Devy Digest: Freshman Friday- Jeremiah Smith

The Devy Digest, Freshman Friday’s – featuring Ohio State WR Jeremiah Smith.

• Jeremiah Smith
• Ohio State University
  
• Position: Wide Receiver
  
• 6’3” 210 lbs
  
• Draft Eligible: 2027
• Devy Digest Freshman WR Rank: 2

Who is Jeremiah Smith?

Jeremiah Smith is a 5⭐️ in the composites and attended Chaminade-Madonna Prep in Florida. He was teammates with JoJo Trader; and Smith is cousins with current Seattle Seahawks QB, Geno Smith. Smith held 40 offers and made multiple visits between Ohio State, Florida State and Miami before ultimately signing his letter of intent with Ohio State.

Smith wins with size, speed, and strength to go along with route refinement. He’s very good route runner who glides on the football field. Smith’s hip fluidity allows him to accelerate in and out of breaks without losing integrity of his routes, keeping corners on their heels. He has very strong hands to go along with elite ball tracking and will high point the ball and make exceptional plays. What makes Smith so dangerous and unique, can be attributed to his late growth spurt.

Smith was a 5’9” WR early in high school. That forced him to learn to win with technique and precision – along with suddenness and change of direction. Smith hit that growth spurt his Sophomore year and never lost those traits. Instead, he gained strength and length to make him the complete package we have in front of our very eyes. Size, speed, strength, and route running savviness. All are strengths to his game.

Smith can win after the catch as well, but isn’t as creative as others in this class. He runs a full route tree and uses his skillset to manipulate the defender. Smith has an arsenal of ways to win off the line. He projects as a true “X” Receiver and should take over the Marvin Harrison Jr role.

Pathway to Success

Jeremiah Smith should garner playing time early if he doesn’t already win a starting position by the end of fall camp. If that happens, it would be a surprise if he wasn’t worked in early and often. In this NIL world, with Smith flirting with Florida State (and Miami) at the very end of his recruitment, Ohio State will need to keep him happy and on the field.

It’ll be interesting to see if Smith takes the Marvin Harrison “X” role and if Carnell Tate moves to the “Y” and rotates with Mylan Graham, another true Freshman. Or perhaps the slot position becomes the spot we need to watch with Mylan Graham and Brandon Inniss. At the time of this writing, Emeka Egbuka, has not made his decision on entering the NFL draft. If he stays it could further muddy the position.

Jeremiah Smith OSU WR pic.twitter.com/kxoR9BzXHn

— Eric (@BrEazyE44) December 20, 2023

Areas for Improvements & Concerns

The main concern for Jeremiah Smith is playing time. It remains to be seen how Ohio State will balance their talented group of wide receivers. Smith had said multiple times that he was committed to Ohio State, but kept visiting schools in Florida. There’s slight concern that Smith could be unhappy with his playing time as a true Freshman (or just wants to be closer to home), and transfers to Florida State or Miami.

There’s more stability at Ohio State than any of the Florida schools, but the NIL era is real. If those Florida schools really want Smith, they will have the funds from their NIL collective that they can offer him a more lucrative deal than Ohio State.

Ohio State also has a glaring weakness at the quarterback position. Devin Brown appears to be the guy for 2024. There’s always the portal for after the Spring game (that can change things), but as of this writing, it is Devin Brown, Luke Kienholz, and incoming true Freshman Air Noland. That is the weakness.

We know Ryan Day wants a QB who will distribute, get the offense ahead of the chains, and get the ball to the playmakers and have them create. Timing and rhythm is important. Devin Brown is a QB who likes to extend plays, move around the pocket and find the big play. He likes to have receivers work back to him as the play breaks down. That is the exact opposite of what Ryan Day wants. Air Noland is the type of quarterback that fits the system, but it’s unlikely he is given the keys as a True Freshman. The position is worth monitoring for the entire Ohio State WR room.

Devy & C2C Value

Micah Hudson (who we covered last week) and Jeremiah Smith should be the top two picks in Devy drafts. There are three tier 1 Wide Receivers – and they are two of them. While Smith has a muddier picture of playing time as a True Freshman, he comes from a factory that produces first round pick after first round pick. As long as Brian Hartline is there, that pipeline will be strong with the NFL. For Devy, it’s a safer bet to take these guys over a quarterback in any format.

For C2C supplemental drafts, Smith should be a top 2 pick as well. Arguments can be made that he should be the 1.01 in this format, too. Smith has potentially the highest ceiling of any player in this recruiting class. In startups, it’s not out of the question that he should be an early second round pick to a late third round pick – even with the influx of talent at Ohio State. Smith is perhaps the most well-known name in this class. A manager could theoretically take him at 1.01, trade him to the manager with the 1.03 and pick up a potential 3rd round supplemental pick and a fringe NFL dynasty asset.

NFL Outlook

Ohio State has a track record of first round wide receivers and Smith could continue that legacy. Jeremiah Smith has been compared to Juli0 Jones, and it’s a comp I wholeheartedly agree with. Smith brings a unique set of size, speed, physicality and hand strength that the NFL is always looking for. He could easily become a top 15 NFL pick. On paper, he has the potential to be the most well-rounded receiver of this recruiting class and can eventually be the WR1 of the 2027 NFL draft class.