Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith is entering the 2026 season with the kind of national respect that usually gets reserved for the rarest names in the sport. Pro Football Focus put the Buckeyes wideout at No. 1 in its top 50 college football players list, making him the top-ranked player for the second straight year.
That puts Smith in a very small club. According to PFF, only Trevor Lawrence had previously pulled off back-to-back No. 1 finishes in the outlet’s history.
The rest of the industry is lined up behind the same idea. On3 also slotted Smith at No. 1 on its top-100 list, ESPN called him the best wide receiver in college football, and CBS Sports ranked him No. 1 among the 26 best skill players.
For Ohio State, the case starts with the numbers. Smith has piled up 163 catches for 2,558 yards and 27 touchdowns in two seasons, and he reached those marks faster than any Buckeye before him.
He’s also the only Ohio State receiver other than Marvin Harrison Jr. to string together consecutive 1,000-yard seasons, and he did it as both a true freshman and a sophomore.
The bigger separator, though, shows up when the lights get brightest. In six postseason games against top-10 opponents, Smith has 34 receptions for 682 yards and six touchdowns, with a 20.0-yard average per catch.
One of those plays has already taken on a life of its own inside the program: his 56-yard catch on third-and-11 in the fourth quarter of the 2024 national title game against Notre Dame. Around Ohio State, it’s known as “3rd and Jeremiah.”
PFF’s grading backs up the eye test, too. Smith was the only FBS receiver to earn grades of 85 or better against both man coverage and zone. At 6-foot-3 and 223 pounds, he brings the size to win through contact and the burst to run past defenders.
PFF didn’t exactly bury the lede in its evaluation, either, describing Smith as a generational talent at the position who will have NFL teams tripping over themselves to draft him in 2027.
He’ll have plenty around him in Columbus. Quarterback Julian Sayin is back after throwing for 3,610 yards and 32 touchdowns while completing 77% of his passes.
The supporting cast is loaded as well. Brandon Inniss returns as a starter, five-star true freshman Chris Henry Jr. arrives as the No. 1 receiver in the 2026 recruiting class, and transfer Devin McCuin brings 152 career catches, 1,696 yards and 16 touchdowns from three seasons at UTSA.
New offensive coordinator Arthur Smith, a former NFL head coach, adds a power-running approach that should fit with Sayin’s efficiency. Bo Jackson and Isaiah West give Ohio State balance in the backfield, and four starters are back on the offensive line.
The challenge is waiting right there on the schedule. Lindy’s Sports has Ohio State No. 3 nationally behind Oregon and Texas, and the Buckeyes will face both.
That stretch starts fast with a Week 2 trip to Austin for a 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff on ABC against No.
2 Texas. Later, Ohio State also has road games at No.
5 Indiana and No. 10 USC, plus a home matchup with No.
1 Oregon.
In Other News...
Ohio State Basketball Suddenly Has A Real Shot At Another Five Star
Jake Diebler has already given Ohio State basketball a real jolt on the recruiting trail with two five-star additions in the 2026 class, and now the Buckeyes are back in the mix for another elite prospect. DeMarcus Henry, one of the most coveted players in the 2027 cycle, has trimmed his list to eight schools, and Ohio State remains firmly in the hunt as Diebler keeps pushing to build a roster that can restore the programs edge.
Henrys interest matters because it fits the broader direction Diebler has been selling: a program trying to climb back into consistent national relevance and make postseason basketball a regular expectation again. The Buckeyes still have work to do against a crowded field, but getting this far with a player of Henrys stature is another sign that Ohio State is starting to look like a serious destination again. [Read more 🡒]
Jeremiah Smith Is Still Ohio States Biggest Strength And Biggest Concern
Jeremiah Smith has already done enough to be viewed as the top wide receiver in college football, and his 2025 season backed that up by grading out as the best in the country on Pro Football Focus. For Ohio State, that makes him both the cleanest answer on the roster and the player around whom everything still has to be built, especially with the Buckeyes heading into 2026 and asking more of a passing game that already leans heavily on his talent.
The problem is that Smith cannot carry the whole load by himself, and the next wave of help around him is still largely unproven. Brandon Inniss, Kyle Parker, Devin McCuin and Chris Henry Jr. are all part of the picture, but their development will go a long way toward determining how much room Smith has to operate and how dangerous the offense can be with Julian Sayin under center. If those pieces come together, Ohio State can keep feeding its star; if they do not, the Buckeyes may have to find a different way to make the passing game work. [Read more 🡒]
Ohio States Next Recruiting Test Could Define Its 2027 Momentum
Ohio States 2027 recruiting picture is starting to take shape around a few high-end targets, and the Buckeyes appear to be in a strong position with five-star running back David Gabriel Georges of Baylor (TN). In a class that already has plenty of national attention, that matters because early momentum often sets the tone for what comes next, especially when the competition includes familiar heavyweights like Georgia and Auburn. The Buckeyes are also still involved with other elite names, which keeps the board fluid even as some of the biggest decisions begin to narrow.
One of the more interesting pieces of that board is four-star defensive tackle Karlos May, who remains undecided after weighing several top programs and has Ohio State firmly in the conversation. The Buckeyes have a real opening there, but so do the Bulldogs and Tigers, and the next stretch of visits and conversations should tell a lot about how aggressive Ohio State wants to be in this race. For a program trying to build 2027 momentum early, landing the right anchor prospect could make the rest of the class look very different. [Read more 🡒]