Ryan Day isn’t only banking on Julian Sayin’s arm talent to carry Ohio State through the next few years. Sayin’s already got elite weapons in Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate. But Ryan Day is about to reload the pipeline with some of the most exciting young receiver talent in America. 

247Sports director of scouting Andrew Irvin broke down the incoming talent to Bud Elliott on the Cover 3 Podcast. “Story of the weekend in the recruiting world, Bud. We saw Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate absolutely go off against Penn State. Well, the night before, Mater Dei, one of the top high school programs in the country, they take on number one-ranked rival St. John Bosco, and they rally behind Kayen Dixon Wyatt and Chris Henry.” Irvin said about Mater Dei’s stunning upset over top-ranked St. John Bosco, where Ohio State commits Kayden Dixon-Wyatt and Chris Henry Jr. absolutely took over the game. 

That’s two future Buckeyes combining for nine catches, 259 yards, and five touchdowns on the biggest stage in high school football. Dixon-Wyatt specifically came in as a four-star prospect already trending upward, and according to Irvin, he’s going to be in the five-star conversation when the next set of rankings drops.​​

Irvin’s scouting work on Chris Henry Jr. is where things get really interesting. Henry Jr. is 6-foot-5, 200-plus pounds, and runs a 4.59 in the 40-yard dash. But he missed the bulk of his junior season with a knee injury and has dealt with some durability issues as a senior. That didn’t stop him from going off against St. John Bosco, though, and according to Irvin, “Chris Henry by far one of the most polarizing evaluations in this class.” Henry’s got pedigree in his DNA too, being the son of former NFL receiver Chris Henry, so he understands what it takes to play receiver at the highest level. 

Here’s where Irvin really crystallized what Ryan Day is building. “Brian Hartline, zone six. Just keep reloading, Bud.” That’s the entire strategy right there. Hartline doesn’t need one mega-class or one generational receiver. He just keeps bringing in four-star and five-star talent as if it were a factory line. 

Irvin pointed out, “Kayden Dixon Wyatt, to me, the player comp on his 247 Sports profile is Carnell Tate. Like, I think he’s another Carnell Tate.” Ryan Day is literally finding ways to reload with receivers who have similar profiles to guys already dominating the field. The consistency is insane. And Irvin wrapped it up, saying, “Brian Hartline, I think he’s the best in all of college football when it comes to fine-tuning these wide receivers. Again, look at Jeremiah Smith. Look at Carnell Tate. Look at all the guys that came before them.” That track record isn’t an accident.​

So Sayin’s walking into arguably the cushiest quarterback situation in America. He’s got Smith and Tate torching secondaries right now. And in just a couple of years, he’ll be throwing to a kid who’s basically a younger version of Tate and a 6-foot-5 freak who can line up on the outside. “Julian Sayin is going to have some weapons to throw at in the coming years,” Irvin said, and that’s putting it mildly.

The portal move that changes everything

While Dixon-Wyatt and Henry are coming in as high school commits to eventually replace Smith and Tate, Hartline’s also got his eye on Auburn’s Cam Coleman. And he’s apparently willing to break his sacred “high school only” recruiting philosophy to get it done. 

Hartline’s spent seven years building this empire by going straight after the elite freshman talent, developing them for three or four years, and then shipping them off to the NFL as first-rounders. He’s never needed the portal. So the fact that he’s now considering pivoting that entire approach for Coleman tells you everything about how serious Ohio State is about creating a receiving room that’s basically unstoppable for the next three years.​

Coleman’s a five-star who’s already proven he can produce at an elite level despite playing with terrible quarterback play at Auburn. He’s got 74 catches for 1,072 yards and 11 touchdowns during his 2 seasons, the physical tools of a top-three NFL prospect, and he’s entering his “money year” where he needs elite production to solidify his draft stock. 

If Hartline flips him, you’re suddenly looking at a scenario where Sayin’s got Smith and Coleman potentially joining them in 2026, and then Dixon-Wyatt and Henry rolling in behind them. That’s generational offensive firepower.​