• New here? Register here now for access to all the forums, download game torrents, private messages, polls, Sportsbook, etc. Plus, stay connected and follow BP on Instagram @buckeyeplanet and Facebook.

LGHL Where does Ohio State receiver Jeremiah Smith go from here?

Where does Ohio State receiver Jeremiah Smith go from here?
Michael Citro
via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Syndication: The Columbus Dispatch

Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

After a historic freshman campaign, where exactly can Smith go next, and will working with a first-year starting quarterback hurt his production?

No one needed scouts and coaches telling to tell them Jeremiah Smith would be a great college wide receiver. His name has been on the lips of recruiting services for a while, and his physique alone would suggest there was something special about the Buckeye out of Miami Gardens, Florida.

Still, it was a surprise how quickly Smith adapted to the college game. He looked like a veteran from the jump, compiling 92 yards and scoring two touchdowns in his first college game.

In his next six games, he scored a touchdown in each one and posted two 100-yard receiving days on his way to school freshman records for most receiving yards (1,315), receptions (76), and touchdowns (15), torching the old marks set by Cris Carter that had stood for four decades.

A lot of great wide receivers have come through Ohio State in the last 40 years — some of the best of those coming in the last decade during the modern game’s pass-happy offense, yet it took someone as special as Smith to rewrite the OSU record book, bumping the legendary Carter down to second.

With Smith as the biggest weapon, Ohio State won its first national championship of the Ryan Day era, becoming the first school to win the 12-team College Football Playoff and navigating the most difficult postseason schedule in college football history.

All of this begs the question: what comes next for Smith?

The Hurdles


Every team is different from year to year, and Ohio State is losing a lot of players from the 2024 national championship roster. Most importantly for Smith, that includes the loss of starting quarterback Will Howard, both star running backs — TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins — key offensive linemen, and veteran receiver Emeka Egbuka.

Howard’s departure is probably the most direct action that will affect Smith. It will be difficult to reproduce Smith’s freshman totals with a first-year starter. Julian Sayin is the favorite to take over for Howard, but it’s premature to assume he’s got the job. His biggest competition will likely come from Lincoln Kienholz and talented newcomer Tavien St. Clair.

Any of them will need to learn on the job. It’s helpful to have a go-to guy like Smith to make the transition easier, especially when you can rely on someone of his caliber to bail you out whenever in doubt. That’s where the loss of Egbuka, Henderson, Judkins and the departing linemen is felt.

Ohio State may not have quite as dependable a rushing game in 2025, meaning the offense could be put in more obvious passing downs during the upcoming season. Someone will need to fill Egbuka’s shoes. That will likely be Carnell Tate, but someone then must become the next Tate, because he was a solid No. 3 in 2024, amassing 52 receptions, 733 yards, and four touchdowns.

Tate will need to make a big leap to account for about an additional 30 catches, 300 yards, and six touchdowns to get to Egbuka’s level and take heat off of Smith. Brandon Inniss — or someone else — will have to make an even bigger leap to reach Tate’s 2024 level. All of this is to say Smith may be required to make more plays in 2025. He’s capable, but he may draw a lot more attention unless others can prove dangerous enough to draw some attention away.

Then there’s just the old proverbial sophomore slump. There’s no reason Smith can’t continue developing under Brian Hartline and raise his level, given his obvious talent. However, Ohio State fans have seen standout freshmen take backward steps before. Players with a season’s worth of film available can reveal potential weaknesses that opponents can work on exploiting. At that point, it’s up to the sophomore to make the next adjustment just to stay at the same level.

So, there are some roadblocks that Smith will deal with in 2025.

The Potential


Despite all of the above, Smith is simply a generational talent, and it will be difficult to opponents to stop him even with outstanding game plans. It’s tough to scheme around a guy who can make one-handed circus catches in the back of the end zone despite good coverage. Sometimes talent simply wins.

The number of commentators, coaches, and scouts who have already said Smith could play in the NFL right now is much greater than one. There’s a reason they’re saying it, and that reason is because it’s true. Smith could step into the NFL, start, and be a productive receiver tomorrow. That’s a product of his physical attributes — size, speed, and strength — as it is the intangibles, which include his work ethic, attitude towards constant improvement, and study of the game.

With all of that on his side, Smith could eclipse his 2024 numbers even with a first-year starter at quarterback, a reduced OSU running game, and a lack of a third receiver finding the level Tate reached last year. He’s simply got that much potential for growth.



However his 2025 season turns out, whenever Smith is on the field, he’ll be the one everyone watches — fans, opposing players and coaches, commentators, and NFL scouts.

Continue reading...

Jake Diebler (Head Coach)

Bjork had a LOT of pressure from former players to hire Diebler.

Not saying that is an excuse but when you're new on the job and have that many prominent alumni stumping for Diebler, it's a tough call.

I'd say it's still an excuse. Bjork is the one in charge, not former players, if we are going to have a lame duck AD with no balls to make choices of his own then we are stuck in this position for a long time.
Upvote 0

People to Punch, Pet Peeves, and General Vexations (mega-merge)

I don't know that I'd bother correcting anything people say. And that's especially true of people who are speaking English as a second+ language. If he's someone I know well, and I think he'd like to improve on his grammar, I'd help. But I wouldn't want to be annoying about it.
I took French in 7th - 10th grades. I hated it, and couldn't tell you anything in French. But my son is learning German, so I got DuoLingo and am trying to learn some. But I know what you're talking about. It's something like, "I am hiking" and "I hike" translate to the same in German. So, I can understand how learning English is difficult.
Duolingo is a FANTASTIC app for translating or learning a new language!
Upvote 0

Heimlich maneuver

The first was prime rib on Christmas Day and one piece had a string of fat connecting it to another piece and it was like a wine cork in my wind pipe, not a molecule of air was getting by.

My brother in-law did the heimlich while my wife did the finger swipe of my mouth, taught in first aid, and the finger swipe ultimately got it out. That one was the scariest as it was probably nearly minute before I could breathe.

Last night was a dinner roll, I immediately put hands to neck and got on my knees for the heimlich since I am a foot taller than my wife and on your knees is easier for people shorter than you and she again did the finger swipe.

We are ordering "Life Vacs" as a result.
I had to google “Life Vacs”, I hadn’t heard of those, but if you ever need one that’s money well spent.
Upvote 0

Jake Diebler (Head Coach)

It's gonna be hard for anyone to convince me and the others who think the same that hiring a assistant of the failed coach they just fired, without even looking at anyone else at all was the "right move". I know there is no assurance that anyone else woulda worked out any better, but the lack of trying just shows the lack of care by the Athletic Department for anything outside of the football program. There's no excuse for a program with our resources being stuck in a long stretch of NIT or worse level basketball in this day and age.
Bjork had a LOT of pressure from former players to hire Diebler.

Not saying that is an excuse but when you're new on the job and have that many prominent alumni stumping for Diebler, it's a tough call.
Upvote 0

People to Punch, Pet Peeves, and General Vexations (mega-merge)

Mexicans who are learning English tend to say things like "more better" and "I'm agree" instead of "I agree". The latter is because there's no infinitive for agree in Spanish and they say "estoy de acuerdo" which would roughly literally translate to "I'm agree". I'm the annoying gringo that makes sure they're corrected. I find myself correcting their Spanish a lot too.
I don't know that I'd bother correcting anything people say. And that's especially true of people who are speaking English as a second+ language. If he's someone I know well, and I think he'd like to improve on his grammar, I'd help. But I wouldn't want to be annoying about it.
I took French in 7th - 10th grades. I hated it, and couldn't tell you anything in French. But my son is learning German, so I got DuoLingo and am trying to learn some. But I know what you're talking about. It's something like, "I am hiking" and "I hike" translate to the same in German. So, I can understand how learning English is difficult.
Upvote 0

Heimlich maneuver

What were you eating?
The first was prime rib on Christmas Day and one piece had a string of fat connecting it to another piece and it was like a wine cork in my wind pipe, not a molecule of air was getting by.

My brother in-law did the heimlich while my wife did the finger swipe of my mouth, taught in first aid, and the finger swipe ultimately got it out. That one was the scariest as it was probably nearly minute before I could breathe.

Last night was a dinner roll, I immediately put hands to neck and got on my knees for the heimlich since I am a foot taller than my wife and on your knees is easier for people shorter than you and she again did the finger swipe.

We are ordering "Life Vacs" as a result.
Upvote 0

Ohio State Men's Ice Hockey (2019 B1G Champions)

I see no way that we can backdoor our way into a 2 seed while losing to Sparty.

Right now, it's
5 W Michigan
6 BU
7 UCONN
8 Providence
9 Ohio State
9 Denver

WMU and Denver play each other in their championship game as do BU and UCONN. Providence is done. The win at #2 Sparty should be enough to let us jump Providence and the BU/UCONN loser. As for WMU/Denver, I'd root for WMU and get Denver completely out of our way. At the end of the day, I still think we control our own destiny in East Lansing.
Upvote 0

Jake Diebler (Head Coach)

Everyone is replaceable. Everyone. That being said, doing it right is the tough part. You actually have to know what you're doing. There are enough resources at OSU that they should be able to field a team that finishes in the upper half of the B1G on a regular basis. I don't agree with the idea that Diebler isn't a good fit for the program. He makes sense, he's just got to get the right blend of talent.

It's gonna be hard for anyone to convince me and the others who think the same that hiring a assistant of the failed coach they just fired, without even looking at anyone else at all was the "right move". I know there is no assurance that anyone else woulda worked out any better, but the lack of trying just shows the lack of care by the Athletic Department for anything outside of the football program. There's no excuse for a program with our resources being stuck in a long stretch of NIT or worse level basketball in this day and age.
Upvote 0

Jake Diebler (Head Coach)

The loss to NW game would be the one I would refer to specifically on that category. There has to be a ton of improvement next season or he's out. Problem is that we don't have a ton of talent returning and the incoming recruiting class is thin on numbers, so I just don't see it happening unless we kill it in the portal. Even if we return the entire team, we return a a team that was barely above .500. Bottom line is that I don't see this working out absent a miracle next season.

Yea I expect it to get worse before it gets better. There's ZERO enthusiasm about the program and no doubt that's gonna trickle down to players. good luck getting any good players from the portal to jump on to a stale sinking ship.

This all starts up top with the AD. Him coming out and happily saying that Diebler "met expectations" with a 10th place B1G finish, 1st round B1G tournament out to the 15 seed and a NIT birth shows how the hoops program is viewed, they don't care. And then they wonder why a lot of fans don't care and the atmosphere for home games stinks.
Upvote 0

2024-2025 College Basketball General Discussion

I know I'm kind of reversing myself here, but once you get to at-large teams on the bubble, there's a decent argument for picking teams based on viewer interest. It's not like any of them are going to affect who the eventual champion is anyway. What's the point of a game that nobody will watch and will have no impact on the tournament?
oh....i dunno.....fairness? rewarding teams who earned it? not giving in to corporate bullshit capitalism?
Upvote 0

Filter

Back
Top