Highly touted freshman WR Jeremiah Smith starts for Ohio State in Week 1

Ohio State no longer has Marvin Harrison Jr., but a highly touted freshman will have the opportunity to replace the former Buckeyes star’s performance when they open the 2024 season on Saturday.

Wide receiver Jeremiah Smith will be in Ohio State’s starting lineup when it hosts Akron in Week 1, head coach Ryan Day told reporters Tuesday.

“Yes,” Day replied simply when asked if Smith would be on the field for Ohio State’s first offensive snap of the season.

If Day keeps his word, Smith would be Ohio State’s first true freshman to start a season opener since cornerback Denzel Burke did so in 2021, according to ElevenWarriors.

Although Smith is the youngest player in Ohio State’s veteran-laden starting lineup, it’s no surprise that the freshman will be on the field right away. He was the high school’s most promising prospect for the class of 2024.

But the praise for Smith goes beyond this top ranking. Smith was ranked 12th on FOX Sports’ RJ Young’s list of the 100 greatest superstars for the 2024 season.

“Ohio State folks are talking about Jeremiah ‘JJ’ Smith the same way they talked about Adrian Peterson before he was cut loose at Oklahoma,” Young wrote. “The No. 1-rated player in the Class of 2024 is Ohio State’s most highly anticipated true freshman skill player since Maurice Clarrett arrived on campus in 2002.

“Tangible evidence of what his enrollment at Ohio State this season could mean for the Buckeyes is Ryan Day pretending to grimace at the podium as he arrives to reveal who signed with the program over the winter. Since then, Smith has had even the most even-keeled players and coaches in practice heaping praise on him.”

FOX Sports Gambling Expert Chris “The Bear” Fallica has also heard tremendous excitement about Smith after the receiver completed his first offseason in Columbus.

“I think Smith is a total freak and I think he has the chance to become something very, very special,” Fallica said in a recent episode of “Bear bets.” “I’ve heard people who saw him at Ohio State University say he could start for teams in the NFL now and be picked in the top 10 or five.”

Additionally, Bruce Feldman, college football reporter for FOX Sports, ranked Smith seventh on his annual “Freaks List” for The Athletic. Smith, who is 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds, has reached a top speed of 23.5 mph this offseason, according to Feldman. An Ohio State coach also told Feldman that Smith “has great hands and a great catch radius and does crazy things on a daily basis.”

Smith noted that he is aware of all the excitement surrounding his start in his freshman season, but he just hopes to help Ohio State achieve its ultimate goal this season.

“I know the expectations are high because I’m the best player in the country and there’s so much hype around me,” Smith told reporters in early August. “So I try to block all that out and focus on the basics, the team, our receiver room and the locker room. And if the first game comes and I don’t exceed the expectations you have of me, I don’t really care. I just want to go out there and win the game.”

In addition to Smith, Emeka Egbuka and Carnell Tate are also expected to start the season at receiver for Ohio State, but Day also said sophomore Brandon Inniss is “right there” with the other three receivers.

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