Joel Klatt believes Jeremiah Smith can take Ohio State offense to the next level

Ohio State lost Marvin Harrison Jr., the No. 4 overall pick in this year’s NFL Draft, but got Jeremiah Smith, the No. 1 overall prospect in this year’s recruiting cycle.

Harrison was the Buckeyes’ WR1 last year. Smith could be the Buckeyes WR1 this year.

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Smith filled that role nicely in a 52-6, season-opening win over Akron last weekend when he caught six passes for 92 yards and two touchdowns. FOX Sports analyst Joel Klatt believes Smith’s first performance was even more impressive than the numbers he put up.

“Yeah, those [numbers] aren’t gonna blow your mind, but some of the catches that he made did,” Klatt said on his show Wednesday. “And in particular because of the style of catches that they were going to him for, which was, ‘If you’re 1-on-1, you’re getting the ball.’ …

“So then what does that mean? Well, if he’s him, as the kids say, then he will be the tide that rises all boats for Ohio State and their offense. If he wasn’t going to be him, then all of a sudden you can start to cheat as a defense, and you can commit resources to stopping the run, and you can make Will Howard’s life much more difficult.”

Klatt went on: “But if Jeremiah Smith is him, like he started to prove against Akron in some of those 1-on-1 situations, now you’ve got a problem as a defense, because he’s probably commanding a double team, which means the safety is high. If the safety’s high, then guess what, you can block everybody in the run front, at least to that side of the football, and that run game with Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson, even Will Howard himself, can start to get loose.”

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Klatt also pointed out that teams doubling Smith will likely leave Emeka Egbuka in single coverage. Egbuka, a senior wideout who already has a 1,000-yard receiving season under his belt, is capable of exposing a defense as well. So can sophomore wideout Carnell Tate, who found the end zone in the opener, too.

Klatt acknowledged that, normally, a quarterback’s play or ability is what will influence an opposing defense’s structure — and that, normally, wide receiver is a dependent position. But Smith, like Harrison, is the kind of player defenses have to commit resources to defending.

“I don’t think this offense is even going to need to score 40 points because of what they do on defense and how good they can be on defense,” Klatt said, “but I guarantee you this, if [Smith’s] him, then watch out, because that offense can be explosive.”

Chip Kelly explains why he had so much confidence in Jeremiah Smith during Ohio State debut

Smith dropped his first career receiving target. If he had caught the screen pass, the true freshman wideout could have turned the second play of Ohio State’s season opener into a crowd-inspiring, breakaway touchdown. That’s how well Buckeyes offensive coordinator Chip Kelly drew it up.

The drop didn’t deter Kelly from calling Smith-focused plays the rest of the day, though. Neither did a false start penalty the very next snap.

“I’ve been around here since March,” Kelly said with a smile. “And he’s been doing a lot of really, really good things. So I don’t think that was a surprise to anybody that he’s going to be a featured guy in this offense. We obviously saw it.

“Besides that first drop, the rest of the game, I thought he played really, really well.”

Smith scored not one but two touchdowns in his Ohio State debut, a blowout victory over Akron. He’s the first Ohio State freshman to score two receiving touchdowns in his debut since Michael Wiley did it against Rice in 1996. Smith’s first three catches last weekend came on third down. Of his six catches, five moved the chains or ended with six points.