Does Jeremiah Smith Belong on Ohio State's Wide Receiver Mount Rushmore?

Ohio State has spent the better part of five decades manufacturing elite wide receivers, so thoroughly that "Wide Receiver University" has become more claim than nickname. Fourteen Buckeyes wideouts have gone in the first round of the NFL Draft - the most of any program in history - and nine have earned consensus or unanimous All-America honors. Picking a "Mount Rushmore" from that group has always been a bar fight among Buckeye fans, usually landing on some combination of Cris Carter, David Boston, Chris Olave, Garrett Wilson, and Marvin Harrison Jr.

Now there's a new name forcing its way into that conversation, and he hasn't even finished his college career yet.

Jeremiah Smith, entering his junior season in 2026, has already checked one of the two boxes that traditionally define Buckeye receiver greatness - All-America status - faster and more emphatically than anyone who came before him. The question isn't really whether he belongs in the conversation. It's whether anyone who's watched the last two seasons still has an argument for leaving him out.

The Criteria: All-American or First-Round Pick

Using the same yardstick that separates OSU's 48 drafted wide receivers from its true legends - earning All-America recognition or hearing your name called in the first round - narrows the Mount Rushmore field considerably. Only a handful of Buckeyes have done both, and it's that short list that anchors most "greatest ever" arguments: Carter (All-American), Boston (All-American, first-round pick), Olave (All-American, first-round pick), Wilson (All-American, first-round pick), and Harrison (two-time unanimous All-American, No. 4 overall pick).

Smith is already halfway to that same résumé, and he got there quicker than any of them.

Ohio State Wide Receivers Selected in Round 1 of the NFL Draft (14 all-time - an NCAA record)

Fourteen Buckeye receivers have gone in the first round, a run that stretches from Paul Warfield in 1964 to Carnell Tate in 2026 - and, if the projections hold, Jeremiah Smith would extend it to 15 in 2027.

He's Already an All-American - Twice

Smith was a first-team All-American as a true freshman in 2024, a distinction almost no one earns that early in a career. He followed it up in 2025 by becoming a unanimous All-American - the same honor that separates Harrison from every other receiver in program history among players who didn't need multiple seasons to reach the mountaintop; Harrison needed his second full year as a starter to do it. Smith did it in year two of his career, coming off a freshman season in which he'd already broken every one of Cris Carter's OSU freshman receiving records.

That's not a small distinction. Ohio State has had 21 first-team All-Big Ten receivers since 1979 and only nine consensus first-team All-Americans. Smith is one of them twice over, and he's not done playing.

Ohio State Wide Receivers: Consensus / Unanimous All-America Seasons

Only Harrison and Smith have earned back-to-back All-America honors at the position, and Smith is the only one of the group to do it in his first two collegiate seasons.

The Numbers Are Already Absurd

Through two seasons, Smith has caught 163 passes for 2,558 yards and 27 touchdowns - numbers that already rank in Ohio State's career top ten in all three categories, with at least one more season left to add to them. He's the only Buckeye besides Harrison to post back-to-back 1,000-yard receiving seasons, and he got there faster than anyone in school history: fastest to 100 catches, fastest to 1,000 and 1,500 receiving yards, fastest to 25 touchdown catches. He's on pace to pass Emeka Egbuka's school records for career receptions (205) and receiving yards (2,868) sometime in 2026, and he's closing in on Michael Jenkins' all-time receiving yardage mark as well.

For context, none of the other Mount Rushmore contenders - not Carter, not Boston, not Olave, not Harrison - reached these marks this early in their careers. Some of that is a product of modern spread offenses throwing the ball more than Woody Hayes ever dreamed of, or would have even allowed. But raw efficiency matters too, and Smith's yards-per-target and catch rate through two seasons are as good as any receiver who's worn scarlet and gray.

What He's Missing: The Draft Resume

Here's the honest gap: Smith hasn't been drafted, because he hasn't left yet. He's expected to enter the 2027 draft as one of the most hyped receiver prospects in recent memory - some evaluators have already floated him as a candidate to be the first wide receiver taken No. 1 overall since Keyshawn Johnson in 1996. If that happens, or even if he simply goes in the first round as expected, he'll complete the same dual résumé - All-American and first-round pick - that Boston, Olave, Wilson, and Harrison all share. It is realistic to project Smith as a top five pick, similar to Harrison and Tate.

Until draft night, though, that box remains technically unchecked. It's a formality most people expect him to clear, but it hasn't happened yet, and a Mount Rushmore built on cemented resumes rather than probable outcomes has to acknowledge that.

So, Does He Belong?

If the standard is "has he already met the criteria that define Ohio State's greatest receivers," Smith is there. Two All-America seasons, including a unanimous selection that only Harrison has matched among Buckeye wideouts, is enough on its own to get him into the conversation - the same conversation Terry Glenn occupies on the strength of a single dominant All-American season in 1995.

If the standard is "has he completed the full resume of an all-time Buckeye - All-American and first-round pick," the answer is: not yet, but almost certainly soon. Barring injury or an unforeseen setback, Smith is on track to leave Ohio State as the program's all-time leader in every major receiving category, with multiple All-America nods and a top-five draft selection to his name. At that point, the debate won't be whether he belongs on the mountain - it'll be whether there's still room on it for everybody else.

For now, the fairest verdict is this: Jeremiah Smith isn't just knocking on Mount Rushmore's door. He's already got a foot inside, and the only thing left standing between him and a permanent spot is one more college season and an NFL Draft that's largely considered a formality.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/ohiostate as Does Jeremiah Smith Belong on Ohio State's Wide Receiver Mount Rushmore?.

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This story was originally published July 5, 2026 at 8:59 AM.