Josh Pate Passes on Jeremiah Smith While Naming College Football's Most Dangerous Star

Josh Pate believes this college football player will be more explosive in 2025 than Jeremiah Smith.

Aug 31, 2024; Columbus, OH, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes wide receiver Jeremiah Smith (4) celebrates a touchdown by wide receiver Carnell Tate (17) during the second half of the NCAA football game against the Akron Zips at Ohio Stadium. Ohio State won 52-6. | Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

2026 marks the final chapter in the legacies of several college football stars.

Every player on his final leg of his college football career wants the rest of the sport to consider him "dangerous." These labels have already been attributed to players like Arch Manning and Dante Moore in the months leading up to the 2026 season.

A common answer across college football for the most dangerous player in 2026 is Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith.

The 6-foot-3, 223-pounder established a name for himself as the most dominant wide receiver in the sport the minute he suited up for the Buckeyes; in two seasons at Ohio State, Smith has caught 163 passes for 2,558 yards and 27 touchdowns with fairly symmetrical outputs across both seasons.

Smith's reign of dominance, mixed with Ohio State's disappointing College Football Playoff exit, should propel him to a season that is enough for NFL franchises to select him at or near the top of the 2027 NFL draft.

Josh Pate provided a very different answer about the most dangerous college football player on a recent edition of On3's "Crain & Cone."

"Now that people know that Trinidad Chambliss is going to play, most still have him outside the top 10 (players). I thought he was the most dangerous player in the tournament last year," Pate said.

"If they've got him, that makes him the most dangerous player in the sport to me this year. It's not a one-man show; it's not just him coming back, he's got a supporting cast. It may not be a vintage Miami roster, but it's a good enough roster."

Smith and Chambliss' paths to stardom could not be more opposite if they tried. Recruiting services heralded Smith as the generational wide receiver prospect the same way many across the college football landscape now view him, ranking him as the No. 1 overall prospect in the class of 2024.

Chambliss spent four years at Division II Ferris State before taking the leap to the SEC in the 2025 offseason.

The supporting cast around Chambliss in 2026

Ole Miss Rebels running back Kewan Lacy (5) runs for a touchdown against the Miami Hurricanes during the 2026 Fiesta Bowl | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

The Rebels boast arguably the top backfield tandem in the country with Chambliss and running back Kewan Lacy. Chambliss threw for 3,937 yards, 22 touchdowns and three interceptions while rushing for 527 yards and eight touchdowns in 2025.

Lacy ran for the third-most yards and second-most touchdowns in FBS at 1,567 and 24, trailing former North Texas and current Oklahoma State running back Caleb Hawkins in the latter.

Aside from his backfield mate, new faces comprise much of the offense.

Only two of the Rebels' top seven pass catchers from a season ago return in 2026, and they brought over former East Carolina offensive coordinator John David Baker to replace the outgoing Charlie Weis Jr. But if Chambliss can produce at a high level with new pieces after jumping from Division II to the SEC, what will impede him in 2026?

"When you get this transcendent, magician-type talent at quarterback, you just have to be within a nine-iron talent-wise because that guy can collectively raise the output so much," Pate said. "Yes, they can win it, yes, they're underrated.

"Do a few more things have to thread the needle for them? Of course. Will they have to win some circus 43-38 type outcomes? Yeah, but that's always going to be the script with him."