How Ohio State Can Use Jeremiah Smith's New ESPN Ranking On Recruiting Trail

Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith is widely regarded as the best player in college football heading into the 2025 season.

That shouldn't be surprising, either, because the Buckeyes' star is coming off a freshman season that saw him catch 76 passes for 1,315 yards and 15 touchdowns. Again, he was a freshman when he put up those numbers.

Imagine what he'll be able to do with another offseason under his belt of training, preparation, and experience...

That's why most feel that Smith is the hands down top player in the country, and you can add the folks at ESPN to that list of believers. In a ranking of the Top 100 players in the nation heading into the 2025 season, Smith landed on the list at No. 1 overall.

"Arguably the best player in college football, Smith broke the Big Ten freshman record with 1,315 receiving yards during Ohio State's 2024 national championship campaign. He also totaled five touchdowns in the Buckeyes' four playoff outings," ESPN's Jeremiah Trotter wrote. "With a season of experience behind him, Smith said he expects to play even faster this year. That's a scary proposition for the rest of the Big Ten."

Smith is a big-time player for the Buckeyes in the here and now, but Ryan Day and his staff can also use their wideout's superstar status to their advantage on the recruiting trail.

It's something OSU has been doing for years, anyhow. Smith is far from the only star wide receiver to come through Columbus. Heck, the NFL is littered with former Buckeye receivers.

Still, it's powerful to go up to a top wide receiver recruit and boast that you have not just the top wideout in the nation on your roster, but the seemingly consensus top player overall. The Buckeyes are in the running for several elite wide receivers on the recruiting trail, and they'd be wise to use that pitch over and over again.

"If you want to be the next Jeremiah Smith...come to Ohio State."

Top 2027 wideout targets for Ohio State include 5-star Monshun Sales, 4-star Dakota Guerrant, 4-star Myles McAfee and 4-star Quentin Hale. The Buckeyes are also strongly in the early running for 2028 5-star wide receiver Brysen Wright, who is ranked as the No. 1 overall 2018 recruit in the country, according to Rivals.

At one time, Smith was also the top recruit overall in the country, so imagine just how much his presence at OSU can help the Buckeyes with a recruit like Wright.

It's almost too easy, in theory. Now let's see if Day and his staff can use it to their advantage.