You decide: Ohio State football’s all-decade wide receivers

The 2010s are coming to an end and we can’t help but reminisce about the memories that the decade brought with it— a national championship, four Big Ten titles, four head coaches, and some of the best to ever wear the scarlet and gray.

To wrap up the decade, we want to hear from you about who you think should comprise the Ohio State Buckeyes’ All-Decade team. From now until the end of the year, we will be going position by position and giving you the candidates so that you can decide who receives this honor more prestigious than a tree in Buckeye Grove, a pair of gold pants, or a ring so big that you have to cary a 10 pound weight in the other hand just to stay balanced.

You’ll be able to vote in the positional articles through Dec. 30 at 12 noon ET, and on Twitter for one week after the poll goes up. Keep in mind that since we are conducting part of the voting on Twitter, we are limited to just four options per position, so this is going to be tough!

Once all the votes are in for every position, we’ll reveal the final All-Decade roster on the final day of the 2010s.

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Next up: Wide receiver. Here are your candidates:

Devin Smith (2011-2014)

Photo by Jason Mowry/Icon Sportswire/Corbis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

You probably remember Devin Smith mostly due to his incredible performance during the Buckeyes’ playoff and national championship run in 2014-15.

In the Big Ten Title Game, he caught 4 passes for 137 yards and 3 touchdowns, leading the Buckeyes to a 59-0 victory over Wisconsin. Then in the Buckeyes’ 43-35 upset over No. 1 Alabama in the Sugar Bowl, Smith had 2 receptions for 87 yards, including a 47-yard touchdown that basically solidified Ohio State’s win early in the third quarter.

That year all together, he recorded 33 receptions, 931 yards, 28.2 yards per catch and 12 touchdowns. He was too fast for any defender to beat downfield and it seemed like no matter where quarterback Cardale Jones threw the ball, Smith was going to find a way to catch it.

He is currently fifth all-time in career yards (2,503) and second in career receiving touchdowns (30) in Ohio State program history.

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Parris Campbell (2015-2018)

Photo by Adam Lacy/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

The first word that comes to mind when you think of Parris Campbell should be speed. In Ohio State’s game against Michigan in 2018, Campbell reached 21.66 MPH on one play, which was the sixth-fastest speed from any ball-carrier in the NFL that season.

In 2018, Campbell set the single-season record for receptions in a year (90) and was just the fifth Ohio State player to pass 1,000 yards receiving in a season. He is No. 7 in school history with 143 career receptions, and No. 17 with 1,768 career yards. The only receivers with more yards this decade are Devin Smith and K.J. Hill.

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Michael Thomas (2012-2015)

Photo by Rich Schultz /Getty Images

Michael Thomas is currently the best and highest paid wide receiver in the NFL, which is really not surprising because...you know what they say...you #CantGaurdMike.

However, unlike like the receivers above, Thomas isn’t too high up on many all-time receiving lists due to the fact that he didn’t see many snaps in 2012 and was redshirted in 2013.

It wasn’t until 2014 when Thomas began to show the world how elite he truly was. He had 54 catches for 799 yards and 9 touchdowns, and in 2015, he put up almost identical numbers with 56 catches for 781 yards and 9 touchdowns. In those two seasons alone, he scored the tenth most career receiving touchdowns in Ohio State history (18).

And we simply can’t forget about this catch in the 2015 Sugar Bowl against Alabama, thrown by fellow WR Evan Spencer. This is arguably one of the greatest trick plays in Buckeye history and we have Thomas (and Spencer) to thank.

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K.J. Hill (2015-2019)

Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images

K.J. Hill is the freshest in Buckeye fans’ brains, especially with the amount of media attention he’s been getting as of late. The Buckeyes’ current fifth-year-senior wide receiver caught his 195th pass on Saturday against Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship game, breaking David Boston’s record for most receptions in Ohio State history. He also ranks seventh with 2,265 receiving yards and sixth with 20 career touchdowns.

While his senior season has been nothing but impressive (51 receptions, 569 yards, and 10 touchdowns), his most productive year was 2018 when he caught 70 passes for 885 yards and six touchdowns. That performance is what convinced Hill to consider declaring for the draft, but Buckeye wide receiver all-star Cris Carter convinced him to return for his fifth and final year of eligibility. And thank goodness he did. I’m not so sure Justin Fields & Co. would’ve had the success they had this year without Hill. The best part of it all? He’s not even done yet.

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Remember, since we are limited to four options on Twitter polls, some other great Buckeye wide receivers had to be left out. If you want to tell us how wrong we are for leaving your favorite WR out, or if you want to make your case for one of the candidates, please feel free to do so in the comments below!

Which Buckeye wide receivers should be on Ohio State’s All-Decade team? The top three will be selected.

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Poll

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