Jeremiah Smith called the 'best receiver in CFB history' by Hall of Fame coach. Why that's false

Jeremiah Smith called the 'best receiver in CFB history' by Hall of Fame coach. Why that's false

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Jeremiah Smith called the 'best receiver in CFB history' by Hall of Fame coach. Why that's false

Jeremiah Smith called the 'best receiver in CFB history' by Hall of Fame coach. Why that's false originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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Three games into Jeremiah Smith’s junior season, he has already broken the all-time receiving record for the Ohio State Buckeyes. While the school puts many receivers in the NFL, few of them are among the all-time greats in production during their respective careers. Begging the question, can Smith break the Ohio State receiver curse and be the greatest receiver draft prospect ever?

Smith stands atop the Buckeyes receiving list, ahead of names like Emeka Egbuka, Chris Olave, Marvin Harrison Jr, Cris Carter, Santonio Holmes and Garrett Wilson, just to name a few. There are 12 Buckeyes to log over 2,000 receiving yards, but only six with over 2,500. However, there were 18 college football receivers over that 2,500 mark. As well as 13 over 3,000.

To reach a realistic conclusion, college football greatness and NFL productivity must be viewed as two separate concepts. As players played for a varied number of seasons, the only way to objectively view this is through averages. In the all-time college receiver list, there is a definitive top 10. However, that top 10 would not be the same when applied to NFL productivity.

The college football top 10 best wide receivers by the numbers are: Randy Moss, Michael Crabtree, Larry Fitzgerald, Mike Williams (USC), Corey Davis, Charles Rogers, Justin Blackmon, Jerry Rice, Ryan Broyles and Marquis Lee. Yet no football fan on the planet is likely to put Blackmon over Rice or Crabtree over Fitzgerald.

The next 10 includes Amari Cooper, DeVonta Smith, JaMarr Chase, Calvin Johnson, Keyshawn Johnson, Antonio Brown, Golden Tate, Braylon Edwards, Tavon Austin and Tory Holt. However, only four of those ten averaged over 1,000 yards for their career. Excluded from the top 20 are two Heisman trophy winners (Tim Brown and Desmond Howard) and a recent NFL Hall of Famer whose career was cut way short due to injury (Sterling Sharpe).

Urban Meyer claims Jeremiah Smith is the best receiver in CFB history

The former Ohio State head coach believes Smith’s recent record makes him the best receiver in college football history. The logic is simple. Smith is the greatest Ohio State receiver ever and Ohio State has a strong claim to the title of “Receiver U”. The Buckeyes will have serious competition in that debate as LSU and Miami also have strong claims.

"To say you're the best receiver in Ohio State history, I'm biased about this, but then he probably is the best receiver in college football history," Meyer said on the Triple Option podcast.

Is Smith the best college receiver? Based on the numbers, the answer would be no. At present, he's not the best college football receiver of ever. By the numbers, if Smith put up 100 receptions, 1,800 yards and 20 touchdowns, he would still only crack the top three.

Currently, Smith has 184 receptions, 2,958 yards and 30 touchdowns in his Ohio State career. The all-time yards leader is Corey Davis with 332 receptions, 5,285 yards and 52 touchdowns. No player with four years of college experience even comes close to Davis. When looking at players with three seasons or fewer, Smith would rank 4th based on averages. Randy Moss, Michael Crabtree, Larry Fitzgerald, then Smith.

College achievements vs NFL Prospect

Every elite college receiver will always be remembered as elite, in college. However, not every elite college receiver turns out to be an elite NFL player. Meyer’s comments were specific to the college game. Smith’s ceiling was never going to just be about him as a college player. For Smith to be the No. 1 college receiver, barring something never seen before, he would need to come back for his senior season. Which no one should believe is even on the table.

There are three receivers in the college top 10 that went onto replicate that level of production in the NFL. Moss, Fitzgerald and Rice. Arguably three of the best receivers in NFL history. Players ranked 11-20 also include players in the NFL’s all-time discussion list. Calvin Johnson, Antonio Brown, Tory Holt and, eventually perhaps, Ja’Marr Chase.

There is a reality where Smith goes down as the greatest NFL Draft WR prospect ever. Which is a title that comes from more than just the numbers. Football is a game of mismatches and no one in college football creates that more than Smith. When viewing him as a prospect, there are two names that come up when trying to project Smith. Moss and Johnson.

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Smith is stylistically almost a combination of those two names. Speed, quickness, high point ability, deception at the line, creativity with the ball in the air are all Moss-like. His strength, power, touch catching ability and no defense designed to contain him is very Calvin Johnson-like. Length, long speed, hands and football IQ are a mix of both Hall of Fame receivers.

He was in the “best WR prospect” conversation as a freshman and has done nothing to dissuade that thinking. His numbers are great and put him in the conversation, even if it is unlikely he can win that debate. His physical tools, combination of size, speed, power, length, athleticism and hands put him at the forefront and potentially the winner of the “prospect” debate.

Smith is expected to declare for the NFL draft following this season. That draft is expected to see as many as ten quarterbacks drafted in the first 50 picks. Smith could get drafted in the top 5 and win the prospect debate, but that will depend on his NFL production. If we could put every receiver in their prime into one bucket, Smith is without question a top 3 prospect at almost 6’4", 230 and an expected sub 4.35 40-yard dash time.

Smith is in the conversation for best college receiver ever. Even if he’s not, he does have the chance to be the best draft prospect ever. Whether he earns that title with the requisite NFL career, will be entirely up to him.

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