Jeremiah Smith had college football fandom in awe of him in his freshman season. Touted as Ohio State’s biggest recruit in recent years, the WR lit up the field with his fireworks and racked up one title after another. He makes every penny of that 4 million paycheck count and still has 3 more years ahead! Smith returns in 2025 as one of the strongest faces from the National Championship-winning team in 2024. However, not everyone is completely convinced of his indispensability, especially one former OSU standout made quite a sour revolution about the star WR.

Smith was the No. 1 prospect of the 2024 class on all the fronts. Every big name in the sport was battling it out for the elite WR. Ryan Day received the news of Smith committing to OSU while he was in the midst of a press conference. The news hit him so profoundly that he had to pause for a breath after hearing it. Day even playfully commented how he was going to fall to his knees (in jest) because of that victory. He knew the sheer brilliance that was going to arrive at Columbus and had Smith start right off the bat in 2025. That yielded 1,315 receiving yards and 15 TDs – the most ever made in FBS by a freshman in a single season. After reading all of that, you would agree that few can top Smith’s skills. But a former Natty winner is willing to pass on the elite WR.

Jamal Luke, a former WR and part of the 2002 OSU National Championship-winning team, was posed a challenging question. In a June 7 episode of The OHIO Podcast, host Eric Boggs relayed off a fan and asked who among Maurice Clarett and Jeremiah Smith had a better freshman season. Luke took a pause. “That’s a tough question,” he began. “I may be biased, but I’m gonna go with Reece [Maurice Clarett] on this one,” Luke added. But that’s not all. “I think without Jeremiah Smith, they still win the national championship this year. As great as he was, I think they still win the national championship. Without Maurice, we don’t win it. So, I think that’s the difference,” the WR claimed.

Clarett, OSU’s much scorned-upon former RB, lasted with the school just one season. A series of troubles with the university had him suspended from the 2003 season. But in that one year, Clarett etched a program record by rushing for 1,237 yards, and scored 18 TDs. And, he led the Buckeyes to a seamless 14-0 finish at the BCS National Championship, winning the coveted title too. Along with QB Craig Krenzel and WR/CB Chris Gamble, Clarett also established a name for himself in OSU history as a freshman star. His college career came to an end after that year, marked by personal struggles. He made it to the 2005 draft and was even picked by the Denver Broncos. Unfortunately, he was let go by the franchise before his NFL career could take off.

Though Maurice Clarett wins this round for Jamal Luke, he did include Jermeiah Smith in a particularly interesting grouping. But once again, a key WR failed to make the cut.

Jamal Luke keeps Marvin Harrison Jr. out of his Top 4

Luke was asked who he would include in his ‘Mount Rushmore’ of OSU receivers. It’s not an easy answer, because the Buckeyes have recently picked up the reputation of creating the best WRs in the country. Here’s who Luke picked as his Top 4. “My guy is Terry Glenn… I studied Terry Glenn. Like I patterned my whole game after Terry Glenn… had one of the most incredible seasons in OSU football history in 1995,” he said. Glenn’s junior season that year saw him make 1,411 yards and 17 TDs. He played 11 seasons in the NFL. The next two in his list are Chris Carter (1984-86) and Michael Jenkins (2000-03).

Lastly, he picked Jeremiah Smith. “[The] thing that impresses me about Jeremiah Smith is not only did he have an extraordinary year in his first season, a true freshman, but he came in as the number one recruited player in the country. So, not often times do you get the combination of somebody coming in with that hype and then living up to the hype and maybe even surpassing it a little bit his true freshman year in college football,” he explained his reasoning. Snubbed out of this list is the OSU WR predecessor Smith replaced, Marvin Harrison Jr.

Harrison is already regarded by the program as “the most decorated wide receiver in Ohio State history.” He remains the only Big 10 player who earned unanimous All-American honors in 2 consecutive years. Biletnikoff winner, Heisman runner-up, and a generational gem – Harrison’s father is a Hall of Famer – the WR left a huge gap when he left for the NFL, and was rightly replaced by Jeremiah Smith. Correct successors are very tough to find in college football these days. In fact, Day hopes to keep that Harrison legacy at OSU continuing, making an offer to the WR’s brother, Jett Harrison. Even though he failed to make a mark in his debut season with the Wildcats, he is primed to do it in his second season with the franchise.

Jeremiah Smith chose to take over the baton from Harrison over anybody else in the CFB. Maybe Harrison deserved a shoutout or an honorary mention. After all, he is part of Brian Hartline’s record of sending 5 WRs to the NFL as first-round picks. These youngsters have a long road ahead of them. But receivers like Smith only come once in a lifetime. It is difficult to picture the 2024 roster without Jeremiah Smith in play; imagine the heroics we would’ve been robbed of. He is undoubtedly a player who looks poised to script greatness in the sport. Not just in college football, but also in the NFL.