Ohio State true freshman wide receiver Jeremiah Smith has received a lot of high praise and accolades since his football playing career started. Being the highest-rated wide receiver prospect in 247 history out of high school, the first true freshman to be named an Iron Buckeye since it was implemented under Urban Meyer and being the earliest player to have his black stripe removed in Ohio State history, all pales in comparison to the praise Smith received from his older cousin and starting quarterback of the Seattle Seahawks, Geno Smith.
“I’ve seen a lot of great receivers, and I’ve also had the chance to watch JJ since he was ten years old,” Geno Smith said in a video with CBS Sports. “He’s going to be the best receiver ever, I really believe that. I was in the house I was watching the whole (Akron) game. When he caught that first touchdown, I jumped right out of my seat. The whole house was going crazy, it was good to see that. I thought he had a heck of a game. I thought he started out a little slow. I know he wants to catch that first one. He would have scored on that one too. Great debut, he was born with the talent, but he’s putting that work in. He’s ready, he’s ready right now.”
No matter what Smith does for however long he is at Ohio State, it will not be easy to live up to the hype of being the greatest receiver to walk the earth, but he has gotten off to a remarkable start.
Through two games, Smith has scored three touchdowns and accumulated 211 receiving yards on 11 catches.
Perhaps the “greatest receiver ever,” praise is a touch of favoritism from his cousin but it isn’t just the former West Virginia gunslinger to give him high praise. ESPN analyst Tom Luginbill had a similar but perhaps less extreme sentiment on ESPN’s College Football Live show.
“Jeremiah Smith is going to go down, in my opinion, as the greatest receiver to ever play at Ohio State, and he’s two games into his career,” Luginbill said. “He is on a Julio Jones, AJ Green type of level when it comes to wide receiver play. He’s just too good.”
Smith will have to contend with former Ohio State legends at the receiver position like David Boston, Michael Jenkins, Cris Carter and Marvin Harrison Jr. later in his career to take the mantle of the greatest receiver in Ohio State history, but as his cousin said, he is off to a good start.
