Cardale Jones: Jeremiah Smith will be 'one of the best receivers in college football history'

Jeremiah Smith hasn’t even finished his freshman season at Ohio State and his name is already being thrown around amongst the all-time great Buckeyes. Former OSU quarterback Cardale Jones only expect Smith’s reputation to grow as time goes on. During an appearance on Until Saturday, Jones raved about the first-year wide receiver.

“It’s tough when you say all-time greats of Ohio State history because you have to go back to some guys like Cris Carter, Terry Glenn, David Boston, Ted Ginn Jr. and Super Bowl MVP Santonio Holmes,” Jones said when asked where Smith ranks among OSU’s all-time greats. “Out of respect to those greats, I can’t put him in the top five yet.

“Jeremiah Smith is going to be one of the best receivers in college football history, not just Ohio State history when his three years are up before he’s draft eligible. If he has halfway decent of a season this next year that he’s had his freshman year, and halfway of that the following year, his third year, he’s still going to go down as a top two or three receiver in college football history.”

Smith is certainly on an excellent trajectory. The former five-star prospect has tallied 71 catches for 1,227 yards and 14 touchdowns this season — team-highs in the latter two categories.

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Texas was forced to key in on Smith in the Cotton Bowl Classic after he erupted for seven catches, 187 yards and two touchdowns in the Buckeyes’ 41-21 blowout win over Oregon in the College Football Playoff semifinals.

Smith’s 187 receiving yards were the most by a freshman in a single game in program history, shattering Cris Carter’s previous record of 172 yards.

While the performance was Smith’s most impressive yet, it was far from his first standout showing. Smith also hauled in six catches for 103 yards and two scores in OSU’s win over Tennessee in the opening round of the CFP.

Now, with only the National Championship left on Ohio State’s schedule, Jeremiah Smith has one more chance this season to add to his already impressive legacy. Ohio State head coach Ryan Day is confident Smith will step up under the spotlight.

“We know typically how teams are going to take a look at us and play us,” Day said. “They’re going to play some man, and they’ll certainly know where Jeremiah is, and then they’ll play some one high and they’ll play some two high and they’ll mix it up.

“But ultimately at the end of the day we’ve got to execute at a high level and continue to move the ball down the field, so we’ll do the same thing this week. We’ll put our game plan together. But he’s obviously a huge part of our offense.”