Heading into the 2025 season, the Ohio State Buckeyes are looking to repeat as national champions. To do that, the Buckeyes are going to rely on star wide receiver Jeremiah Smith.

College football analyst Joel Klatt praised Jeremiah Smith on The Joel Klatt Show. There, he called him the best player in the country, even comparing him to a bevy of NFL stars. That included running back Adrian Peterson.

“The best player in college football for next year,” Joel Klatt said. “I think we can all say this together, by the way, is Jeremiah Smith. The wide receiver for Ohio State.”

Jeremiah Smith came to Ohio State as a five-star recruit in the Class of 2024 and was the top-ranked recruit overall that cycle. He burst onto the scene with 76 receptions for 1,315 yards and 15 touchdowns. That prompted Klatt to compare him to former Oklahoma running back Adrian Peterson, who are the two players he thinks could’ve skipped college entirely.

“Never seen anything like this. I played against Adrian Peterson when he was a true freshman at Oklahoma. Those are the only two guys that I’ve ever seen,” Klatt said. “And I’ve been around this sport my entire life, those are the only two guys that I’ve ever seen where I’m like, yeah, they could have played, and not only played but succeeded in the National Football League right away out of high school. And Smith was one of those guys.”

Jeremiah Smith, unsurprisingly, received numerous honors over the course of the season. He’d be named a Freshman All-American and a First-Team All-American, and was an All-Big Ten selection. On the way, he’d help the Buckeyes win a national championship.

“Very rarely, very rarely do we see a player that comes in with all the hype of Smith, number one player in the country,” Klatt said. “So on and so forth, and then he doesn’t just live up to that, but he exceeds those expectations. He was the best player on the field at all times last year. It didn’t matter who they were playing.”

Joel Klatt would return to comparing Jeremiah Smith to NFL legends. Ultimately, however, he believes that Smith has a chance to become one of the legends of the game, in the same tier as Randy Moss or Jerry Rice.

“Trying to go back and like what’s the comp? Is it Megatron [Calvin Johnson]? And it’s like, well, Jeremiah is more athletic than Megatron. Is it Julio Jones? And I’m like, gosh, Jeremiah’s more fluid than Julio. It’s like, is it Randy [Moss]? Well, you can’t do that because Moss is Moss and [Jerry] Rice and Moss are at the top. For the first time in my career, there is a player that I believe could join that echelon at some point, and that’s this player,” Klatt said.

“I think that we need to, collectively, as a college football community, and I understand that we are tribal in this community. We hate the things that others have, but I don’t care. Unless you’re a Michigan fan and you just can’t, I want us to enjoy for the next couple of years, getting to watch this guy play college football because that’s what I’m gonna do. He’s the best college football player I’ve ever seen… He’s got the talent to be one of the best of all time.”

Ryan Day raves about how Jeremiah Smith impacts Ohio State program

Jeremiah Smith has made his presence felt on and off the field for the Ohio State program. That presence is something that head coach Ryan Day recently praised at Big Ten Media Days.

“If you look at him. You’ve seen where he’s gotten bigger and stronger and faster than he was last year. He was at workouts the other day, and Mick [Mickey Marotti] constantly says during our warmups, he’s the first guy every time we run through. The first guy. Every single time. He just sets such a standard,” Day said.

“You don’t need to motivate Jeremiah. What he did as a freshman speaks for itself. Like you said, he may not be an older guy. He may not be really vocal in terms of his leadership. But what he does on the field speaks for itself. The work ethic he’s brought into this year has been exceptional, and I think that deserves an opportunity to be here today.”