The firsts for freshman Jeremiah Smith continue to pile up. He was the first wide receiver to be ranked No. 1 overall in 247Sports history, then was the first freshman to be awarded Ohio State’s Iron Buckeye designation in spring practice, then the first to get the black stripe off his helmet in fall camp, then the first to start as a freshman and star under wide receivers coach Brian Hartline.
If Smith continues on the pace he’s started this season on, he’ll be the first freshman in Ohio State football history to put up the kind of numbers he’s tracking towards.
Through five games he has 23 catches, 453 yards and six touchdowns. The OSU freshman records all belong to Pro Football Hall of Famer Cris Carter who had 41, 648, and eight in 1984. Records are made to be broken, and Carter’s likely soon will be. But it’s how Smith has gone about his business that sets him apart and how diligently he works on his craft. When asked about his hobbies, he says he likes to play video games, spend time with family and shop, but the Jordans he’s eyeing won’t be purchased until after the football season.
“He knows he’s physically gifted, but he wants to be the best to ever do it and he wants to know the art of playing receiver, and so we spend a lot of time on that,” Hartline told CBS Sports. “A lot of times these guys will do things right, and they don’t even know why it’s right, so the frequency diminishes, but if you do it and you know it’s right, that the frequency increases, and that’s all we’re doing. We’re just trying to find consistency in reactions and execution, and that’s, that’s what he’s learning right now.”
| Freshman Stats for OSU Blue-Chip WR Recruits Freshman Stats – Since 2020 | |||||
| Year | Rank | Player | REC | YDS | TD |
| 2023 | 22nd | Carnell Tate | 18 | 264 | 1 |
| 2023 | 35th | Brandon Inniss | 1 | 58 | 1 |
| 2021 | 9th | Emeka Egbuka | 9 | 191 | 0 |
| 2021 | 160th | Marvin Harrison Jr. >> | 11 | 139 | 3 |
| 2020 | 15th | Jaxon Smith-Njigba >> | 10 | 49 | 1 |
| 2020 | 4th | Julian Fleming | 7 | 74 | 0 |
| >> First Round NFL Draft Pick | |||||
There’s a period of practice on Wednesdays where the whole wide receiver group can work one-handed catches on the JUGS machine. If the last two games are any indication, practice makes perfect for Smith. First there were the back-to-back one-handers against Michigan State, one coming with a DB’s hand covering his face. Then on Saturday against Iowa, Smith added to the tally with another silly grab:
“He had my other arm, So I’m like, I’m gonna just put one hand up and just grab it. So I just put one arm up and caught the ball with one hand,” Smith recounted this week. “I ain’t even want to do it, I wanted to catch it with two, but he had my other arm so I just had to make the play.”
He even wowed his quarterback Will Howard. Smith said Howard was in awe when they got back to the sideline:
“Again? You’re crazy, you’re insane.”
The blind Michigan State one-hander one is still his favorite so far, but there’s much more to playing the position than highlight reel catches. One of the things that sets Smith apart is his physical profile and how he moves at 215 pounds which draws comparisons to future Hall of Famer Julio Jones. He’s gained 30 pounds since the beginning of 2022 and 15 pounds since arriving in Columbus in January. He’s one of the biggest players to ever come through Hartline’s wide receiver room, and Smith credits renowned strength coach Mickey Marotti.
“He’s definitely very gifted from an athletic standpoint, but you know, the thing about athletic ability is a lot of times those are the hardest guys to learn the intricacies of a position and he’s the opposite. You know, it’s like, sometimes they know they can get away with things, but he wants to know the why and how do I do this and do that? Hartline said. “He doesn’t do anything half speed. Like, I have to make sure he’s not going 100 miles an hour. It’s just that’s how he operates.”
Every week Smith gets a little more added to his plate in the gameplan and the offense in Columbus is much more intricate than what he ran in high school. He’s lined up in different positions as a Buckeye, often playing slot receiver, and even is involved in the run game taking jet sweeps.
“I’m from Florida where they would just line me up on one side and just throw me the ball, so that was pretty easy. But just coming in, I know I had to expand my game and expand my knowledge at the college level,” Smith said.
He is not a perfect player by any means, and there is still room to grow. In his first college game he admitted he was at fault for Howard’s first interception of the year due to his alignment. He started off too close to the sideline, and left Howard little room to fit the ball in. He also dropped the first target of his college career, yet another distinction he shares with Carter.
There’s another freshman Smith continue to be compared to: Alabama’s Ryan Williams. The night of Smith’s MIchigan State one-handers, Williams was making acrobatic grabs of his own against Georgia, including a game-winner that will go down in Tide history that Smith got to see live.
“When we got on the bus, they were still playing, so when I got on the bus he made that big catch, I was like ‘woah, yeah, he’s different’,” Smith said. “I just feel like we’re the best receivers in the country right now as freshmen.”
They traded texts after the game, with Smith sending encouragement, “I just told him, keep doing what you’re doing.”
If Smith takes his own advice, there’s no telling how good he can be, and how many firsts he’ll have to his name as a Buckeye.
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