$4.2 Million WR Named Best Returning Player in College Football

Just over six months lie between the middle of February and the first weekend of the 2026 college football season.

Many of the stars from the 2025 college football season declared for the NFL draft in early January, but a sizable number will return for another season in the college ranks. One returning star likely entering his last season of college football is Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, whose dominance with the Buckeyes has taken the nation by storm.

The 6-foot-3, 223-pounder ranked as both the No. 1 wide receiver and No. 1 overall player in 2024 recruiting cycle when he committed to Ohio State. In a room that featured a future NFL starter in Emeka Egbuka, Smith caught 76 passes for 1,315 yards and 15 touchdowns, eclipsing 100 receiving yards five times during the Buckeyes' run to their first national championship victory in a decade.

Jeremiah Smith during the 2025 Rose Bowl. — Ohio State receiver Jeremiah Smith celebrates after a catch against Oregon on Jan. 1. | Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Big Ten named Smith Freshman of the Year, Wide Receiver of the Year and All-Big Ten First Team. Nationally, he received All-America First Team honors from USA Today and Offensive Freshman of the Year recognition from On3.

In 2025, Smith caught 87 passes for 1,243 yards and 12 touchdowns, going over 100 receiving yards in six different games. Again, the Big Ten named Smith the Wide Receiver of the Year and an All-Big Ten First Team selection.

He received consensus All-America honors but did not secure the Biletnikoff Award as the best wide receiver in the country, which went to fellow Big Ten wide receiver Makai Lemon instead.

Smith's dominance in the first two seasons of his college football career has cemented him as one of the top returning players in 2026. When Mark Schlabach of ESPN released his way-too-early All-America team, he argued Smith could be the best returning college football player.

"Arguably the best player coming back at any position in the FBS this season, Smith already has a highlight reel worthy of a 30 for 30 documentary," Schlabach wrote. "Per Pro Football Focus (PFF), he was the only receiver in the FBS with grades of 85 or better against both man-to-man and zone coverages."

Ohio State enters 2026 with a mindset of unfinished business. The Buckeyes sat at or near the top of the polls for the entirety of the regular season, the first time they finished a 12-game regular season unbeaten since 2019.

However, a Big Ten Championship loss to Indiana and a College Football Playoff quarterfinal exit closed the book on what could have been college football's first repeat national championship run in three years.