Josh Dooley
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Unreasonable Expectations: Jeremiah Smith will sniff 1,000 yards as a true freshman
Josh Dooley 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/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Smith has the potential to break records and do something special in Columbus... But C.J. Stroud ain’t walking through that proverbial door, folks.
From now until preseason camp starts in August, Land-Grant Holy Land will be writing articles around a different theme every week. This week is all about our Unreasonable Expectations. You can catch up on all of the Theme Week content here and all of our Unreasonable Expectations here.
All-world talent and freshman wide receiver Jeremiah Smith is quite possibly the most hyped newcomer to ever suit up for the Ohio State Buckeyes. Like, ever, in any sport. And it’s pretty easy to see why, right?
The top overall recruit in the 2024 class. 6-foot-3, 215 or so pounds at 18 years old. Big. Fast. Powerful. Frightening? Runs routes like a seasoned vet, with the body control of a ballerina and hands that resemble a bench vise. The kid is an absolute freak, in the best way possible. Even calling him a kid seems disrespectful to his otherworldly potential.
So I apologize to OSU’s extraterrestrial being in the No. 4 jersey.
But as freaky and talented as this particular alien is, he can only be in one place at any given time. He can only catch what is thrown his way. He can’t throw passes to himself. Oh, and he will be sharing the football field with at least a few other players (Buckeyes) who may tap further into their own freakish abilities under the tutelage of both Ryan Day AND Chip Kelly.
So where exactly am I going with all of this? I’m glad you asked.
This week at LGHL, our content theme is Unreasonable Expectations. To me, this means expectations that some or many people have, that are not (remotely?) likely to happen. Expectations that we have been tricked into believing, despite the absence of any evidence or reason... Hence, unreasonable expectations.
Cutting to the chase, the Unreasonable Expectation that I want to warn people about pertains specifically to Jeremiah Smith. I am here to tell you that it is completely unreasonable for you, me, or anybody else to expect him to even sniff 1,000 receiving (or scrimmage) yards as a true freshman. It just ain’t happening, folks. And it has nothing to do with how special Smith is or eventually will be.
There are actually several reasons why such high expectations are completely unreasonable. The list of such starts with Will Howard... And/or Emeka Egbuka. And/or TreVeyon Henderson. And/or Quinshon Judkins. And/or a host of other Ohio State skill players.
There are simply too many mouths to feed in Columbus and only one football to go around.
Howard will likely be the one distributing said football, and when he is not handing it off to the best running back duo in the country or running the rock himself, he will be tasked with getting it to not only Egbuka and Smith but also Carnell Tate, Brandon Inniss, and others.
It’s a great problem to have, but OSU just has too many talented players and pass catchers. Which is why I don’t see one – a true freshman WR no less – dominating touches and/or targets.
And when the ball does get put in the air, let’s face it: Howard is not exactly C.J. Stroud. Not to say the former can’t be a very, very, very effective QB for the Scarlet and Gray, but he (Howard) owns a 59% career completion percentage and has thrown for roughly 5,800 yards in 34 collegiate games. Stroud, on the other hand, completed 69% of his passes and put up 8,100 yards in 25 games as a Buckeye...
So unless Howard takes a giant leap forward or Smith absolutely dominates in target share, I don’t see a path to huge yardage totals for the freshman wideout.
Sticking with target share for a minute, I would be shocked if Smith sees more targets than Egbuka and mildly surprised if he sees more than Tate. I think some people forget how damn good a healthy Egbuka is and can be, and Tate is a special player in his own right.
Beyond those two, keep an eye on Henderson and whoever starts at tight end. Not to say a RB or TE will receive more total targets than Smith, but it’s worth pointing out that at Kansas State last season, Howard’s primary target was TE Ben Sinnott, and his top two RB combined to reel in 46 total receptions.
Now admittedly, Howard has never had access to a plethora of four and five-star playmakers like he does in Columbus. But he has also never shown the ability to string together multiple 300-yard games at seemingly any level. So I don’t think Ohio State fans should expect aerial fireworks on a consistent basis — and that’s ok. Because if Howard resembles something between a poor man’s Josh Allen and a current-day Josh Allen, then the Buckeyes will be very, very successful this season.
Also working against Smith is a little thing called history. In the great and storied history of OSU football, no freshman WR has even surpassed 500 receiving yards... 500. And there are people out there who think that Smith might approach 1,000!? Again, it just ain’t happening folks. It’s unreasonable to put those expectations on the uber-talented freshman. But none of this means that Smith – and the Buckeyes – can’t and/or won’t be awesome in 2024 and beyond!
And that’s all that matters, right? We just want Ohio State to steamroll opponents. So throw expectations out the window and enjoy the show; something that Smith is very likely to put on.
Continue reading...
Josh Dooley 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/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Smith has the potential to break records and do something special in Columbus... But C.J. Stroud ain’t walking through that proverbial door, folks.
From now until preseason camp starts in August, Land-Grant Holy Land will be writing articles around a different theme every week. This week is all about our Unreasonable Expectations. You can catch up on all of the Theme Week content here and all of our Unreasonable Expectations here.
All-world talent and freshman wide receiver Jeremiah Smith is quite possibly the most hyped newcomer to ever suit up for the Ohio State Buckeyes. Like, ever, in any sport. And it’s pretty easy to see why, right?
The top overall recruit in the 2024 class. 6-foot-3, 215 or so pounds at 18 years old. Big. Fast. Powerful. Frightening? Runs routes like a seasoned vet, with the body control of a ballerina and hands that resemble a bench vise. The kid is an absolute freak, in the best way possible. Even calling him a kid seems disrespectful to his otherworldly potential.
So I apologize to OSU’s extraterrestrial being in the No. 4 jersey.
But as freaky and talented as this particular alien is, he can only be in one place at any given time. He can only catch what is thrown his way. He can’t throw passes to himself. Oh, and he will be sharing the football field with at least a few other players (Buckeyes) who may tap further into their own freakish abilities under the tutelage of both Ryan Day AND Chip Kelly.
So where exactly am I going with all of this? I’m glad you asked.
This week at LGHL, our content theme is Unreasonable Expectations. To me, this means expectations that some or many people have, that are not (remotely?) likely to happen. Expectations that we have been tricked into believing, despite the absence of any evidence or reason... Hence, unreasonable expectations.
Cutting to the chase, the Unreasonable Expectation that I want to warn people about pertains specifically to Jeremiah Smith. I am here to tell you that it is completely unreasonable for you, me, or anybody else to expect him to even sniff 1,000 receiving (or scrimmage) yards as a true freshman. It just ain’t happening, folks. And it has nothing to do with how special Smith is or eventually will be.
There are actually several reasons why such high expectations are completely unreasonable. The list of such starts with Will Howard... And/or Emeka Egbuka. And/or TreVeyon Henderson. And/or Quinshon Judkins. And/or a host of other Ohio State skill players.
There are simply too many mouths to feed in Columbus and only one football to go around.
Top 10 College Football Running Back Units per @JesseReSimonton
Do you agree?https://t.co/kzuzhqYD2Y pic.twitter.com/eLZsmXQnYV
— On3 (@On3sports) May 3, 2024
Howard will likely be the one distributing said football, and when he is not handing it off to the best running back duo in the country or running the rock himself, he will be tasked with getting it to not only Egbuka and Smith but also Carnell Tate, Brandon Inniss, and others.
It’s a great problem to have, but OSU just has too many talented players and pass catchers. Which is why I don’t see one – a true freshman WR no less – dominating touches and/or targets.
And when the ball does get put in the air, let’s face it: Howard is not exactly C.J. Stroud. Not to say the former can’t be a very, very, very effective QB for the Scarlet and Gray, but he (Howard) owns a 59% career completion percentage and has thrown for roughly 5,800 yards in 34 collegiate games. Stroud, on the other hand, completed 69% of his passes and put up 8,100 yards in 25 games as a Buckeye...
So unless Howard takes a giant leap forward or Smith absolutely dominates in target share, I don’t see a path to huge yardage totals for the freshman wideout.
Sticking with target share for a minute, I would be shocked if Smith sees more targets than Egbuka and mildly surprised if he sees more than Tate. I think some people forget how damn good a healthy Egbuka is and can be, and Tate is a special player in his own right.
Beyond those two, keep an eye on Henderson and whoever starts at tight end. Not to say a RB or TE will receive more total targets than Smith, but it’s worth pointing out that at Kansas State last season, Howard’s primary target was TE Ben Sinnott, and his top two RB combined to reel in 46 total receptions.
Top 10 College Football Wide Receiver Units per @JesseReSimonton️
Do you agree?
— On3 (@On3sports) May 8, 2024
Now admittedly, Howard has never had access to a plethora of four and five-star playmakers like he does in Columbus. But he has also never shown the ability to string together multiple 300-yard games at seemingly any level. So I don’t think Ohio State fans should expect aerial fireworks on a consistent basis — and that’s ok. Because if Howard resembles something between a poor man’s Josh Allen and a current-day Josh Allen, then the Buckeyes will be very, very successful this season.
Also working against Smith is a little thing called history. In the great and storied history of OSU football, no freshman WR has even surpassed 500 receiving yards... 500. And there are people out there who think that Smith might approach 1,000!? Again, it just ain’t happening folks. It’s unreasonable to put those expectations on the uber-talented freshman. But none of this means that Smith – and the Buckeyes – can’t and/or won’t be awesome in 2024 and beyond!
And that’s all that matters, right? We just want Ohio State to steamroll opponents. So throw expectations out the window and enjoy the show; something that Smith is very likely to put on.
Continue reading...