Jami Jurich
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All Eyes on Jeremiah Smith: Freshman wide receiver is here to prove he’s more than just hype
Jami Jurich via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Jason Mowry/Getty Images
Anticipation has been building, and it’s almost time to see how the No. 1 recruit in the country lives up to expectations.
Every day from now until the start of the season, Land-Grant Holy Land is highlighting Ohio State football players that you should be watching this season. Check out all of our ”Player to Watch” articles to get ready for the season opener against Akron.
It is possible that Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith is not just the most hyped-up true freshman in the country this year; he might also be the most hyped-up true freshman in Ohio State history.
This is why, on the off-chance that you’re reading his name for the first time right now, I can assure you it won’t be the last.
It’s not surprising that there’s been much excitement around the 6-foot-3, 215-pound Smith. He is, after all, the top-rated recruit in his class. Just this week, he was named the CBS Sports Preseason Freshman of the Year.
Perhaps even more remarkable than the hype is the way Smith is already proving himself — before a single down of regular season football has been played.
In high school, Smith, who hails from Miami Gardens, Florida, put up two back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons, tallying over 3,000 receiving yards and 45 touchdowns for Chaminade-Madonna High School in Hollywood, Florida.
Since he set foot on campus, he’s done little to quell the expectations, becoming the fastest player to lose his black stripe since Urban Meyer started the tradition in 2012. He was the first freshman ever to be named an “Iron Buckeye,” a title awarded to one of the 10 strongest and toughest performers in offseason workouts.
And he’s not resting on his laurels.
Smith, the cousin of Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith, showed up ready to work, and despite a somewhat quiet Spring Game in which he had two receptions for 12 yards, his discipline and work ethic is already impressing coaches and earning him the respect of his teammates.
“He’s strong, he’s powerful and he’s big, but it’s his work ethic to me that just jumps out,” head coach Ryan Day recently said of Smith. “He’s physically tough — I mean physically, he’ll get after you. He takes his game very, very seriously. He puts the work in off the field.”
Spring practices had Smith dazzling folks with his route-running and catches worthy of an ESPN Top 10, and fall camp has been more of the same.
When the season begins in just a few weeks, Smith is expected to start. He joins a loaded wide receiver room that includes Emeka Egbuka, the most experienced of the bunch who decided to forgo the NFL Draft and return for a fourth season (presumably to up his stock out of the shadow of last year’s star and Heisman finalist Marvin Harrison, Jr.) and Carnell Tate, a former five-star recruit.
Egbuka and Tate would give opposing defenses nightmares even without Smith. With him, they become a truly dynamic group.
There is always the chance for growing pains—going from high school to college football includes a learning curve even for the most talented of athletes. But Smith is taking it all in stride, keeping his head down and focusing on the work to be done. The hype isn’t going to his head.
But Buckeye fans should mentally and physically prepare themselves to see what this guy can do in a game, because if he even gets within the ballpark of the buzz he’s generated, it’s going to be something special.
Some might even say it’s freakish, the kind of once-in-a-generation talent you’re lucky to be alive to see. That might be putting the cart before the horse, given that no football has been played yet, but if I were a betting woman, I would certainly feel comfortable putting money on it given what we’ve seen from him so far.
Continue reading...
Jami Jurich via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Jason Mowry/Getty Images
Anticipation has been building, and it’s almost time to see how the No. 1 recruit in the country lives up to expectations.
Every day from now until the start of the season, Land-Grant Holy Land is highlighting Ohio State football players that you should be watching this season. Check out all of our ”Player to Watch” articles to get ready for the season opener against Akron.
It is possible that Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith is not just the most hyped-up true freshman in the country this year; he might also be the most hyped-up true freshman in Ohio State history.
This is why, on the off-chance that you’re reading his name for the first time right now, I can assure you it won’t be the last.
It’s not surprising that there’s been much excitement around the 6-foot-3, 215-pound Smith. He is, after all, the top-rated recruit in his class. Just this week, he was named the CBS Sports Preseason Freshman of the Year.
Perhaps even more remarkable than the hype is the way Smith is already proving himself — before a single down of regular season football has been played.
In high school, Smith, who hails from Miami Gardens, Florida, put up two back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons, tallying over 3,000 receiving yards and 45 touchdowns for Chaminade-Madonna High School in Hollywood, Florida.
Since he set foot on campus, he’s done little to quell the expectations, becoming the fastest player to lose his black stripe since Urban Meyer started the tradition in 2012. He was the first freshman ever to be named an “Iron Buckeye,” a title awarded to one of the 10 strongest and toughest performers in offseason workouts.
Iron Sharpens Iron
@Jermiah_Smith1 x @DaveIgbinosun pic.twitter.com/x5Okmkevh2
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) August 7, 2024
And he’s not resting on his laurels.
Smith, the cousin of Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith, showed up ready to work, and despite a somewhat quiet Spring Game in which he had two receptions for 12 yards, his discipline and work ethic is already impressing coaches and earning him the respect of his teammates.
“He’s strong, he’s powerful and he’s big, but it’s his work ethic to me that just jumps out,” head coach Ryan Day recently said of Smith. “He’s physically tough — I mean physically, he’ll get after you. He takes his game very, very seriously. He puts the work in off the field.”
Spring practices had Smith dazzling folks with his route-running and catches worthy of an ESPN Top 10, and fall camp has been more of the same.
When the season begins in just a few weeks, Smith is expected to start. He joins a loaded wide receiver room that includes Emeka Egbuka, the most experienced of the bunch who decided to forgo the NFL Draft and return for a fourth season (presumably to up his stock out of the shadow of last year’s star and Heisman finalist Marvin Harrison, Jr.) and Carnell Tate, a former five-star recruit.
Egbuka and Tate would give opposing defenses nightmares even without Smith. With him, they become a truly dynamic group.
There is always the chance for growing pains—going from high school to college football includes a learning curve even for the most talented of athletes. But Smith is taking it all in stride, keeping his head down and focusing on the work to be done. The hype isn’t going to his head.
But Buckeye fans should mentally and physically prepare themselves to see what this guy can do in a game, because if he even gets within the ballpark of the buzz he’s generated, it’s going to be something special.
Some might even say it’s freakish, the kind of once-in-a-generation talent you’re lucky to be alive to see. That might be putting the cart before the horse, given that no football has been played yet, but if I were a betting woman, I would certainly feel comfortable putting money on it given what we’ve seen from him so far.
Continue reading...