'Weapon X': Ohio State OC Brian Hartline Raves About WR Xavier Johnson

The Ohio State Buckeyes used wide receiver Xavier Johnson in a variety of roles last season, totaling 571 all-purpose yards.

Author:
Casey Smith
Mar 29, 2023 6:12 PM EDT

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Ohio State Buckeyes

Ohio State Buckeyes wide receiver Xavier Johnson was one of three wide receivers to get both a carry and a reception last season, and it looks like that will continue.

Offensive coordinator Brian Hartline raved about Johnson's multi-dimensional skillset after Ohio State's sixth spring practice Tuesday.

"I think Xavier Johnson is a really good receiver and a really good running back. So it's our job to find ways to use that," Hartline said. "He has a great skill set. Maybe limited here or there, that's our job to identify and not put him in tough situations, but I think highly of him as both."

Nicknamed "Weapon X" by his teammates, Johnson was a Swiss Army knife for the Buckeyes last season, handling receiving, rushing and special teams responsibilities.

The sixth-year graduate caught 13 passes for 151 yards and two touchdowns — the go-ahead score against then-No. 5 Notre Dame Sept. 3, 2022, and a 37-yard pitch-and-catch in the Peach Bowl against No. 1 Georgia.

The Buckeyes will have running backs TreVeyon Henderson, Miyan Williams, Dallan Hayden, Chip Trayanum and Evan Pryor — when he returns from a torn ACL — to share the load.

Last season, injury issues to Henderson and Williams led to Johnson flanking former quarterback C.J. Stroud and taking carries as a running back, but that might be less so this season unless the Buckeyes have the same woes with staying on the field.

On the ground, he carried the ball 12 times for 146 yards, as his lone touchdown was a 71-yard scamper in which he made four Indiana defenders miss.

The Cincinnati native handled the majority of the kickoff duties, returning a team-highs 12 kickoffs for 269 yards. Johnson recovered a blocked punt against Maryland Nov. 19, 2022, as well.

Johnson said March 9 he has not been cross training between wide receiver and running back during spring practice, but that he'll do what head coach Ryan Day and Hartline ask him to do, whether that's catching passes .

"Coach Hart and coach Day together, they're the most genius offensive minds that we can have," Johnson said. "We have a great infrastructure. They have a phenomenal understanding of how defenses work and how they're moving and how to attack them. So I think that coach Hart and coach Day, if they see it fit, I think that is something that, you know, could potentially be done."