In the 2019 NFL Draft, two Ohio State starting receivers were drafted in the first two rounds with Johnny Dixon signing with the Houston Texans as a UDFA. Ohio State will now look to their senior WRs K.J. Hill, Austin Mack, and Binjimen Victor to step into the vacated production. 

Even with those three seemingly having the starting roles, there is a true freshman that has proven himself to be one of the best freshman receivers Ohio State has seen on campus in a long time. 

A product out of Lake Travis High School in Texas, five-star true freshman receiver Garrett Wilson is ready to prove that he is the next great receiver at Ohio State.

PROFILE

Garrett Wilson
Freshman
6’0″ 188lbs
High School: Lake Travis High School
Hometown: Austin, Texas
Rating: 5-star 

BACKGROUND

At the age of 11, Wilson played quarterback for a championship youth football team called the Titans. Garrett also played for another championship team, the All-Ohio Red basketball team on which he played guard. 

As a sophomore at Lake Travis high school, Wilson made the varsity team for his high school football team, the Cavaliers, finishing the season with 53 receptions for 699 yards and 12 touchdowns. He also played basketball his freshman and sophomore seasons at Lake Travis averaging 14 points per game according to MaxPreps. 

According to an article by Ben Kercheval of CBSSports, Wilson connected with former Texas receiver Mike Davis who coached Wilson through lifestyle changes, technique, and overall competitiveness. 

The absorption of coaching and mentoring from Davis paid off as Wilson’s junior year stats were incredible. He ended the season with an astonishing 98 receptions for 1,774 yards and 32 total touchdowns. 

During the middle of his senior season, Wilson dealt with an injury, but still finished with 1,151 yards and 19 TDs. 

Outstanding production and talent led to him becoming the Central Texas High School Athlete of the Year by The Statesman according to ohiostatebuckeyes.com. 

Rated as a composite 5-star on 247Sports and the second-best receiver just behind Jadon Haselwood, Wilson was highly coveted with 33 offers that included Alabama, Texas, Georgia, Florida, Michigan, and Oklahoma among others. 

Regardless of the termination of wide receivers coach Zach Smith and former head coach Urban Meyer leaving the program, Wilson committed to Ohio State in April of 2018. 

The U.S. Army All-American Bowl was his coming out party with two impressive touchdowns. Not only did he showcase his body control, hands, and body adjustment, but he put the notion that his size limits his ability to high point the ball to rest.

Wilson did not take long to show he deserves to be a Buckeye right away. A tradition brought in by Urban Meyer back in 2012 is the black stripe tradition. Any new player has a black stripe placed down the center of his helmet until he can prove to the coaching staff that he’s earned the right for it to be removed. 

There have only been two true freshmen in the last four years to lose their black stripe. Austin Mack earned it in 2016 and Tommy Togiai earned it in 2018. During the April 5th workout scrimmage with Ohio State, Wilson played with the first-string offense. Three days later, he became the first early enrollee to have his stripe removed. 

He did not disappoint the coaching staff, showing off his talent with an impressive touchdown catch during Ohio State’s Spring Game. 

SCOUTING REPORT

The staple of Wilson’s game is his natural ability as a receiver. At the line of scrimmage, Wilson displays a variety of effective release moves, using his hands to battle through the press. His initial burst is very good, giving him an edge in one-on-one situations. Even Baker Mayfield couldn’t help but appreciate everything Wilson delivers on the field. 

His speed release is nearly unstoppable as he explodes into his vertical stem instantly. Once he gets vertical, he shows very good tempo in order to prepare for high-speed change of direction within his breaks. Through the art of misdirection, Wilson strings together body jukes, head gestures, and physical hands to create separation. The ability to create separation so organically makes him such an effective route runner at an early stage in his career. 

A trait that really sets him apart from other receivers in the 2019 recruiting class is his mental processing and spatial awareness. From the time of the snap, Wilson begins to blueprint his path starting with neutralizing the leverage of the defender with effective use of stemming and attacking the weak hip of the defensive back. He gets vertical quickly, beating second-level defenders along the redline or into the middle of the field. Wilson displays good build-up speed to separate once in the open field as a ball carrier.

Once the ball is in his possession, Wilson sees the field quickly, identifying defender pursuit angles and mentally creating a path with the use of the space around him and use of his blockers. This ability to create separation with quick changes of direction, setting up his blockers, and altering his path based on his processing his surrounding barriers, enables him to be extremely effective after the catch. 

As witnessed during the U.S. Army All-American Bowl, Wilson possesses near-elite body control and balance when adjusting to the ball. Whether the ball trajectory is too high, low, or even behind him, he can contort his body and frame his hands to the ball in order to make some spectacular catches. His size doesn’t limit his explosiveness in his leaps which he times perfectly to meet the ball at the catch point.

DEVY OUTLOOK

The NFL is evolving quickly and the demand for the big, strong outside receiver is becoming scarce whereas the intelligent, explosive receivers that can create separation are now in demand. Ohio State hasn’t had a first-round receiver since Ted Ginn, Jr. and Anthony Gonzalez were selected in 2007. Wilson has the skill set, intelligence, athleticism, and work ethic to develop into a potential early-round draft selection if can stay healthy and focused.

In Devy leagues, Wilson should be considered a priority Devy asset. The 2019 Devy Watch rates him as the WR1 for the 2019 recruiting class and ranked 39th in Devy overall rankings. Wilson is wise beyond his years as a receiver and has the competitive nature to work hard at his craft to be the best. Acquiring him before he can show off his ability on Saturdays is the right move to make if attempting to acquire him at a value in Devy leagues. 

Get to know Ohio State commit, five-star wideout Garrett Wilson from cbssports.com