When it comes to college football, the best player, regardless of position has been Jeremiah Smith for the last few years and will most likely be again next season. Despite believing he’s the best player in the country, former Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer predicts Jeremiah Smith will suffer the same fate as Julian Sayin, favoring the best returning quarterback for the 2026 season instead.

Even though everyone knows he’s the biggest fan of Jeremiah Smith, Meyer actually picked Oregon Ducks’ Dante Moore as his “way-too-early” Heisman winner during a recent episode of The Triple Option podcast. But then again, Meyer has some pretty specific reasons for why he’s leaning toward the Oregon quarterback this time around.

“I’m going to go with Dante Moore (for the Heisman),” Meyer made a heartbreaking prediction. “You know, he came, could have went to the NFL. I love the kid, I love his staff. I think Oregon’s going to be right there at the end again. But just looking at these odds, I wonder why Arch Manning, CJ Carr, and Josh Hoover have better odds when, statistically, Dante had a better year.

It’s interesting how Vegas does that, you know. But I think the best player is going to be Jeremiah Smith, but that’s hard for a receiver to win it.”

Meyer’s case for Jeremiah Smith winning the Heisman is about history. The three-time national champion coach noted that it’s hard for wide receivers to win, as the award mostly goes to quarterbacks. While he likes Smith, he prefers choosing the player who touches the ball every play. With Julian Sayin’s snub last season, Ohio State might face consecutive Heisman disappointments.

On the other hand, Meyer is really impressed with how Dante Moore has handled his career so far. He specifically mentioned how much he respected Moore for “buying his time” behind Dillon Gabriel last year, rather than just jumping into the transfer portal when things got tough.

Moore is returning to Oregon for 2026 to continue developing. Meyer believes patience will lead to a successful statistical season. Moore had a strong 2025 with 3,565 yards and 30 touchdowns, totaling over 5,000 yards in his career. With Oregon’s talented wide receivers, bigger numbers are possible.

Meyer even went so far as to question Vegas, noting that quarterbacks like Arch Manning (+750), Josh Hoover (+1100), and CJ Carr (+750) have better odds than the Ducks QB (+1400) for the Heisman. NFL Draft analyst for Fox Sports, Rob Rang, compared him to former Buckeyes gunslinger C.J. Stroud because of his ability to thread the needle on deep sideline passes. That’s the bar they have for him.

But just like CJ Stroud, not everything is perfect. Moore showed his limitations in both of their games against Indiana, their only two losses in an otherwise perfect season. Losing to the eventual champions may not be that bad, but it is also how they lost that leaves more questions around Moore.

The first saw 2 costly interceptions turn the tide against the Ducks. But the second saw an absolute blowout for which there was no coming back. A Heisman QB needs to lift everyone around them. A simple clean game from Moore was not enough for the Ducks to even compete against the Hoosiers during the playoffs. But despite all of this, the Heisman still stands out as a QB award, no matter how talented a WR can be.

While the debate between the flashy wideout and the steady quarterback heats up, Meyer is putting his money on the guy in the green and yellow. He basically sees it as a “best player” vs. “most likely to win” situation.

That brings us to the question: if Moore is the Heisman pick, what’s the ceiling for Jeremiah Smith?

Jeremiah Smith faces sky-high stakes in what could be his last run

Without Urban Meyer’s caution, expectations for Jeremiah Smith’s 2026 season are high, aiming for dominance. After narrowly missing awards in 2025, he enters this year motivated and warns rivals that “everybody’s got to pay for it.” Ohio State will probably feature him as the key player on its top-ranked offense.

With his old teammate Carnell Tate heading to the NFL, Smith is going to see a ridiculous amount of targets from quarterback Julian Sayin. If he stays healthy, a 1,500-yard season with 15 or more touchdowns is the realistic baseline everyone is looking for under Arthur Smith’s offense.

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As for his ceiling, we are talking about heights that wide receivers rarely reach. His absolute best-case scenario is becoming the first receiver to win the Heisman since DeVonta Smith back in 2020. He’s already there in 4th best odds (+1300) regardless of Meyer’s take. And the worst case has to be losing the Biletnikoff again after USC’s wideout Makai Lemon won last season.

But with expectations comes pressure and also a target behind his back. Every team will have number 4 circled in their defensive plans. There might be times where Smith would be used to draw out the defense so that other pass catchers can move the chains. Smith has shown that he can be unselfish in favor of the team’s overall win. But with this being his last year, he might want those touches, even if he is is in double coverage. First time OC Arthur Smith needs to be careful on how he uses this once in a generation player and get the best out of him.

When everything is said and done, Jeremiah has a legitimate chance to be end his Buckeye career as the most decorated player ever to wear the scarlet and gray.