50 For 50: Is Receiver Mylan Graham Next In Line For Buckeyes?

Welcome to our daily feature that I am calling “50 for 50” where I attempt to get us to Big Ten Media Days — which are 35 days away — with a daily sampling of what we can look forward to this upcoming college football season. Today’s edition features Ohio State receiver Mylan Graham, left tackle Ethan Onianwa, and more.

As always, we will do this via the following categories: the 50 biggest individual matchups for the Buckeyes this season, the 50 most important college football games this season, 50 Buckeye things to look forward to this season, 50 national predictions, 50 Big Ten predictions, and 50 predictions involving the Buckeyes.

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Biggest Buckeye Matchups

PENN STATE DE DANI DENNIS-SUTTON VS. OHIO STATE LT ETHAN ONIANWA

Dani Dennis-Sutton paired with Abdul Carter last year to give Penn State arguably the best defensive end tandem in the nation. Dennis-Sutton finished second on the team with 8.5 sacks and 13 tackles for loss. He is going to give Ohio State left tackle Ethan Onianwa everything he can handle. It only takes a couple of bad pass sets to lose a game. Fortunately for the Buckeyes, whoever is starting at quarterback by this point will have likely had seven starts under his belt. But if Onianwa struggles early in this game, that quarterback will be hearing footsteps all afternoon long.

Most Important Games

OLE MISS REBELS AT GEORGIA BULLDOGS, OCT. 18

Ole Miss has won two of the last three against Georgia, but both of those games have come in Oxford, and one of them was back in 2016 (which Mississippi vacated). This could either be the first loss for Ole Miss, or about the third. To be honest, the same could be said for the Bulldogs as well. They have a game at Tennessee followed by an open week before hosting Alabama. Before they host Ole Miss they travel to Auburn. It’s no wonder the SEC coaches don’t want to go to a ninth conference game. What with all of these deadly games against Auburn and Tennessee and all.

Things To Look Forward To

MYLAN GRAHAM AS PART OF THE REGULAR RECEIVER ROTATION.

Ohio State redshirt freshman receiver Mylan Graham was a star in the spring for the Buckeyes, and this is going to be his first opportunity to be a star in the fall as well. Graham is a dynamic playmaker with elite burst before and after the catch. In other words, he doesn’t need much room to create a bunch more. Don’t be shocked if there are some plays from Mylan Graham this year that make you think of Garrett Wilson or Chris Olave, or some diabolical combination of them both.

National College Football Predictions

Texas DE COLIN SIMMONS WILL FINISH IN THE TOP 10 HEISMAN VOTING.

There are some people who will tell you that Texas edge rusher Colin Simmons should be getting some of the hype that is currently going to Arch Manning. Simmons led the Longhorns last year with 9.0 sacks as a true freshman, and was second with 14.0 tackles for loss. No defensive player finished among the top 10 in Heisman voting last year, but there were five transfer quarterbacks and a tight end. The last time there was a defensive player in the top 10 was 2021. There were actually three that year, though only Alabama’s Will Anderson and Georgia’s Jordan Davis weren’t aware every time an offense was going to run or throw.

Big Ten Football Predictions

FERNANDO MENDOZA WILL OUT-YARD KURTIS ROURKE.

I wanted to go bolder with this prediction, but Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke did pretty damn well last year. He threw for 3,042 yards with 29 touchdowns and five interceptions, while completing 69.4% of his passes. New Hoosier quarterback Fernando Mendoza comes over from California where he threw for 3,004 yards with 16 touchdowns and six interceptions in 2024. I think he’ll throw more INTs than Rourke did, and I’m not sure he’ll reach the 29 touchdown passes, but he’s got enough skill around him to throw for more than the 3,042 yards Rourke managed in 2024.

Ohio State Football Predictions

OSU WILL HAVE A FIRST-TEAM ALL-BIG TEN OFFENSIVE LINEMAN.

I was actually going to go the other way on this one and predict that Ohio State wouldn’t have any First-Team All-Big Ten selections on the offensive line, but then I went and did some research and discovered that the last time that actually happened was 2011 when all hell was breaking loose. That’s what it took for every Ohio State offensive lineman to fail to achieve this simple accolade. There are too many returning starters and there is too much talent for something like that to happen with this offensive line.

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