$4.2 Million College Football WR Named Generational Talent

More than a month has passed since the conclusion of the 2025 college football season.

Many of the stars from the 2025 college football season are off to the 2026 NFL draft, but a sizable number will return to college in 2026. One key player from the 2025 season set to return is Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, whose two-year run of dominance has earned him hordes of attention in the national spotlight.

The 6-foot-3, 223-pounder committed to Ohio State as the No. 1 wide receiver in the 2024 recruiting class. He emerged as the most productive wide receiver in a room that returned an eventual first-round NFL draft pick in Emeka Egbuka.

Smith caught 76 passes for 1,315 yards and 15 touchdowns in 2024, eclipsing 100 receiving yards in five different games during the Buckeyes' run to their first national championship victory in a decade.

The Big Ten named Smith the Wide Receiver of the Year, Freshman of the Year and All-Big Ten First Team for his prolific first season of college football. USA Today tabbed Smith as an All-America First Team selection, and On3 named him its Offensive Freshman of the Year.

Jeremiah Smith during the 2025 Rose Bowl. — Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith at the Rose Bowl | Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Smith mirrored his 2024 production in the 2025 season. He led Ohio State in receiving by nearly 40 receptions and 500 yards, finishing the year with 87 receptions for 1,243 yards and 12 touchdowns. He went over 100 receiving yards in six different games, two of which were in the postseason.

Once again, the Big Ten named Smith Receiver of the Year and All-Big Ten First Team. He was unanimously recognized as an All-American and finished second in the voting for the Biletnikoff Award, an accolade given to the best wide receiver in college football. Fellow All-Big Ten First Team selection Makai Lemon was the 2025 Biletnikoff Award recipient.

Smith's dominance in 2024 and 2025 has earned him numerous epithets from the college football media landscape. Pro Football Focus labeled Smith as "generational" in an Instagram post it released on Thursday.

Smith returns to an Ohio State team that feels it has unfinished business to settle heading into the 2026 season. The Buckeyes sat atop the rankings for much of the 2025 regular season and only found themselves in one one-score game amid the 12-0 run.

Ohio State's effort to repeat as a national champion was foiled in the month of December. In a game that would have guaranteed it the No. 1 overall seed in the College Football Playoff, Ohio State fell to Indiana in the Big Ten Championship. The Buckeyes were eliminated in the quarterfinals of the 2025-2026 College Football Playoff by Miami.