Jeremiah Smith has made one thing clear before officially stepping into his Junior year: he is not chasing stats; he is chasing trophies. The wound from the Biletnikoff snub is still fresh. However, the OSU wide receiver now sets his sights on the Heisman Trophy, which voters primarily award to a quarterback. One former Buckeye reminded the wide receiver of the tough path

“He’s definitely the best player,” former Ohio State linebacker Steele Chambers said on the Bobby Carpenter show. “But to win the Heisman, I think that’s gonna be a tough ask for a receiver nowadays. And he didn’t even win the Biletnikoff this year.”

That’s a pretty tough pill to swallow, no doubt. Because modern offenses center on quarterbacks and voters tend to reward the most visible statistical performers, the Heisman Trophy has become a quarterback award. Even last season, Fernando Mendoza won the Heisman, but he didn’t have the best season. In fact, Notre Dame’s Jeremiyah Love had a better case for himself than the IU QB. But it all came down to the winner of the Big 10 Championship game between Mendoza and Julian Sayin.

There have been exceptions to the rule. In 2024, two-way star Travis Hunter won the award, and guess what? That same year, Hunter also won the Biletnikoff, which Jeremiah Smith missed out on.

The fact that Hunter was arguably the best player in the country at two different positions simultaneously swayed voters. Apart from the Biletnikoff, Hunter also completed his award rack as the best defensive player, winning the Bednarik award. Unlike Hunter, who dominated on both offense and defense, Smith is a pure wide receiver, making his path to the Heisman more complicated.

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However, there is one exception to this: DeVonta Smith. Apart from numbers, the former Alabama wide receiver won because of the leadership mentality, especially in a crisis. DeVonte carried the offense after star WR Jaylen Waddle suffered a season-ending injury. During that time, his odds jumped from 60-1 in late October to the frontrunner position by December.

In contrast, Jeremiah Smith already plays alongside Julian Sayin, who was a 2025 Heisman finalist. And truth be told, bookmakers currently list him as the 2026 favorite (+1000 to +1300). Suppose Jeremiah Smith has an 1800-yard season, Sayin will automatically have better numbers.

Back at Tuscaloosa, DeVonta outshone his QB (Mac Jones), but that required him to lead the nation in every major category. DeVonta Smith averaged 142.8 yards per game and scored 23 touchdowns. Jeremiah Smith, while elite, finished 2025 with 1,243 yards and 12 touchdowns.

The Biletnikoff snub

Many analysts considered Jeremiah Smith the clear favorite to win the Biletnikoff Award. But as it turned out, USC’s Makai Lemon won the trophy. Lemon led the Big Ten with 1,156 receiving yards compared to Smith’s 942 yards during the regular season. However, Smith missed a game against Rutgers and half of a game against UCLA due to injury. This absence significantly reduced his regular-season production.

Ironically, voters chose Smith as the Big Ten Receiver of the Year over Lemon, and he finished sixth in Heisman voting while Lemon went unranked. If you have followed Smith’s career, you’d know that he doesn’t forget things.

The Buckeye wide receiver took it to heart when Michigan came to Columbus and beat Ohio State during the 2024 season. During the off-season, he gave several statements about the team up North. Ryan Day’s players went to Ann Arbor last year and demolished the home team. Going into his junior year, he is challenging himself again.

“Going into my junior year, I’m going to just be on go like every game. I feel like this year they took something from me, and everybody got paid for it. So, that’s why I feel like my junior be like I’m out for everybody.”