‘Top 5 Wide Receiver in College Football History,’ ‘Let’s Not Anoint Him Already’ — CFB Fans Divided Over Bleacher Report’s ‘Generational’ Jeremiah Smith Claim

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Bleacher Report CFB hailed Ohio State receiver Jeremiah Smith as a once-in-a-generation talent in a Monday post on X, asking whether the junior standout is college football’s best receiver ever.

The account noted that Smith has more receiving yards than 22 FBS programs and more yards and touchdowns than two Top 25 teams. The post came after his second straight 200-yard game, an 11-catch, 206-yard, two-touchdown day in No. 5 Ohio State’s 31-14 win at No. 14 Iowa on Saturday.

The Case for Jeremiah Smith as College Football’s Greatest Receiver

“Is he the greatest college football WR of all time?” Bleacher Report CFB asked.

Through five games, Smith has 44 catches for 823 yards and nine touchdowns, leading the nation in all three. A week before his dominant performance against Iowa, he had 12 catches for 217 yards and four touchdowns against Illinois, the only 200-yard outings of his career.

According to Fox Sports Research, he is the only player this season with back-to-back 200-yard games and the second in Big Ten history, after Indiana’s Ty Fryfogle in 2020. Smith also had eight catches for 164 yards and a touchdown in a 24-23 loss at then-No. 4 Texas on Sept. 12.

The ‘generational’ tag is one that courts some controversy, but one Ohio State fan answered it with a single word, “Yes.”

Smith’s 57-yard touchdown in the third quarter at Kinnick Stadium broke Chris Olave’s school record of 35 touchdown catches, and he struck the Heisman Trophy pose in the end zone.

“I’m the best player in the country, so I’ve got to be there,” Smith said, referring to the Heisman Trophy ceremony in New York in December.

Minutes later, his 10th catch of the day moved him past Emeka Egbuka’s 205 for the school’s career receptions record. He now leads Ohio State with 207 catches, 3,381 yards, and 36 touchdown receptions.

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Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz, who compared Smith’s dominance to that of Saquon Barkley, said the Hawkeyes gave him everything they had. “With a little bit of luck, we won’t see him again in my career,” Ferentz said.

Billy Beebe, host of the Ohio State Football Report, credited the Buckeyes’ new offensive coordinator in his quote of the post. “Arthur Smith literally turned Jeremiah Smith into 2020 Derrick Henry,” Beebe wrote.

Arthur Smith, hired by Ohio State coach Ryan Day in January, was the Tennessee Titans’ offensive coordinator in 2020, when Henry ran for 2,027 yards. Jeremiah Smith said he knew all week that the 57-yard touchdown was the play the coordinator wanted.

Some Fans Say It’s Too Early to Crown Jeremiah Smith

Not everyone replying was ready to go that far. “He is generational but let’s not anoint him already,” another Ohio State fan wrote, comparing Smith to Randy Moss.

His Ohio State records have yet to carry over to the Big Ten list. Smith ranks eighth in conference history in career receiving yards, 408 behind Purdue’s John Standeford, and is four touchdown catches from passing the record 39 held by Michigan’s Braylon Edwards.

Another fan put him in a broader tier. “Top 5 wide receiver in college football history,” that fan wrote.

Smith, whose 15 career 100-yard games tie Marvin Harrison Jr. for the program record, said he wants more. “I’m never satisfied,” he said.

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“The first thing every coach in America is going to say [is] ‘We’ve got to take this guy away,’ so the challenge is trying to figure out ways to get it to him,” Day said.

That challenge continues when Ohio State (4-1) hosts Maryland on Saturday, before road games at Indiana on Oct. 17 and USC on Oct. 31. The school projects Smith’s pace at 121 catches, 2,262 yards and 25 touchdowns by the end of the regular season.

This article originally appeared on Pro Football Network.

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