Brandon Inniss didn’t exactly tiptoe into 2026 talk. The Ohio State receiver and captain put a big number on the table, saying he wants to be part of the next wave of Buckeyes to clear 1,000 receiving yards in the Ryan Day era.
If he gets there, he’d be the ninth Ohio State receiver to hit that mark under Day, and the sixth player to do it this fall. More than likely, that would mean Jeremiah Smith got there too.
Inniss made the comment in an interview with 10TV, and it lands in a pretty exclusive neighborhood. Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Garrett Wilson, Marvin Harrison Jr., Emeka Egbuka, and Smith have all reached 1,000 yards at least once.
Harrison Jr., Egbuka, and Smith have each done it twice. Last season, only 20 players across college football reached that threshold.
For Inniss, that would be a huge leap from where his production has stood so far. Over three seasons with the Buckeyes, his best year has produced 271 receiving yards on 36 catches, along with 181 punt return yards and 66 kick return yards.
That kind of jump would require a major passing workload and a bigger share of targets from quarterback Julian Sayin. It would also have to happen in an offense that may not be built to chase big aerial numbers.
First-year offensive coordinator Arthur Smith is expected to lean hard on the ground game. His system is built around heavy personnel, multiple tight ends, and a style that aims to create extra gaps while slowing the pace for steady gains.
That doesn’t mean the passing game disappears. It just means it usually plays a supporting role.
The best receiving season from a player in an Arthur Smith offense came in 2020, when A.J. Brown posted 1,075 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns for the Tennessee Titans.
Even then, Derrick Henry was the engine of that offense.
So if the question is whether Smith is the kind of play-caller who wants to throw early and often, the answer is pretty clear. He isn’t. And that makes Inniss’ 1,000-yard goal a tough climb, even before factoring in punt and kickoff returns.
Still, the prediction says plenty about Inniss himself. He’s a competitor, and he plays for one of the biggest brands in college sports. The number may be ambitious, but the mindset behind it fits his role in the program.
He’s become one of the team’s veteran voices, a steady presence in the locker room, and one of the few returning players from the championship team two years ago. That kind of value doesn’t always show up in the box score.
And while Smith is likely to be the offense’s only 1,000-yard receiver, Inniss can still matter in ways that swing games. A return touchdown can hit just as hard as a big receiving day. Legend Bey will probably take some of his workload, but Inniss still has a chance to be the most reliable special teams weapon available to first-year coordinator Robby Discher.
Whether the stat line matches the prediction or not, Inniss is set to be an important piece for Ohio State in 2026.
In Other News...
Paul Finebaum Just Sent A Clear Message On Arch Manning Hype
Arch Manning arrived in 2025 with the kind of buzz that can swallow a season whole, but his first year as Texas starter settled into something more ordinary than the Tim Tebow-style buildup that followed him from the recruiting trail. The Longhorns still finished 10-3, and Manning still mattered enough to remain a fixture at SEC Media Days, but the conversation around him has clearly cooled as the year has gone on.
Paul Finebaum, who helped fuel some of that early hype, has now backed off the most inflated expectations and sees a lot less hyperbole around Manning than there was before. Even so, the broader Heisman conversation is already moving ahead to the next wave of names, with Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin and receiver Jeremiah Smith both showing up among the early players to watch for 2026 and beyond. [Read more 🡒]
Texas Just Got A Worrying Boost Before Ohio State Rematch
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For Ohio State, the timing is less than ideal because the Buckeyes are still sorting out their wide receiver rotation after Carnell Tates departure. Chris Henry Jr., Kyle Parker, Devin McCuin and Brandon Inniss are among the players competing for that key role, and the matchup now carries a little more intrigue with Texas adding another option on the back end before the rematch. [Read more 🡒]
Three Michigan Stars Ohio State Fans Still Wish Were Theirs
Aidan Hutchinson, Charles Woodson and Desmond Howard are the kind of Michigan names that still make Ohio State fans wince, even years after the games and trophies that turned them into rivalry villains. Hutchinsons rise as an edge rusher only sharpened the old what-if feeling in Columbus, because he looked like the sort of outside force the Buckeyes always want on their side instead of staring across the line from it.
Woodson and Howard only deepen the regret. Woodsons all-around brilliance made him one of the rare defenders who could shape a season from every angle, while Howards Heisman run was built on the kind of moments Ohio State fans remember too well, from the punt return that broke a game open to the pose that followed. Put together, they are a reminder that some of the rivalrys most painful memories came from players Buckeye fans would have gladly claimed if the recruiting trail had gone a different way. [Read more 🡒]