BREAKING: Following Tough Freshman Year, Expectations Rising For Mylan Graham.
Ohio State wide receiver Mylan Graham played in just four games as a true freshman in 2024. He saw action in two regular season games and then played in each of the Buckeyes’ first two playoff games.
Graham didn’t catch a pass this past season, but the fact that he saw time in the playoffs indicates the improvements he made over the course of the 2024 season.
Following Tough Freshman
Year, Expectations Rising For Mylan Graham
A five-star prospect out of New Haven, Indiana, Graham came to Ohio State with all kinds of expectations. Those expectations are still very much alive after redshirting this past season.
“Yeah, he’s done a much better job,” receivers coach Brian Hartline told Buckeye Huddle in the days leading up to last month’s Rose Bowl. “He did a great job when he showed up. It was still a lot when you first get in in June as a freshman. Did a good job through camp and then kind of like, was underwater again a little bit. Then the last half of the season he really is hitting his stride. He’s been really doing a great job, to where the upside and the track for him where he’s gonna be at is very, very encouraging. I’m really proud of where he’s at and he’s gonna see the fruits of his labor pretty darn quickly here as we continue to transition forward.”
True freshman seasons are generally supposed to be difficult, and Mylan Graham went through his fair share of difficulties. How was he able to push through?
“Just leaning on the guys that have been here in college,” Graham told Buckeye Huddle. “They’ve all been freshmen at one point, and they’ve all experienced what I’ve been experiencing. It’s just leaning on them and trusting them when times get hard.”
Graham didn’t get to go through spring ball as a true freshman, so his first camp experience was last August. He had about two months of being a college athlete before camp started, which didn’t go all that bad.
“When I first got here, I was doing pretty good,” Graham said. “When the flow of things and the football really started to pick up, it started getting tough for me. But like I said, just leaning on guys who’ve been here, leaning on coaches, everybody who helped me. It’s been way better.”
Most first-year players will hit the freshman wall. Some are able to push through it. For Graham, that happened around the midpoint of the season.
“I feel like I’ve started adjusting to really become a college football player,” he said. “I feel comfortable right now. Since that midpoint of the season, I feel like I’ve really picked up the flow of college, the speed, the tempo, the playbook, everything. I feel like I’ve picked up a lot since then.”
The work that Mylan Graham put in didn’t go unnoticed by his teammates. Being a wide receiver at Ohio State means competing in one of the most-talented position rooms in college football. It requires a level of execution that most freshmen just aren’t ready to handle. But if they can learn from their mistakes, then they can hit the ground running in year two.
“Mylan’s been great,” receiver Carnell Tate told Buckeye Huddle. “He had a lot of freshman mistakes at the beginning of the year, but he’s ultimately grown and he’s becoming a vet day by day.”
Tate was once where Graham is. He was also a former five-star freshman. Tate was productive as a true freshman, catching 18 passes for 264 yards and a touchdown. He is seeing the same thing in Graham that he saw in himself, and knows what it’s like to have the recognition that comes right along with it.
“It felt rewarding. Like your hard work is paying off,” Tate said of his experience. “People are recognizing what you’re doing. You’re no longer messing up and looking bad. It lets you relax. The game slows down for you. You’re not so much worried about everything when you know what you’ve got going on, and you’re knowing what to do.”
Mylan Graham showed more and more in practice, which then allowed him to see time in a pair of College Football Playoff games. Next month he will take part in his first spring camp, which is only going to speed up his progress.
Graham finished his true freshman season in an encouraging fashion, which has given him some momentum heading into 2025.
During recruiting, Graham was talked about as both an outside receiver and slot receiver. Things have gone so well of late that he could line up at both spots as a redshirt freshman.
“I think he’s showing that could do that,” Hartline said. “The faster you can lock down one spot and feel really good about it, the more I can move you around, and he’s doing that. So I’m really really encouraged by him.”
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