Brian Hartline has something special going with Ohio State wide receivers.

During the NFL draft in April, former Buckeye wideouts Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave went No. 10 and 11 overall, respectively, while Jameson Williams, who transferred to Alabama after the 2020 season, completed the back-to-back-to-back selections when he was drafted No. 12 in the first round.

Wilson, Olave and Williams all played together for two seasons under Hartline — and they all realized their NFL potential in three-consecutive draft picks.

Junior wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba set himself up to be the next Buckeye-turned-pro coming from Hartline’s mentorship, likely as a high pick in the 2023 NFL draft. But the Buckeyes still have at least one more season to watch Smith-Njigba build on his record-setting sophomore campaign, and they want to maximize all they can get.

Head coach Ryan Day and Ohio State also elevated Hartline’s title to passing game coordinator during the offseason, giving the former Buckeye more responsibility in offensive game planning.

Next up in the Position Previews series in advance of the Buckeyes’ 2022 season is the wide receivers room, featuring a returning All-American and some Hall of Fame flavor.

Here are the wide receivers listed on Ohio State’s roster:

Freshman Kojo Antwi

Graduate Kamryn Babb

Redshirt freshman Jayden Ballard

Freshman Kaleb Brown

Freshman Caleb Burton

Freshman Corban Cleveland

Sophomore Emeka Egbuka

Junior Julian Fleming

Freshman Kyion Grayes

Sophomore Marvin Harrison Jr.

Senior Xavier Johnson

Sophomore Joop Mitchell

Junior Jaxon Smith-Njigba

Sophomore Reis Stocksdale

Babb and Johnson both joined the program in 2018, and the former was a four-star recruit who’s torn both ACLs twice.

Ohio State signed four wide receivers in its 2022 class, all four-star recruits, and saw Burton and Grayes enroll early to participate in spring practices.

Cleveland, Mitchell and Stocksdale make up the three walk-ons in the Buckeyes’ wide receiver room. Stocksdale caught a touchdown during the spring game April 16, and both Cleveland and Mitchell joined the program in the last calendar year.

Smith-Njigba is a near-lock to move up and become Ohio State’s No. 1 wide receiver in 2022. He may have played “behind” Olave and Wilson, but opposing teams quickly invested their attention to Smith-Njigba, and some of his numbers topped the team last season.

Fleming also has several starts to his name, making a pair last season in addition to one during the Big Ten Championship game against No. 14 Northwestern in 2020.

Ohio State will need to find a new starting group alongside Smith-Njigba in 2022, and the Buckeyes already expect Egbuka and Harrison to move up the depth chart after their Rose Bowl performances. Harrison caught 71 yards and three touchdowns while Egbuka hauled in 46 yards on three receptions during the Rose Bowl.

Ohio State became the first program with three AP All-American wide receivers last season

The Associated Press named Olave, Smith-Njigba and Olave to its All-American teams last year, making the Buckeyes the first program to have three wide receivers do so in the same season.

Olave and Wilson earned Second Team All-American honors by the AP and Smith-Njigba collected a Third Team nod.

That trio accounted for three of the top-six receiving totals in the Big Ten. Smith-Njigba led the conference with 1,594 receiving yards — 308 more than the second-closest total.

Overall, Ohio State’s receiving corps topped the Big Ten with 4,952 receiving yards and 46 touchdowns last season by more than 300 passing yards and 11 scores. With sophomore quarterback C.J. Stroud set for a second season as starter, the Buckeyes have potential to frequent postseason honors lists yet again in 2022.

Full season on deck for Fleming

Plans haven’t gone exactly as envisioned since arriving at Ohio State for Fleming.

Joining the program as the No. 1 receiver in the class of 2020, Fleming has dealt with shoulder ailments that have limited his production on the field. He’s played in 15 games over two seasons, making two starts in that time.

He had a shoulder procedure during the offseason following 2020, which restricted his activity during the spring of 2021. Fleming still accounted for 12 receptions and 86 yards last season.

Fleming was “day-to-day” during the spring and held out of the spring game as a precaution, according to Day. A healthy summer and strong preseason could have the former five-star recruit on tap for a larger role in a season the Buckeyes are seeking new starters.

Ballard rewrote the history books at Massillon

Ohio State brought in more talent than on the surface of its three-man receiving class in 2021.

While Egbuka may have been the No. 11 receiver in the class and Harrison learned under his Pro Football Hall of Fame father, Marvin Harrison, Ballard got busy earning his four-star status.

Ballard caught 2,636 receiving yards and 37 touchdowns while at Massillon Washington High School, becoming the program's leader for career receiving touchdowns and yards.

He and the Tigers advanced to three-consecutive state championship games at the Division-II level. Ballard also received an invitation to play in the Army All-American Bowl before he arrived on campus at Ohio State.

Ballard played in four games and caught one pass for four yards, coming against Akron Week 4. Ohio State will search for its next leading group of receivers with the departures of Olave and Wilson going into 2022, and Ballard will compete for more snaps in his second season with the program.

Will Babb make his awaited return?

Since arriving at Ohio State as a freshman prior to the 2018 season, Babb has played in just eight games as a Buckeye.

A knee injury forced him to redshirt during his first season in the program. Then, another knee injury sidelined his second season in 2019.

Babb made his Ohio State debut in 2020 despite the pandemic-impacted schedule shrinking the number of games. He played in seven games and seemed poised for his first full season — as a captain — in 2021.

Then, another knee injury.

Over the course of his football career, Babb has torn both his ACLs twice, an eyebrow-raising fact. He participated some during practices this spring and Day said he expects the fifth-year wideout from St. Louis to be ready for the season in the fall.

Babb appears ready to finally play in a full season at Ohio State. The former four-star recruit, who stood out in high school on the gridiron and track and field, could finally be ready to put his skill set — and diligence — on display.

How does Ohio State play without Olave and Wilson?

Since Day took over at the helm of Ohio State and spent his first game as full-time head coach against Florida Atlantic Aug. 31, 2019, he had both Olave and Wilson to turn to on offense.

Now, both wide receivers are eyeing bigger things in the NFL.

But Day and the Buckeyes aren’t fretting. They know they’ll have one of the top receivers returning in Smith-Njigba, who earned a spot on the Walter Camp 2022 Preseason All-America team.

Ohio State had played without one of Olave or Wilson over the last two seasons, such as when Olave missed the Big Ten Championship game in 2020 or Wilson didn’t play against Nebraska Week 10 last season.

The Rose Bowl provided a glimpse at how the Buckeyes will handle football post-Olave and Wilson — and they seemed to not skip a beat.

Smith-Njigba set the program single-game receiving record with 347 receiving yards while Harrison caught three touchdowns. Egbuka and Fleming combined for eight receptions, and then-freshman running back TreVeyon Henderson added four catches and caught nine of his season’s 27 catches in his last two games.

Ohio State will be just fine moving forward without Olave and Wilson. How the Buckeyes do so for a full season remains to be seen, but early returns are promising.

A true freshman finishes top-3 among touchdown leaders

Devin Smith is the most recent true-freshman wide receiver to finish among the Buckeyes’ top-three touchdown leaders with four in 2011.

In the time spanning the careers of Michael Thomas, Terry McLaurin and Olave, no true freshmen have finished among the top-three receivers in touchdown receptions.

It may be improbable, but it’s not impossible in 2022.

Smith-Njigba, Fleming and Harrison all caught touchdowns last season — and are the only Buckeye receivers with a touchdown reception in their careers.

Antwi, Brown, Burton and Grayes all have a chance to earn playing time in 2022, and Burton and Grayes went through spring practices.

Each season typically holds an impact freshman moment for numerous Buckeyes, whether it’s Olave against Michigan in 2018 or Smith-Njigba’s “wishbone C” touchdown against Nebraska in 2020.

While there are nearly a dozen receivers in the room vying for playing time and eight different targets across multiple positions who caught a touchdown pass last season, it isn’t out of the cards for a freshman to command a larger share of the snaps.