The Buckeyes All-American receiver is poised for a huge second season… and some prestigious hardware.
From now until preseason camp starts on July 31, Land-Grant Holy Land will be writing articles around a different theme every week. This week is all about the players that will shine this season. Whether they are superstars, diamonds in the rough, or journeymen, these are the Buckeyes who will define the 2025-26 season. You can catch up on all of the Theme Week content here and all of our ”Player of the Year” articles here.
It’s hard to believe it’s been 18 seasons since an Ohio State player won the Heisman Trophy, with Troy Smith the last Buckeye to win it in 2006. For a program like Ohio State to go nearly two decades without winning the most prestigious honor in college football, it’s almost hard to fathom.
Droughts of this length have happened before at Ohio State since the Heisman Trophy was first awarded in 1935. The Buckeyes went 19 seasons without a player winning the award from 1955 to 1974. They also went 20 years from 1975 (Archie Griffin) to 1995 (Eddie George) without a Heisman Trophy coming to the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.
The current drought for Ohio State without a Heisman Trophy could end this season, if All-American wide receiver Jeremiah Smith brings home the hardware this December. In addition, Smith is my pick to be the Buckeyes’ Player of the Year in 2025.
When a player lives up to the anticipation he has when he arrives on campus, it’s really special to watch their career unfold. That’s what it was like to watch Jeremiah Smith’s freshman season in Columbus in 2024, and he got better and better as the stages got bigger and bigger.
Smith’s touchdown on the Buckeyes’ first drive against Tennessee in the First Round of the College Football Playoff was the catalyst for Ohio State’s offense to take off for the next month. Then, with the National Championship hanging in the balance, Smith came up with the biggest play of the Buckeyes season when he hauled in a 57-yard reception on third-and-11 to all but seal the game.
What can Smith do for an encore this season? Become the eighth player in the history of Ohio State Football to win the Heisman Trophy.
Smith has the talent and exposure to do it. He’s the only player that ranked in the top 10 in the FBS in receiving yards last season to return for the 2025 season. That gives him a huge head start in his Heisman campaign this season.
Football is a quarterback-driven game. Quarterbacks get all the success when their teams win, and all the criticism among players when their teams lose. But the Buckeyes are a little different…
Any success new quarterback Julian Sayin has this season will be because of the wide receivers he will be throwing to, mainly Smith. With him, Carnell Tate and Max Klare to throw to, those guys are going to help bring Sayin along and help him progress into an outstanding quarterback.
The Buckeyes’ offense is led by their wide receivers, and the best player in that room is Jeremiah Smith. Even with the success that recent quarterbacks like Dwayne Haskins, Justin Fields, C.J. Stroud, and Will Howard had in Columbus, Ohio State — at least during Brian Hartline’s tenure — has always been highlighted and led by their wide receivers.
That will be the case this season, and Smith is poised to have a huge year. There have been two wide receivers who have won the Heisman Trophy in the last five seasons, which makes it even more likely for Smith to win it this season. He is the face of College Football right now, and another prolific season will earn him another accolade in his trophy case and the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.
Smith will not only be the Buckeyes’ Player of the Year this season. He is going to be the eighth Ohio State player to win the Heisman Trophy.