What Chris Henry Jr.’s commitment means for Ohio State football: Buckeyes Recruiting

Published Jul. 28, 2023, 8:09 p.m.
By Stephen Means,
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Ohio State offensive coordinator Brian Hartline had a type on the recruiting trail when it came to wide receivers, then Marvin Harrison Jr. came along in the 2021 class.
The four-star recruit was a bigger receiver who didn’t look like the other highly-rated players Hartline had been bringing in. He was a clear X-receiver as a bigger body and a potential mismatch problem.
Now Harrison Jr. is the nation’s best wide receiver as a unanimous All-American entering what is probably his last year in the program. As he leaves, he’ll be replaced by Jeremiah Smith as the best wide receiver in the 2024 class.
Smith is viewed as the best high school wide receiver prospect in some time as the type of talent capable of making a Day 1 impact, even in a room as loaded as OSU’s. It won’t be a shock if he’s in the same spot Harrison is in two years from now.
The next name on that list has now arrived and Hartline didn’t even need to leave the state to make it happen. That’s because Chris Henry Jr. kicked off the 2026 class on Friday.
Henry is 6-foot-5, 185 pounds and also has an NFL pedigree as the son of the late former Bengals wide receiver of the same name. He got an offer earlier than either of his predecessors, earning it as an eighth grader following a day camp in June 2022. A year later he’s continued to blossom and looks like a player that could easily be viewed as a five-star recruit when the 2026 rankings eventually come out.
Smith is next in line when discussing the freaks that Hartline has brought into his wide receiver room. Now he’s found another in Henry. The Cincinnati native is capable of one day being the same type of threat that the world watched Harrison turn into last season.
Prior to the start of last season, Hartline was told by cleveland.com that he had a type on the recruiting trail. Since that moment, he’s started to diversify his palette and it’s still producing the same result.
Regardless of their height, weight or individual skill sets, Hartline can still get his pick of the litter while having to very rarely hear “no” as an answer.