Scarlet Sunrise: Former Buckeyes punter Drue Chrisman officially signs with Bengals

Good morning, Ohio State fans, and welcome to the Scarlet Sunrise. Football will always be our focus, but every day we’ll cover news, notes and analysis from across Buckeyes sports. Join us each morning to get caught up on everything you missed in the world of Ohio State football, recruiting, basketball and more.

Former Buckeyes punter Drue Chrisman officially signs with Bengals

Drue Chrisman spent the last four seasons as one of the best punters in the country for Ohio State.

Now he’s ready to pin NFL offenses deep for the rest of his career. After agreeing to a contract with the Cincinnati Bengals shortly after the NFL draft concluded a couple of weeks ago, Chrisman has officially signed with the Bengals.

Chrisman’s Ohio State highlights can be condensed to his two trips to East Lansing. In 2018 at Michigan State, he pinned six of his punts inside the Michigan State 20-yard line. And this last fall, he down two punts inside the 2-yard line and had a career-long 74-yard punt. Across his 185 punt attempts with the Buckeyes, he averaged 44 yards a kick.

Now he has a chance to be a dominant punter in the NFL after officially signing with the Bengals on Friday.

Former Buckeyes captain earns tryout with Browns

Johnnie Dixon is still chasing his NFL aspirations.

The former Ohio State wide receiver will participate in the Cleveland Browns rookie minicamp this weekend on a tryout. During his final season with the Buckeyes back in 2018, Dixon was a team captain and helped lead Ohio State to a Big Ten Championship and Rose Bowl crown in Urban Meyer’s final season with the team.

A native of West Palm Beach, Fla., Dixon was a leader in the Ohio State locker room. He overcame knee issues early in his career with the Buckeyes to have strong junior and senior season. The 5-foot-11, 198-pound wideout was one of the top targets for Dwayne Haskins and J.T. Barrett during his time in Columbus. He finished his collegiate career with 67 catches for 1,146 and 16 touchdowns.

Another elite Texas receiver prospect joins Birminology

When the Buckeyes offer a young prospect from the Lone Star State, it’s bound to cause shockwaves — especially when local teams like Texas haven’t offered. Braylon James knows that an offer from Ohio State means something different. He said as much when Lettermen Row’s Jeremy Birmingham introduced him to readers last August.

Right now, though, the 6-foot-3, 175-pound receiver is just focused on progressing through high school. He missed a few games as a sophomore but still did enough to feel confident heading into his junior season at Del Valle High School as the man in the offense for the Cardinals.

Is Braylon James thinking about following in former teammate Caleb Burton’s footsteps? What are the things he’s searching for in a college? How much are he and other recruits in Texas talking about playing together at the next level? How did he feel when Brian Hartline offered him in the first conversation between the pair?

James was the latest guest on Birminology from Lettermen Row with Birm.

Download Lettermen Row’s free app

Want an easier way to get free premium content from Lettermen Row?

The Lettermen Row app is here! Get all of the Ohio State news, analysis, videos and everything else you’ve come to expect from us in one free, convenient spot. It’s now available in both the App Store and Google Play — check it out!

The Lettermen Row app can be found for free here:

• Apple app store
• Google Play

If you enjoy the Scarlet Sunrise posts, please consider having our newsletter delivered to your inbox every weekday morning. Click here to sign up!