When Ohio State receiver Garrett Wilson came to Columbus, he was expected to be one of the next great pass-catchers in the history of the program. So far, he hasn’t disappointed. He flashed on the scene — especially last year — and is expected to be an even bigger part of the offense in 2020.
His role is changing a bit though according to comments from coaches and Wilson himself. As it stands right now, the sophomore out of Austin, Texas is moving from the outside to the slot position vacated by K.J. Hill.
“It wasn’t something I was looking forward to, Wilson said on a Zoom call Tuesday. “It was just whatever coach (Brian Hartline) wanted me to do. Whatever’s best for the team, I was able to do that.”
It will be a significant change though for Wilson. Rather than being used down the field and on the outside on a lot of one-on-one matchups, he’ll now be targeted more in the middle of the field and intermediate routes. He’ll probably miss being a field stretcher, but there is a huge upside to getting a more volume of targets and touches. Both Parris Campbell and K.J. Hill led the team in receptions the last couple of seasons out of the slot position.
And for coach Hartline, he believes the skillset Wilson has fits perfectly into what the slot position has become over the last few years at Ohio State.
“I think that position — more than anything — is developing more and more into a wide receiver a position and is not necessarily a hybrid kind of thing to it,” Hartline told reporters. “It’s really you need to be a great wide receiver first. I think that Garrett being a smart, savvy — he’s got a lot of good wiggle to him when it comes to releases and operating space. I think he’s a great fit for that space.”
So for Wilson, while it’s a change, it’s one that will most likely get the best of a very talented wide-receiver group on the field and in the most dangerous positions to make the team the most explosive it can be.
“I think, again, just what do you want to do there defensively?” Hartline said. “Who do you want to put on him? Do you want to put a linebacker in there and have him have to guard him? Or do you want to bring a nickel player in and then you get to say you’re tougher than him when running the football and being able to cover him? It’s just a different animal. I think it provides a game plan advantage for us.
Now we’ll just sit back and watch it all unfold as soon as things kick off in late October and beyond.
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