Smith enters his second season with high expectations.
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.
The fact that a player like Jeremiah Smith is back for his second season at Ohio State is highly beneficial for the Buckeyes football program, the fanbase and college football overall.
The USA Today and ESPN First-Team All-American burst onto the scene with 76 receptions for 1,315 yards and a whopping 15 touchdowns in 2024. Further, Smith averaged 17.3 yards per reception and 82.2 receiving yards per game.
Expectations are sky-high for Smith going into the 2025 season, so much so that I believe he could lead the country in receiving yards.
Let’s start by looking at why he could do just that this upcoming season. Of the top 10 FBS leaders in receiving yards in 2024, Smith was fourth on the list, and he is the only one of them returning for the 2025 season. That’s a big start, and he’s no doubt the best receiver in the country among those returning for the upcoming season.
In addition, Smith’s running mate last year, Emeka Egbuka, is now in the NFL with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Egbuka led the Buckeyes in receptions last year with 81, so that’s an indicator that Smith will get an increased number of targets in 2025.
Not to mention, the next-closest leader on the Buckeyes in receiving yards last year was Carnell Tate at 733. That’s still not that much over half of Smith’s receiving yards total from last year.
With a new quarterback in Julian Sayin, he’s going to target Smith early and often this upcoming season. That’s not just against Texas in the season-opener, but that goes for throughout the course of the entire season.
We saw this situation unfold in 2023, when Kyle McCord took over at quarterback and heavily relied on Marvin Harrison Jr.. The eventaul No. 4 overall NFL Draft pick finished No. 10 in receiving yards and tied for third in touchdowns among all FBS receivers in 2023.
This suggests that Smith could be even more prolific in 2025 than he was as a freshman in 2024. It could even make him the FBS leader in receving yards this upcoming season.
Now, in reality, that may be an unreasonable expectation.
Unlike Will Howard last year, Sayin doesn’t bring a lot of playing experience coming into this season. It’s minimal, actually, having only come into a few games last year in relief. There’s no doubt he is capable of playing at a high level, given his high rankings as a recruit, but it’s fair to be skeptical of just how prolific he will be this season.
In addition, Carnell Tate is going to be a big part of this offense. He came on strong in 2024, especially in the second half of the season. Offensive coordintaor Brian Hartline is going to call Tate’s number a lot this season, so how much will that carve into Smith’s target share? It could be a big determining factor in Smith pushing to lead the country in receiving yards this season.
Tight end Max Klare, a transfer from Purdue, is also going to have a solid role in this offense. He’s coming off a season where he had 51 receptions for 685 yards and four touchdowns. Last year was Klare’s first season as a full-time starter, and he delivered a really good stat line.
Even though the Buckeyes are replacing TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins at running back, they will still look to run the ball often this season as well.
All of these factors may make it difficult for Smith to achieve the lofty, and unreasonable, expectation of leading the country in receiving yards.
Ohio State will heavily benefit from all of these weapons that Sayin will have to work with on offense. If Smith can also lead the country in receiving yards with all of the other really good players Ohio State has, that will just be icing on the cake for him and the overall team in Columbus that will be chasing a repeat national championship.