Noise is surfacing around a potential Ohio State football X-factor that could be a major player for the Buckeyes in 2026
One Ohio state transfer portal addition is continuing to make positive noise, and he may end with a starting job if he continues.
The Ohio State Buckeyes are focused on recruiting and summer workouts right now in the month of June, and fall camp will be here before we know it with the season not too far away.
Spring football is in the rearview mirror for the Buckeyes and the new additions have now been around for a few months. Ohio State has one offensive addition from the transfer portal who is continuing to make the same noise that he did during the spring.
Former LSU WR Kyle Parker is standing out for Ohio State this summer
There’s not a whole lot of updates coming out around the current Ohio State football team this time of year. However, there is some positive noise surfacing around Ohio State WR Kyle Parker, who came to Columbus after three years spent at LSU.
Lettermen Row’s Austin Ward revealed some an interesting tidbit on how this summer is going for the potential x-factor for the Buckeyes.
“Down the stretch in April, it felt like Parker was beginning to surge a bit ahead in the bid to take a first-team job alongside Jeremiah Smith and Brandon Inniss — and the summertime buzz suggests not only was that the case then but that the workouts in June have helped solidify that,” Ward wrote. “Parker arrived with big-game experience at LSU and an existing relationship with new Ohio State wide receivers coach Cortez Hankton, and both of those seem to have eased his acclimation period into the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.”
Parker is competing for a starting spot in an Ohio State wide receiver rotation that’s expected to be a bit expanded this season with Cortez Hankton now coaching the position. Of course, Jeremiah Smith is the leader and Brandon Inniss is going to have a role, but it’s pretty open past that. Parker sounds like he’s potentially taking the third spot by the horns to be a weapon for the Buckeyes offense.
Ohio State hasn’t typically had to hit the transfer portal for the wide receiver position but they did it with both Parker and former UTSA standout Devin McCuinn. Parker broke out for LSU last season with 330 receiving yards and four touchdowns. Parker was limited to eight games and 33 receiving yards through his first two seasons with the Tigers.
Parker’s familiarity with Hankton is surely helping his process here. Parker has a physical build at 5-foot-10, 195 pounds that’s going to be a matchup problem in the Big Ten.
This offense must get another playmaker to step up and give the offense some of what they lost with Carnell Tate off to the NFL. Parker is going to be part of the group doing just that, along with McCuinn and potentially both freshman Chris Henry Jr. and Brock Boyd.