land. Have a question that needs to be tackled, like the one today about Ohio State and Demario McCall? Send it in right here — and check back daily for the answers.

Is it possible that Fields is too reliant on Olave/Wilson? It seems like those 2 occupy 90% of the targets. Who do you see emerging as a 3rd pass catcher?

— Zack Peskin (@Zpeskinator) November 9, 2020

Ohio State might not be rotating quite as much as normal at wide receiver early in the season, but there are good reasons for that.

First and foremost, Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson are on a monstrous tear for the Buckeyes. And if a team has arguably the best tandem of targets in the country at its disposal, it would be silly not to use them.

Secondly, even with the talented young Buckeyes pushing for more snaps, there is a learning curve for freshmen that all wideouts have to go through. Even a year ago, Brian Hartline was patient and waited until around midseason when he was truly comfortable before unleashing Wilson on defensive backs.

And for this year in particular, the process is far more complicated thanks to the lack of spring practice, the unusual training camp and the absence of non-conference tuneups. Ohio State is unquestionably deep at receiver, but it isn’t all that experienced — which shouldn’t come as a surprise after losing six NFL-caliber players from the position over the last two seasons.

But when it comes to the actual distribution of receptions, the Buckeyes aren’t simply locking in on those guys as much as it might seem. And thanks to the insane accuracy of Justin Fields, it’s actually pretty easy to just use the completion totals to make that point. Wilson and Olave are getting the majority of the work and have 58 percent of the team’s receptions — but nine other Buckeyes have catches, and six of them are averaging at least one grab per game. Perhaps that seems like a modest total, but there’s only one football and Ohio State doesn’t get an unlimited amount of snaps to give everybody a turn.

Who will be the third guy then? Honestly, it probably depends on the game. And the truth is the Buckeyes have several options that they have already shown they can rely on beyond the top two.

Jeremy Ruckert is making his presence felt more every week at tight end, and he’s currently third in both catches and touchdowns at this point of the season. Jaxon Smith-Njigba clearly has Hartline’s confidence, and the freshman appears to be well on his way to making more eye-popping plays for the Buckeyes. And if opposing secondaries get preoccupied with Olave and Wilson, Jameson Williams just showed how quickly he can make them pay with his deep-ball touchdown on Saturday night against Rutgers.

So, the Buckeyes are already mixing in other options and clearly have confidence in wideouts other than just Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson. But given the way those two are playing right now, it’s hard to imagine there’s even such a concept as being over-reliant on them.

When two of the best receivers in the nation are on the field together, it’s practically impossible to shut them both down at the same time. And if anybody figures out how, there are a handful of Buckeyes ready and willing to be the third option.

Miss any previous editions of Question of the Day? Catch up right here.