The Ohio State wide receiver room is being gutted in real time and we are finding out how important Brian Hartline was to this program.
When it rains, it pours, and it is pouring in the Ohio State Buckeyes' wide receiver room.
This position group was largely thought of as one of the best position groups in the entire country. Year after year, it produced high level NFL talent and guys that were just head and shoulders better than any other receiver room in the country.
The Buckeyes are quickly losing their grip on that status, as Tuesday marked another day when the Buckeyes' wide receivers left the program
First was the great announcement that Carnell Tate is leaving for the NFL Draft. Everyone in America saw this one coming, and this was not a surprise to fans. Tate is almost guaranteed to be a top-15 pick in the draft and will likely be a top-10 selection.
Then, after Tate declared for the draft, another youngster decided to hit the portal. The most recent departure is five-star freshman Quincy Porter.
Porter has all the goods to be a great wide receiver in college football. He stands at 6'4 and checks in at 211 pounds with a lot of growing and maturing left to do.
In understandably limited time on the year he had just four catches for 59 yards.
He is now the fourth Buckeye wide receiver to leave the program. Porter joins Bryson Rogers and Mylan Graham in the portal, and obviously, Tate leaves behind a considerable hole.
So, where does that leave the Buckeyes?
Well, as it stands right now, Jeremiah Smith and Brandon Inniss are the only guys left in the room who have a career catch. They will obviously be joined by potential superstar Chris Henry, who will have to be ready right away for Ohio State.
Obviously, there is still plenty of time left in the first portal window that the Buckeyes could line up some wide receivers to join the program, but the longer they wait, the more concerning it gets.
Both in a vacuum and in reality, this feels like a major problem in Columbus. This Buckeyes team, as it were, was not good enough to compete with the nation's best this year. They were beaten handily by the two teams that might battle for the National Championship. Ohio State answer that by losing all of their wide receiver depth to the transfer portal.
It's not a good look, no matter what angle you take at it, and we are seeing in real time, the impact that losing Brian Hartline is to this program.
Ryan Day has wiggled his way out of tough situations before, he must do it again, now.