Jeremiah Smith is the most effective participant remaining within the School Soccer Playoff, and he nonetheless has two extra years of faculty left.
The gifted Ohio State receiver hauled in seven catches for 187 yards and two touchdowns in a 20-point victory against the Oregon Ducks in the Rose Bowl.
At simply 19 years outdated, Smith could be the No. 1 receiver drafted within the 2025 NFL Draft. He’d in all probability be a high 10 choice. And that’s not hyperbole.
At present, NFL mock drafts have Arizona’s Tetairoa McMillan as a high 5 decide. He put up 1,319 yards in his junior season with the Wildcats. He had eight touchdowns and 26 complete in his profession.
What’s wild is the truth that Ohio State offensive coordinator Chip Kelly actually couldn’t determine methods to use Smith early within the season. Certain, Smith had just a few huge video games smattered about, paired with highlight-worthy catches that made followers say, “Wait, this can be a teenager?”
However that teenager has blossomed late within the season. When the lights have shined the brightest for the Buckeyes, they’ve someway managed to shine even brighter for Smith, who has turn out to be the engine behind all the things Ohio State does offensively.
His 187-yard, two-touchdown efficiency within the Rose Bowl solely got here off the heels of his 103-yard, two-touchdown efficiency towards Tennessee within the first spherical.
It was obvious all 12 months that there wasn’t a defensive again within the nation that would defend Smith. This was obvious in Ohio State’s loss to Michigan, however Kelly and quarterback Will Howard simply couldn’t handle to get him concerned.
Issues have utterly modified since then, and Smith is the point of interest of all the things that Ohio State does. His body someway seems to be bigger than it did earlier within the season, consistently drawing comparisons to Julio Jones. Once more, he’s 19 years outdated.
The stats are weird for a real freshman, however once you really watch him play the video games, he genuinely seems to be the a part of a man that would play on Sundays.
Severely. In Week 18, so many NFL groups are benching their starters as a consequence of having their playoff spot locked up or as a consequence of full ineptitude that has them crawling to the end line. Think about Smith—just some days after balling out within the Rose Bowl—dominating backup secondaries.
In a wild dream state of affairs that may by no means really occur, Smith needs to be allowed to collectively petition the NCAA and NFL to declare for the NFL Draft as a consensus first-round decide. There’s actually no probability that he could be chosen any later than the highest 20 picks.
Within the period of NIL dominating faculty soccer, Smith shall be fairly alright financially after two extra seasons in Columbus, leaving the remainder of us soccer followers ready two extra seasons to observe him play on Sundays.
He’d be the most effective receiver within the 2025 draft class. He could be the most effective receiver within the 2026 NFL Draft class. In 2027, he’ll be a part of fellow present teenager and Alabama star Ryan Williams as the highest broad receiver chosen.
