Jeremiah Smith
Ohio State#2 overallDraft Movement
Holding at #2 since Jun 8
Scouting Report
Jeremiah Smith is the consensus alpha of the 2027 wide receiver class and arguably the most established prospect in the entire pool, a 6'3", 223-pound outside X-receiver out of Opa-locka who arrived at Ohio State as the No. 1 overall recruit and immediately rewrote Cris Carter's freshman records (76-1,315-15) en route to a national title. NFL Draft Buzz grades him at 94.0/100, slotting him as a 1st-round/top-5 lock with a 4.32 forty (96th percentile) on file from offseason testing. PFF's 2027 board has him at #1 overall and notes he's being compared more to Julio Jones and Calvin Johnson than to recent receiver prospects, with two elite seasons already in the bank at age 20. Through eight games of his sophomore campaign Smith was at 55-725-9 despite playing through soft-tissue stuff that capped his snaps. He plays X with pro-level polish: stacks corners vertically, sits in zone windows, then takes bubble screens 60 yards because his after-catch violence is real. The route tree is already complete, the contested-catch rate is elite, and his big-moment gene shows up in playoff games like the Rose Bowl MVP performance vs. Oregon (187 yards) and the 56-yard third-down dagger vs. Notre Dame in the title game. The medical file is the only thing keeping evaluators from calling him the cleanest WR1 prospect in a decade. Cornerstone player who changes coverage rules from day one.
Strengths
- Size-speed combination is virtually unprecedented at 223 lbs with reported 4.32 forty
- Tracks the deep ball as well as any college receiver in the last five years per NFL Draft Buzz
- After-catch demeanor is violent, regularly bouncing off arm tackles and erasing angles on DBs
- Contested-catch gene shows up against bigger defenders, with elite hand strength at the catch point
- Natural separator who sets up leverage and wins regardless of corner alignment
- Soft, attacking hands that snatch outside the frame and produce a 99th-percentile hands grade
- Sudden out of breaks, generating throwing windows that weren't there a beat earlier
- Clutch in marquee games (Rose Bowl MVP vs. Oregon for 187 yards
Weaknesses
- Blocking effort fluctuates and at times looks disinterested sustaining in the run game
- Soft-tissue injury history is creeping in, with bumps already costing snaps in the 2025 sophomore season
- Will drop a gimme when his mind races to YAC before securing
- Press-physical corners can occasionally knock him off the timing of routes
- Freelances on broken plays instead of staying within scramble rules to help the quarterback
- Has yet to face NFL-caliber defensive depth on a weekly basis given Big Ten schedule context
NFL Comparison
DeAndre Hopkins (catch radius and body control on the perimeter); Stefon Diggs (route-running savvy and separation burst); Marvin Harrison Jr. (Ohio State X-receiver lineage, 86% similarity per NFLDB); Ja'Marr Chase (alpha YAC profile, 64% similarity)
College Stats
2024 (Fr.): 76 rec, 1,315 yds, 15 TD, 17.3 ypc (CFP National Champion). 2025 (So., through 8 G): 55 rec, 725 yds, 9 TD. Career through soph midpoint: 131-2,040-24 across 27 games, 1,289 snaps.
Measurables
Awards & Honors
NFL Draft Buzz 94.0/100, #1 overall 2027; PFF #1 overall 2027 prospect; Big Ten Richter-Howard WR of the Year (2024); Big Ten Thompson-Randle El Freshman of the Year (2024); USA Today First-Team All-America (2024); Rose Bowl Offensive MVP (2024 CFP QF vs. Oregon); CFP National Champion (2024); No. 1 overall recruit in 2024 class (Five-star ESPN/247/Rivals); Maxwell HS Player of the Year; Nat Moore Trophy; OSU Scholar-Athlete