Emeka Egbuka, Xavier Johnson give Buckeyes 'best chance' in return game to open season
COLUMBUS — Ohio State used two of its best offensive weapons in the return game last season.
Ryan Day expects the Buckeyes to do the same again this fall, at least at the start of the season.
Day announced during his final media session before the season-opening game at Indiana on Saturday (3:30 p.m., CBS) that wide receiver Emeka Egbuka will be the Buckeyes punt-return specialist to begin the season. He also provided some clarity on who will handle kick-return duties.
“[Emeka will] do the punt returning and Xavier [Johnson] will start off doing the kickoff return,” Day said Thursday.
Ohio State wasn’t set on Egbuka or Johnson as the primary returners, despite the fact that they held those responsibilities for the Buckeyes special teams a year ago. Parker Fleming and the special teams staff worked through multiple options at both punt-return man and kickoff returner, including cornerback Lorenzo Styles Jr., freshman wide receiver Brandon Inniss and junior receiver Jayden Ballard.
But they landed back on the two who handled it a season ago.
Egbuka was the Buckeyes second-leading receiver last year and has the potential to be an All-American for the Ohio State offense. It was thought that he may not be on the punt-return team to shield him from the hits that come with the job. But he’s not done as the team’s punt returner just yet.
“We looked at a lot of different options to see who could do that,” Day said. “And we’ll possibly give some of those guys opportunities. But when you’re talking about returning both punt and kickoff, they require a certain a certain skill set. The first thing is they have to be able to field the ball. We put some guys back there and felt like once the ball was in their hand, they gave us a real good chance but didn’t quite handle the ball very well. And then other guys, you know, just have to take care of the football. You have to be strong enough to take a shot because those are kind of high-speed hits. So there’s a lot that comes with it.”
Day obviously trusts Egbuka and the team captain Johnson to take care of the ball and make plays ahead of other potential return options — for now. The Buckeyes head coach didn’t rule out the possibility of a change at those positions in the future.
For now, however, they’re rolling with two of their offensive studs to be reliable return specialists alongside their duties as receivers.
“This year, you’ll see different guys have opportunities as time goes on,” Day said. “But Emeka and Xavier certainly are the guys that give us the best chance right now.”
