Rising High School Sophomore Chris Henry Jr, The Son Of The Late Bengals WR, Has Already Committed To Ohio State
Since Chris Henry Jr. is in the class of 2026, this could certainly change. By 247Sports' count, Henry has 24 scholarship offers from the likes of Ohio State, USC, Michigan, Notre Dame, and more. With one season of high school football under his belt. That's not unprecedented but it's still crazy to me how far out some of these teens are courted by big-time programs.
Given that Henry is growing up in the Cincinnati area, I'd be surprised if he flipped his commitment. The Buckeyes would allow him to stay close to home. Only about a two-hour drive or so. There's a zero point zero percent chance Henry goes elsewhere if Brian Hartline is still at OSU in several years' time to coach up wide receivers. Hartline has been instrumental in helping the Buckeyes produce a myriad of first-round NFL wideouts, with the most recent playmakers from that lot being Garrett Wilson, Chris Olave and Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
Some other halfway-decent receiver whose dad also played in the NFL is next up...
In order for Hartline to stay in Columbus for that long, I feel like Ryan Day needs to promote him, like, yesterday.
Henry is built much like his late father, with a tall, slender frame yet surprising quickness for his size. He's still so early in his development, so it says a lot that blue-chip schools were lining up to give him offers. All indications are Henry will be one of the 5-star recruits from the '26 class. Only downside I guess is that he won't be leaving anyone hanging in suspense on National Signing Day. Once he fills out that 6-foot-5, 185-pound frame a little more, the young Henry figures to be downright scary good.
PS not trying to tread on Tate or Burge with this Buckeye-centric blog, but I did grow up in the Columbus area, and my sister and best pal both went to Ohio State. It's at least somewhat related to the Bengals anyway.
For those who didn't watch Chris Henry back in the day, he made the long catch on the play where Carson Palmer blew out his knee in the playoffs. Unfortunately, Henry passed away in a tragic accident, and former Bengals cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones adopted him. Pretty cool story. Read more below if interested.
Congrats to Chris Henry Jr. on his commitment. Have a feeling we're going to see him make some seriously big plays in the 'Shoe, in the Big Ten and probably even on NFL Sundays someday.