Few college football wide receivers in recent memory, if ever, have generated the type of buzz among NFL teams like Ohio State‘s Jeremiah Smith has over the last 2 seasons.
That gives Smith another season — a final college season — to continue to solidify his place among the greatest college football wide receivers of all time. In the NIL era, that means he’s about to get super paid for his final season, as well.
Smith was fooled by a parody account that claimed he was forgoing NIL money this season so the Buckeyes could improve their roster, which included a fake quote from Smith.
“I want to win another National Championship,” college football satirist Shane Tuttle quoted Smith as saying on his official X account on July 6. “I figured that money could be used to make our team stronger in other areas.”
Smith, who reportedly will make somewhere in the neighborhood of $4.2 million this season, was quick to respond.
“Huh???” Smith quote-tweeted Tuttle on his own official X account.
Jeremiah Smith Previously Addressed NIL Drama
In the NIL era of college football, no one is off limits when it comes to a possible transfer — not even a player who could be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2027 NFL draft.
Smith addressed some offseason transfer and NIL rumors in March and, to no one’s surprise, 1 team kept coming up over and over again — even if Smith wouldn’t say exactly who it was.
“Jeremiah Smith was asked about the offers he may have received this offseason to leave Ohio State,” Ohio State reporter Dillon Davis wrote on X. “He said there was never a moment he considered leaving, although he wasn’t surprised to see a certain program make a big push.”
Smith alluded to the school that made the biggest play for him being the University of Miami after the Hurricanes ended Ohio State’s season in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals.
“I knew especially at the end of that game that a certain program was going to come at me very hard,” Smith said. “Not gonna say no names, I think everybody here knows who it was. But I wasn’t goin’ nowhere.”
Jeremiah Smith: Once in a Lifetime WR Prospect
When trying to qualify exactly what kind of an NFL prospect Jeremiah Smith is, please consider there is a real chance he’s selected No. 1 overall in the 2027 NFL draft, which would make him the first wide receiver to go No. 1 overall since USC’s Keyshawn Johnson was selected by the New York Jets with the top pick in 1996.
Smith, 6-foot-3 and 223 pounds, was the No. 1 overall recruit in the Class of 2024 out of Chaminade-Madonna Prep in Hollywood, Florida, where he was the highest-rated wide receiver recruit in the modern recruiting era — essentially dating back to 2000.
During Smith’s senior year of high school, 247Sports Director of Scouting Andrew Ivins projected Smith as a future 1st-round pick and compared him to 5-time NFL All-Pro wide receiver Julio Jones — the No. 6 overall pick in the 2011 NFL draft.
“One of the top prospects to come out of South Florida in the modern recruiting era and the type of wide receiver that will give opposing defenses fits given the rare combination of his size, speed and hands,” Ivins wrote in 2024. ” … He’s the safest bet in the 2024 cycle and a future playmaker for a College Football Playoff contender that can handle a high volume of targets. Will need to keep perfecting his craft, but should see the field early on in his collegiate career and then eventually suit up on Sundays as a Day 1 selection.”
Through his first 2 seasons at Ohio State, Smith has 163 receptions for 2,558 yards and 29 total touchdowns in 29 games. He’s also a 2-time All-American, 2-time Big Ten Receiver of the Year, and led the Buckeyes to a College Football Playoff national championship as a freshman in 2024.
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