Chris Henry Jr. Is a Freshman in Name Only—and That’s the Way He Likes It

On Aug. 15, by degree of coach Ryan Day, Ohio State wide receiver Chris Henry Jr. aged.

Henry is only 19, but Day proclaimed to reporters (via Lyle Alenstein of Eleven Warriors) that the wide receiver is “not a freshman anymore,” citing his practice play on offense and special teams.

How’d Henry feel about that? Just fine, he told Sports Illustrated Saturday, as that was his plan all along.

“Me and [Day] are thinking the same thing,” Henry said. “I had this mindset to come in and—I’m not trying to say I have an excuse for not playing because I’m a freshman. I had the mindset coming in that I was coming in to play.”

Of the group of Celsius NIL representatives for 2026 that sat down virtually with SI—Texas wide receiver Cam Coleman, Oregon quarterback Dante Moore and Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood are the others—Henry is the only true freshman. His career is a blank canvas.

Make no mistake about it, though: he’s ready to paint.

Learning from Ohio State’s best

Henry joined the Buckeyes from Mater Dei High School, a football factory in Santa Ana, Calif., that has churned out NFL players on top of NFL players. It did not take him long, however, to absorb the Buckeyes’ equally exacting standards.

“The long days [and] short nights, for real,” Henry said of what he’d learned most about college football thus far. “The preparation that really just goes into the season and preparing—I really just learned that preparation part.”

At Ohio State in recent years, wide receivers have been a renewable resource, and no player has embodied that like Jeremiah Smith. Smith owns each of the last two Big Ten receiving titles, finished sixth in the Heisman voting a year ago, and has made quite an impression on Henry.

“Just how he attacks everything. He attacks everything with a pro mindset, like how to take care of your body,” Henry said. “He’s really taught me a lot, just about how he studies, when he gets on the field with his mindset and stuff like that.”

Smith racked up 1,315 receiving yards as a freshman. That’s a high bar for Henry, but if he falls short it won’t be for lack of trying.

With his unity of vision this offseason—he’s spurned watching any TV shows in his free time in favor of recovery and rest, he said—expect him to figure into the Buckeyes’ opener against Ball State and beyond.

Carrying on a legacy

Henry’s father was Chris Henry, a wide receiver for West Virginia and the Bengals who died in 2009 after falling out of a moving truck during a domestic dispute with his fiancée. The elder Henry was just 26; the younger Henry was 2.

Among Henry’s mentors growing up: ex-NFL wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh, a teammate of his father’s for the bulk of his father’s professional career.

“He’s been a really good mentor to me—you know, with him playing with my father,” Henry said. “He’s been there ever since I moved out to [California], just helping me, putting me on game with certain stuff.”

Cincinnati Bengals receiver Chris Henry pregame against the New Orleans Saints at Paul Brown Stadium. — Chris Henry spent five years with the Bengals before his death in 2009. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

When the NIL money began to roll in, Henry made his family a priority—“[helping] my mom out with some things”—while also carving out some cash for himself to buy a Cybertruck.

Henry may still be a freshman in some habits, counting Chipotle and Waffle House among his Columbus restaurant recommendations. But the clock is ticking on those days. Day and Henry jointly are making sure of it.

“Ohio State—exactly like I thought. I’m into it,” Henry said. “I see the type of mindset we have, and how we attack every day, to be the best in the country every day.”

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