{"id":86587,"date":"2026-04-08T16:50:45","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T20:50:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=86587"},"modified":"2026-04-08T16:50:45","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T20:50:45","slug":"development-or-cash-the-answer-is-easy-for-jeremiah-smith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2026\/04\/08\/development-or-cash-the-answer-is-easy-for-jeremiah-smith\/","title":{"rendered":"Development Or Cash? The Answer is Easy for Jeremiah Smith"},"content":{"rendered":"

NIL is changing college football. Whether you’re saying it’s a good thing or a bad thing, the proverbial toothpaste can not be put back. As a result, the NFL Draft is seeing a shift as well. Borderline players are often coming back to school for one last NIL payout rather than lose that safety net for a contract worth less than $5 million. It could be argued that Jeremiah Smith<\/a> was the most talented college football player from the day he walked into the Woody Hayes Athletic Center as an early enrollee in January 2024.<\/p>\n

Obviously, that’s hyperbole, but there is no denying that he has been one of the best players in the game for two seasons already. At this point, he’s among the favorites to win the Heisman in 2026, among a host of other awards. As a result, he is likely bombarded by programs to try to sway him from Columbus. His hometown program in Miami is sort of infamous for throwing cash at players, and Smith was no different.<\/p>\n

The talented receiver told On3<\/em> this week that he could have made “over $10 million easy.” But, he shot it down, saying, “That’s not how I operate.”<\/p>\n

Development Or Cash? The Answer is Easy for Jeremiah Smith<\/h2>\n

Tampering is a white-hot topic<\/a> right now in college football. While some coaches are slinging mud and lobbing accusations, very few are naming names. Naturally, Ohio State’s roster gets tampered with. Now, that’s not saying the Buckeyes aren’t testing the waters and seeing what kind of response is out there. However, the Buckeyes’ roster is likely getting more and more attention as Ohio State continues to recruit at a high level.<\/p>\n

Smith didn’t name any names at any point. But he chose Ohio State to be developed. When Brian Hartline announced his departure to South Florida, Smith’s cell phone had to have been buzzing off the hook from desperate programs looking to lure him away. There was a slight concern among the Lunatic Fringe\u2122, especially since the Buckeyes lost two in a row, most recently to that Miami (FL) team in the Cotton Bowl.<\/p>\n

However, it was never an option.<\/p>\n

Hurricane Warning<\/h3>\n

<\/smartframe-embed><\/p>\n

When Smith talked to the media at the end of March, he alluded that a major program was trying to tamper him away. However, as a player of his caliber, he expected the attention. “I knew, especially at the end of that game (vs. Miami in the Cotton Bowl), that a certain program was going to come at me very hard.” He continued, “Not gonna say no names, I think everybody here knows who it was. But I wasn\u2019t goin\u2019 nowhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

“I think everybody knows who it was.” That small quote was speaking to an open secret that his hometown program was trying to poach him.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust because they beat us and things went their way, I wasn\u2019t going back home,\u201d Smith said recently. \u201cI mean, you hear the numbers and everything. But to be honest, it didn\u2019t make sense for me to go back. I have a good quarterback here. I have a good group of teammates here. A lot of people came back, so it would look stupid for me to go there, and we have a team here that\u2019s already built.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo reason to go back home, not when I\u2019m at the best place in the country,\u201d Smith said. \u201cI came to Ohio State for a reason, to win championships, develop as a player and a person, and keep building on this legacy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI might have grown up in South Florida, but I\u2019m a Buckeye. That\u2019s not changing. I wasn\u2019t going anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

History in Sight<\/h3>\n

Smith is one of one in the world of college football. He came in as a true freshman and dominated. It was one of the best seasons from a true freshman in the history of the game. Add in the fact that he was trusted with a one-on-one in the national championship, and he hauled in the game-sealing third-down conversion. Then, last year, he was widely considered to be the top receiver in the country despite losing out on the Biletnikoff Award.<\/p>\n

Now, heading into his junior season with the Buckeyes, Smith has the chance to be at the top of the mountain all by himself. He\u2019s only 43 receptions, 311 yards, and nine touchdowns away from owning the career records for each stat at Ohio State. When the 2027 NFL Draft<\/a> rolls around, he will have a legitimate argument to be the first wide receiver drafted first overall since Keyshawn Johnson in 1996.<\/span><\/p>\n

He turned down a massive payday to return to Ohio State<\/a>. Now, that’s not to say that he’s playing for free; Ohio State likely compensates him quite well to go along with his brand deals and such. But, to him, “chasing the bag” isn’t what he’s looking for. He knew coming to Ohio State would set him up in the long term. If you ask NFL Draft experts, it’s nearly unanimous that he is atop the 2027 big boards. The only reason he wouldn’t go first overall is that a quarterback is more valuable.<\/p>\n

However, turning down $10 million today to make $45 million as a high draft pick, and then whatever he makes in a second contract, is a good move.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Allegedly, Jeremiah Smith was offered a ridiculous amount of money to transfer from Ohio State. He turned it down to prioritize development.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4051,"featured_media":86589,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,2,35609],"tags":[4787,36033],"class_list":["post-86587","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bigten","category-featured","category-ohio-state-buckeyes","tag-brian-hartline","tag-keyshawn-johnson"],"modified_by":"Drew Crabtree","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86587","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4051"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86587"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86587\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":86591,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86587\/revisions\/86591"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/86589"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86587"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86587"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}