Ohio State Buckeyes standout freshman wide receiver Jeremiah Smith quickly solidified himself as one of the most dominant wideouts in the nation during his first year of college football, and now, other programs are reportedly offering substantial money to entice him away from Ohio State.
According to college football insider Pete Nakos of On3, Smith has been presented with offers ranging between $4.5 million and $5 million to transfer to a different program.
Despite these efforts, Nakos states that Ohio State “is ready to do whatever it needs to hold onto Smith.”
The top-rated player in the 2024 high school recruiting class, Smith shined throughout Ohio State’s playoff campaign, amassing 381 receiving yards and five touchdowns across the four-game stretch.
Throughout the entire season, Smith hauled in 76 catches for 1,315 yards and 15 touchdowns – one of the most dominant individual seasons in Ohio State history, and it came from an 18-year-old true freshman.
Smith’s stellar performance this season has even led several NFL Draft analysts to claim that, if eligible, he would be the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s NFL Draft, even as an 18-year-old freshman.
It’s obviously why other teams would be interested in pursuing the young superstar, but the news of the massive offer sparked a lot of reactions on social media.
“Really disheartening for the programs offering such amounts to only be turned down,” one person wrote on X.
“NCAA needs to act quickly before this gets out of hand, every pro league has a cap and multi year contracts as well as performance based comp, the players went from no power to an excessive ability to run to the money (they deserve plenty but it’s just the Wild West and out of so many coaches hands the way it currently works),” another fan added.
“This is smart. Now OSU has to drop a significant amount of money on two players instead of spreading it out,” someone else added.
“Smith might be worth more than double that $4.5 million,” another fan said.
“NIL /Portal need guardrails or proper multi-year contracts. It’s out of control right now,” someone else said.
“Ohio State has one of the best WR coaches, Brian Hartline. He has produced numerous NFL WRs. Smith and Tate probably want to be at Ohio State for that reason. They will not get better coaching elsewhere. Also, as champions, OSU should be able to meet or bet those NIL deals,” another person wrote.
Clearly, Ohio State is planning to do whatever it takes to keep him with the Buckeyes, but that isn’t stopping other teams from trying.
