There were times last year where Ohio State Buckeyes wide receiver Jeremiah Smith absolutely dominated the college football competition. He was the star in the Buckeyes championship run.
Smith was only a freshman and will be entering his sophomore season. Is there a chance that he could be even more dominate during his second year with Ohio State? Some people were even talking about this kid as a Top 5 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft if he was eligible to come out as a freshman.
Joel Klatt Compares Ohio State Buckeyes Jeremiah Smith to Former Oklahoma Sooners Running Back Adrian Peterson
Joel Klatt of Fox Sports ranked his Top 10 players in college football before the 2025 season begins. To no surprise, he had the Buckeyes wide receiver ranked number one. However, in Klatt’s explanation as to why he has Smith at number one, he compared him to a former NFL legend. Klatt said about Smith,
“I think we can all agree that Smith is the best player in the nation entering the year. I played against Adrian Peterson when he was a freshman at Oklahoma and before last year I thought he was the only guy I had ever seen who could be successful in the NFL right out of high school. Smith joined Peterson in that territory for me last season.
Very rarely do we see a player come in with the hype that Smith had and exceed it. He was always the best player on the field last year, no matter who Ohio State was playing. When I asked opposing coaches what their plans were to slow Smith down, they would just reply that you can’t really build a plan for that.
Smith basically has a body that was built in a lab. He’s listed at about 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds, but I’ve heard from some people in Columbus that he’s bumped his weight up to 220 or 225 pounds. They also think he’s faster than he was a year ago. He’s got unbelievable hands and can catch everything.”
Peterson was the seventh overall pick by the Minnesota Vikings in the 2007 NFL Draft. He is not in the hall of fame yet, but he should be there soon. With Peterson dominating competition in college and also in the NFL, there is also a good chance that Smith could do the same as well.
During the 2024 season with Ohio State, he caught 76 passes for 1,315 yards receiving and 15 touchdowns, along with averaging 17.3 yards per reception. It will be interesting to see with Smith does during his sophomore season with the Buckeyes. He is 6’3″ and weighs 215 lbs. Smith is going to be one of the hardest players to cover over the next couple of years in college football. He has a chance to be the number one overall pick in the 2027 NFL Draft.
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