Spring football is here.

After a roller coaster of a 2021 season, from the highest of highs at the Rose Bowl to the lowest of lows at home against Oregon and in Ann Arbor against Michigan, Ohio State is back on the practice field with high expectations once again.

In the weeks leading up to the spring game, we'll break down the roster, going position-by-position to see who's back for another season, who the Buckeyes lost and what the expectations will be heading into the Buckeyes' season opener Sept. 3 against Notre Dame.

Today, we take a look at Ohio State's wide receivers.

It could be argued that Ohio State had the three best wide receivers in the country in 2021. Chris Olave, Garrett Wilson and Jaxon Smith-Njigba pretty much took the Buckeyes where they wanted to go offensively.

The trio brought in 230 of the offense's 349 receptions (65.9 percent), 3,600 of the offense's 4,952 receiving yards (72.7 percent) and 34 of the offense's 46 touchdown receptions (73.9 percent). The receivers not named Olave, Wilson or Smith-Njigba — Julian Fleming, Marvin Harrison Jr., Emeka Egbuka, Sam Wiglusz, Chris Booker and Jayden Ballard — combined for 37 catches, 461 receiving yards and four touchdowns: three of which were by Harrison in the Rose Bowl.

Opposing defenses knew where C.J. Stroud was going to in the pass game, and they still weren't able to stop it.

Ohio State finished with the best passing offense in the Big Ten, recording 25.6 more passing yards per game than any other offense and 11 more passing touchdowns than any other offense.

The Buckeyes' passing offense was the third-best in the country, finishing as one of two teams, along with Coastal Carolina, to average more than 10 yards per pass attempt, and one of 10 teams in the FBS to average more than 14 yards per completion.

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Between Olave and Wilson alone, Ohio State is losing two-thirds of its pass offense production.

Coming in as a preseason first-team All-American by Walter Camp, Olave led Ohio State with 13 touchdown reception, breaking David Boston's 23-year-old record and securing himself in the Buckeye record books, becoming the receiver with the most touchdown receptions in school history with 35.

The two-time first-team All-Big Ten performer added personal bests in receptions (65), receiving yards (936) and touchdowns (13), earning first-team All-American honors from the American Football Coaches Association and second-team honors from the AP, Walter Camp, Football Writers Association of America, CBS Sports and Pro Football Network.

Wilson exceeded all but one of Olave's numbers in 2021.

The junior wide receiver recorded 70 catches for 1,058 receiving yards — one of two 1,000-yard receivers on the Buckeyes' roster — with12 touchdowns.

Wilson was named as a first-team All-American by the FWAA and The Athletic, with second-team honors from the AP and Pro Football Network.

Simply, Ohio State has a lot of production to replace.

Here's the thing.

Ohio State's Rose Bowl appearance served as a sort of preview what things would be like in 2022 without Olave or Wilson. And things worked exceptionally.

Smith-Njigba served as the record-breaker, recording 15 receptions and 347 receiving yards with three touchdowns. And, while ending the season with five receptions, 68 receiving yards and no touchdowns, Harrison broke out for 71 receiving yards and three touchdowns on six catches.

The Buckeyes are not short on talent in their wide receiver room, whether it's the No. 1 receiver in the 2021 class in Egbuka or the No. 1 receiver in the 2020 class in Fleming, the room is filled with players ready to take Wilson and Olave's places, adding in players like Ballard and veteran Kamryn Babb, who's returning for another season after a multitude of leg injuries.

And the talent keeps on coming.

Ohio State wide receiver coach Brian Hartline is bringing in four receivers from the 2022 recruiting class, each ranked in the top 35 of wide receivers in the class.

Kyion Grayes, a four-star and the No. 18 receiver in the class, and Caleb Burton, a four-star wide receiver out of Lake Travis High School — following in the footsteps of Wilson — are both already on campus as early-enrollees, getting a head start before their first fall.

Kojo Antwi, a four-star receiver out of Suwanee, Georgia, and Kaleb Brown, the No. 15 receiver in the 2022 class and the highest-ranked receiver the Buckeyes secured, will be with the program for summer workouts.

The top two spots on the depth chart are set in stone.

It's the two receivers that shined brightest in the Rose Bowl: Smith-Njigba and Harrison. And the Ohio State wide receiver room is one that will rotate through players, especially with the depth Hartline, offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson and head coach Ryan Day have at their disposal.

But there is one question to be asked...

Who will be that third wide receiver?

In terms of positioning, it won't matter that much. Every receiver in Hartline's room has talked extensively about how important versatility is, how anyone from Egbuka to Fleming to Smith-Njigba to even Harrison can line up in the slot, on the outside or in the backfield, giving opposing defenses different looks.

And outside of Harrison and Smith-Njigba, multiple receivers are set to get their due playing time, whether it's Babb or Ballard.

But that third staring spot seems to be coming down to the two highest-rated receivers in the 2020 and 2021 class respectively: Fleming, who has battled injuries ever since he's arrived at Ohio State giving him an inability to find true consistency on the field, or Egbuka, who served as a returner and showed his explosiveness on special teams and in the passing game in his freshman season.

Both will get their playing time and their touches from Stroud. The question will be, who gets the chance for more from the get-go?

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