Murphy: “I’m always hesitant to get too excited about freshmen, especially at a place like Ohio State. Smith is obviously different, being the best player in the country, but I’m still going to need to see it before I’m ready to announce he’s going to be a star out of the gates. Chris Olave, Garrett Wilson, Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Marvin Harrison Jr. all took until at least partway through their freshmen seasons before they started to make an impact.
“To answer the question, it will be interesting to see where Egbuka lines up. In three-receiver sets when everyone was healthy, he often was the slot receiver. I would not be surprised to see him play more on the outside with Harrison gone and sophomore Brandon Inniss get more of an opportunity in the slot. That leaves another position open on the outside that right now belongs to Carnell Tate in my mind.
“If Smith comes in and plays the way people hope he will from the start, perhaps Egbuka plays more in the slot and Inniss rotates in with Smith and Tate on the outside. I think it will all depend on how things look once they go on the practice field. Never a bad thing to have so many weapons, however.”
