Ohio State Wide Receiver Julian Fleming’s Play A “Confidence Boost” Due To Injury History

Fleming caught four passes for a career-high 81 yards and one touchdown in the win at Michigan State.

Ohio State junior wide receiver Julian Fleming came to Columbus as one of the top-rated prospects in the class of 2020, but his career hasn’t exactly gone as planned due mostly to a shoulder injury that’s plagued him since the eighth grade.

Now fully healthy, Fleming has caught 15 passes for 222 yards and five touchdowns in the Buckeyes’ last four games, including four receptions for a career-high 81 yards and one touchdown in the 49-20 win over Michigan State on Oct. 8.

“It’s been great to just be back on the field and be able to have some production in the couple of games I’ve been in,” Fleming said during his media availability on Wednesday evening. “It’s been a big change of pace and a big confidence boost for me.”

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Fleming also missed the first two games of this season with what head coach Ryan Day referred to as “a little tweak,” but returned for the 77-21 blowout of Toledo on Sept. 17. He pulled in a career-high two touchdown passes that evening, even though he said he had some “jitters” going into the game.

“That was one of my first games back in a long time but just getting that out of the way, I feel like now there’s just so much you can build on,” Fleming said. “It’s definitely been exciting, but it’s just something to constantly build on and constantly critique myself into getting better every single week.

“I mean, I’m very, very happy about it, but we still have a long way to go.”

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