Mylan Graham Making Up For Lost Time This Spring

Ohio State redshirt freshman Mylan Graham is taking part in his first spring camp as a Buckeye. As a summer enrollee last year, he missed out on the winter workouts and spring ball that are key in propelling and preparing a true freshman for what’s to come during the regular season.

Without that, Graham was experiencing everything for the first time last summer while most of the other freshmen had already been through an offseason workout or a month’s worth of practices.

Even though everybody is on their own path and timetable, there is still a certain amount of catching up that a player has to do when they enroll in June. That’s where Graham is right now, and it’s what receivers coach and offensive coordinator Brian Hartline is helping him through.

“Yeah, it’s not that he’s trying to, but it’s easy to minimize the work you didn’t get, because you don’t think it’s really that important until you go through it,” Hartline explained. “So this past winter, he went through it, and he was pretty frank about how important it was for him. And to miss that can really have a ripple effect. Again, not that we can’t make up for it and make it work, but that’s still a lot of work that you haven’t done. So that’s really important, I feel like.”

As a true freshman last season, Mylan Graham played in four games and did not record a catch. He did improve over the course of the season, evidenced by the fact that three of those four games came in the second half of the season, including playoff games against Tennessee and Oregon.

The improvements during the season continued in the offseason, but now in his first full spring, the focus gets back to the basics and improving in all areas.

“He’s made a lot of great strides,” Hartline said. “I think this spring has been really good for him. Again, it’s still his first spring, which is kind of crazy to think about. But he’s just chasing making that play. He’s gonna make that play. But just like everybody else, he’s gonna chase that consistency level and being that guy that always makes that play, because the guy that always makes that play is that guy. So that’s what we’re always chasing. It’s not if, it’s how often.”

The Buckeyes are about to hit the mid-point of spring practice, and even though Mylan Graham had to play catch-up, it is clear to Hartline that he was ready for this next step. Which means he should be ready for everything else that comes next.

“He’s doing a really good job building his body up. He’s bigger, he’s stronger,” Hartline said. “Culturally, he does a great job. I don’t think he’s ever late. He’s doing a good job, just continuing to grow on the field. And he’s putting a good foot forward so far this spring.”