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Ohio St. wide receiver Jeremiah Smith developing into a top 2027 NFL Draft prospect
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- Ohio St. wide receiver Jeremiah Smith developing into a top 2027 NFL Draft prospect
It's never took early to look ahead to the next draft after the upcoming draft, and 2027 figures to be a loaded class with plenty of top tier prospects.
And the bluest of the blue chip prospects is probably Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, the top ranked high school recruit in the 2024 class. He's also the highest-rated wide receiver in high school recruiting history, and, by some metrics, the 9th highest rated recruit of all time.
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With 76 catches for 1,315 yards and 15 touchdowns last season, he broke the FBS freshman receiving record, en route to helping Ohio State win the national championship. And having a rookie campaign like that just raised the roof on expectations for Smith.
Entering the season, legendary former USC quarterback and co-host of FOX Big Noon Kickoff Matt Leinart picked Smith to win the Heisman Trophy.
"I would say let's do Jeremiah Smith at Ohio State," the 2004 Heisman winner and national champion predicted in an exclusive with RG.org .
"We saw DeVonta Smith win the Heisman not too long ago, so we definitely have seen that and I think for the first time, there's not going to be votes stolen from him. In the sense of like Julian Sayin, the young quarterback, even if he has a big year, I don't think he's going to be in that consideration so Jeremiah's got a shot to like really be the guy at Ohio State as long as they win, you know he's gonna be up there, he's phenomenal."
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Leinart, who left USC as the school's all-time leader in TD passes and completion percentage, may be on to something, but likely not for this season. Smith, the latest in the line of stellar pass-catchers who are maintaining Ohio State's reputation at Wide Receiver U, entered Saturday night's prime time clash with Minnesota has 35 catches for 463 yards and six touchdowns. Stellar numbers to be sure, but not quite Heisman level; especially in this day and age where quarterbacks dominate the award.
Still we're only in midseason of Smith's sophomore campaign- he has plenty of OSU and college football history books to rewrite yet. Ohio State alum Jaxon Smith-Njigba entered the 2023 NFL Draft as the highest rated receiver in the class .
He was indeed the first wideout off the boards, going 20th overall to the Seattle Seahawks . Smith-Njigba is currently second in the NFL in receiving yards, and he's coming off a Pro Bowl appearance and 1,000 yard season.
He believes that Smith could end up being better than many former Buckeyes WRs, including himself even,
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Seattle Seahawks receiver and discussed the outlook for Smith in the NFL, predicting he could surpass many of the Buckeyes wide receivers who have turned pro.
"I mean, I think his ceiling is farther than I would say a lot of us," Smith-Njigba said during an appearance on The Rich Eisen Show , "I would say definitely myself."
"A person that can create and eat at all three levels, and just a competitor. The competitive spirit, you can just see it when he's out there."
Smith-Njigba then put it very plainly, about Smith:
"He's going to be a superstar."
This article originally appeared on Draft Wire: Jeremiah Smith could be the top prospect in the 2027 NFL Draft
