COLUMBUS — Brian Hartline is trying to keep it real with Ohio State’s receivers.

“I wouldn’t say they’re game-ready yet, outside of Emeka (Egbuka), Hartline said. “I’m confident with where he’s at and how healthy he’s been. He’s back to where he feels really good.

“I’m really encouraged, though, from a group perspective. I could say this is one of the deepest groups I’ve had. It’s rivaled by maybe one or two other ones. I feel really good. I can’t say game-ready. That’s a big statement. But I’m encouraged.”

Rest assured, when Aug. 31 comes, the Buckeyes will have plenty of game-ready receivers.

Egbuka is the alpha of the group. But add in Carnell Tate, Jeremiah Smith, Brandon Inniss, and the rest of the room, and Hartline shouldn’t be short on options this fall.

Much of the offseason conversation has circled around Smith (more on him in a minute), but Egbuka is a known commodity with star upside and Tate seems poised for a sophomore breakout.

“We can play Carnell anywhere,” Hartline said. “His ability to learn an offense, the intricate details — if he makes a mistake, he’ll never make that mistake again. He does a good job of learning from others. He runs very well. He’s clean from a mechanics and footwork standpoint with probably some of the toughest hands on the team, catching the ball in traffic.”

It’s a group that’s easy to get excited about, even if Hartline isn’t quite ready to anoint anyone at the midway of camp.

Dotting the ‘Eyes has more takeaways from Hartline and another talented receiver group.

Ohio State’s freshman phenom is aware of the effect he’s already had on a fan base waiting in eager anticipation of his debut on Aug. 31.

If you were at all worried about Jeremiah Smith letting that get to his head, rest assured he’s not leaning into the hype.

“I know there are big expectations for me,” Smith said in his first media availability since arriving on campus last winter. “I was the No. 1 player in the country and there was a lot of hype around me. I just try to block out all of that stuff and focus on the main things: our team, the receiver room, the locker room. When the first game comes, if I don’t exceed the expectations that y’all have for me, I don’t really care. I just want to win a game.”

It’s a safe bet that Smith won’t have any trouble producing this year. Head coach Ryan Day continues to toe the line of lavishing too much praise on a player who hasn’t actually done anything yet, but it’s easy to see the excitement on his face when discussing the role Smith will have this year.

It seems Smith has taken the approach of earning everything he gets rather than expecting to be given anything. For his efforts this summer, he was awarded Iron Buckeye status, the first-ever freshman to earn the distinction.

The singular focus on the offseason work helped Smith dodge the pitfalls of buying into the hype.

“I just keep my head down, and try to find ways to get better every day,” he said. “It’s easy. I’m not on social media too much.”

Hartline and the room will continue pushing Smith, and vice versa. Asked who in his room is game-ready, Hartline named only returning veteran Emeka Egbuka. Smith is obviously ready to get on the field, and will play a ton this fall. But the goal right now is maintaining the mindset that allowed him to have such a productive offseason.

“He has a lot of tools,” Hartline said. “He works extremely hard. We’ve never had an Iron Buckeye from a freshman, so that’s a lot of credit to him. He embodied everything that’s a part of that conversation. It’s not just lifting numbers and speed numbers, it’s the way you carry yourself, it’s everything.”

When Egbuka revealed at Big Ten media days that sophomore Brandon Inniss had been elected to the team’s leadership council, that was a pretty strong indication of how Inniss’ teammates viewed him.

Now, we understand better Inniss’ motivation for carving out that kind of role on this team despite being relatively inexperienced.

“Being a leader was instilled in me since I was young,” Inniss said. “Growing up, I wasn’t really a talker, but I grew into that role as I got older and more comfortable. Then, after the (Michigan) game last year, watching the film, I was disgusted with the whole game. I feel like I can do a lot when I get on the field and bring more intensity to how we’re playing.”

Inniss said there were times last year when he felt like the offense wasn’t playing with enough energy. However, he wasn’t always outright with those opinions because he was a young guy still trying to figure out his role and find his voice. He has no qualms about that now.

He was already making a move on the leadership front in the spring, prior to shutting things down to clean up a foot injury and make sure he’d be healthy for this season. It was his approach after that, both in his rehab and then in the weight room this summer, where Inniss solidified his role.

“He was a guy who impressed his teammates through the summer,” Hartline said. “He was all gold. The leaders wanted to vote him to the leadership council. He earned all of that without having played football. He’s gotta continue bringing that day in and day out, but that’s what he has to keep doing to stay on track.”

Watch a practice and you might do a double-take when you see No. 5 out there with the receivers. It’s a number that comes with some expectations, and freshman Mylan Graham bears more than a passing resemblance to Garrett Wilson on the football field.

“He definitely is very fluid in the way he moves,” Egbuka said. “You see it in his routes and his releases. When the receivers are in the film room, we can see that he has a little something to him. It’s just about bringing him along. He just got here. There are steps you have to take, but he’s definitely trending in the right direction.”

There’s no pressure on Graham to be Wilson right now, or to be anything other than a freshman who puts his work in the right way. While Graham has made some plays to suggest he can live up to the expectations eventually, it’s the way he’s gone about his first few months on campus that has been more impressive.

“He’s really done a good job of learning the offense, learning what we want,” Hartline said. “I would say that he takes a lot of pride in his work. He does not like having missed assignments, almost to the point where he justifies why he made them. I appreciate that edge. I really do. He’s jumping in and trying to take reps.

“Right now, he’s just building a body of work. That’s the hardest part about coming in June. What have you proven to your peers or your coaches to justify what you want to accomplish? That’s what he’s chasing now. He’s trying to stack days and develop his identity as a football player at Ohio State.”