Urban Meyer puts Jeremiah Smith at No. 1 on his Heisman Trophy list

The Heisman Trophy race appears to be coming down to the wire, and there’s a possibility that Ohio State will have two players in New York City on Dec. 13. QB Julian Sayin and WR Jeremiah Smith have been one of the two most dynamic duos in the country this season.

Former Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer believes that an Ohio State player will win the Heisman this season — but chose Smith over Sayin.

“(He’s) the best football player in the country,” Meyer said on the Triple Option podcast. “And I would probably challenge anybody — the best player in America is Jeremiah Smith.

“He’d be the number one overall pick in the draft, probably after his freshman year, certainly after sophomore. And he will be next year.”

Smith caught 76 passes for 1,315 yards and 15 touchdowns as a true freshman, setting the college football world on notice ahead of the 2025 season. He’s lived up to expectations as a sophomore.

In the last two games, Smith has caught 16 receptions for 260 yards and three scores. With 852 receiving yards this season, he’s well on his way to consecutive 1,000+ yard receiving seasons. During last weekend’s 38-10 win against Purdue, Smith and Sayin connected 10 times for 137 yards and a touchdown.

Mark Ingram, one of Meyer’s co-hosts and a former Heisman Trophy-winning running back for Alabama, pushed back against Meyer’s prediction. Ingram said that he doesn’t think that Smith will have the numbers for ultimately win the award. He cited the last true wideout the win the Heisman — DeVonta Smith in 2020.

DeVonta Smith caught 118 passes for 1,856 yards and 23 touchdowns during his Heisman Trophy campaign, not to mention gaining over 200 yards and a touchdown in the return game. He was responsible for over 2,000 all-purpose yards during his 2020 season.

Jeremiah Smith would need just under 1,000 yards over the next three regular season games and whatever matchups the postseason brings the Buckeyes. At most, Smith has four games (regular season, potential Big Ten title) to make up that type of production, which is unlikely.

Sayin was Meyer’s third choice to win the award, and said that if it’s truly a quarterback award then it should be go to the Buckeyes signal caller. With just over a month’s time before the next college football player is immortalized as a Heisman Trophy-winner, only time will tell if Smith and Sayin will be representing Ohio State in NYC.