Jeremiah Smith Rockets to the Front of the 2025 Heisman Race: Why Ohio State’s Sophomore Sensation Is Defying Quarterback Gravity

COLUMBUS, Ohio — For decades the Heisman Trophy has been treated as a quarterback’s personal playground, with the bronze stiff‑arm typically destined for the nation’s flashiest signal‑caller. Not this summer. Multiple oddsmakers and national outlets released their first full preseason watch lists this week, and the name perched at the very top belongs to a wide receiver: Jeremiah Smith, the incandescent Ohio State sophomore who wowed the country as a true freshman and now owns the shortest—or, in some books, co‑shortest—odds to capture college football’s most coveted individual award in 2025.

Smith entered Columbus last year carrying the No. 2 receiver ranking in the 2024 recruiting cycle. He somehow lived up to—and arguably surpassed—that impossible billing, shredding Big Ten defensive backs for 57 catches, 934 yards and 10 touchdowns while dropping only two passes all season.

Those fireworks earned him Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors and catapulted him into every highlight montage ESPN could splice together. By winter, Futures bettors had already migrated toward his name, but this week’s fresh Heisman boards turned that buzz into a roar: ESPN BET lists Smith alongside Clemson’s Cade Klubnik and LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier with the second‑shortest national odds and the most favorable line for any wide receiver in more than fifteen years.

Only four non‑quarterbacks have won the Heisman since 2000—Charles Woodson (1997) and Reggie Bush (2005, later vacated) broke through as versatile defenders/returners, Derrick Henry bulldozed his way to the prize in 2015, and DeVonta Smith bucked the trend again in 2020. Jeremiah Smith’s ascension to preseason favorite status therefore clashes with nearly every recent voting pattern. Yet the sophomore’s résumé already mirrors the early career trajectory of the Alabama legend he shares a surname with: absurd catch radius, runway‑length strides that convert modest separation into instant explosions, and, maybe most importantly, a knack for delivering his most cinematic plays in prime‑time windows.

Smith’s sudden pole position isn’t a one‑man story; it’s tied directly to the Buckeyes’ shifting depth chart. Quarterback Will Howard has exhausted his eligibility, and Ohio State will hand the controls to either blue‑chip second‑year passer Julian Sayin or redshirt junior Devin Brown. Whichever arm wins Ryan Day’s camp battle, the directive is simple: feed No. 4. CBS Sports’ post‑spring Top 25 labeled Smith “the presumptive best player in college football” and projected an outrageous 1,800‑yard, 20‑TD ceiling if he becomes the system’s undisputed focal point.

Add an early September non‑conference clash with Texas, a late‑October trip to Michigan, and a likely Big Ten title bout, and the opportunities for nationally televised statement games stack up fast.

At ESPN BET, Smith’s line opened shorter than any non‑quarterback since DeVonta Smith’s 2020 campaign and shorter than every wide receiver’s preseason figure dating back at least 15 years.

BetMGM’s early Heisman sheet is more conservative—Arch Manning sits as the +600 headliner—but even there the Ohio State star is highlighted as the premier threat among skill players, drawing comparisons to recent wideout winners and sitting comfortably inside the top five overall.

Ryan Day, never shy about praising game‑breaking pass‑catchers, sounded a cautious but unmistakably enthusiastic note Tuesday. “Awards talk doesn’t win you anything in June,” the head coach said. “But Jeremiah prepares like a pro, and if he keeps stacking days, the numbers will come.” Offensive coordinator Chip Kelly—tasked with maximizing Smith’s touches—got even more direct. “Every defense on our schedule knows where No. 4 lines up,” Kelly quipped, “and frankly, that still might not matter.”

Smith’s rise doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Texas quarterback Arch Manning is the consensus neon‑flashing marquee name, entering 2025 as BetMGM’s overall favorite. Clemson’s Klubnik, LSU’s Nussmeier, Notre Dame’s do‑everything back Jeremiyah Love, and SMU dual‑threat Kevin Jennings all occupy various tiers of “next up” on the

QB bias alone guarantees they’ll siphon plenty of first‑place votes. Still, if Smith posts even a modest statistical bump—say, flirting with 100 receptions and threatening 1,600 yards—he will create a narrative crossroads: do Heisman voters cling to habit, or reward the best player in the sport regardless of position?

Ohio State’s schedule is brutal: Texas (Sept. 6), at Penn State (Oct. 11), at Michigan (Nov. 22), plus a possible Big Ten title game showdown with newly mega‑rostered USC. A single mid‑season dip or an injury could torpedo Smith’s candidacy before the leaves finish turning. Meanwhile, ballot fatigue often plagues receivers; big‑play highlights can blur together while quarterbacks accumulate weekly yardage milestones.

Recruiting experts point to Smith’s early Heisman billing as another seismic jolt in the Name, Image and Likeness era. If a sophomore receiver can realistically lead the race in August, future five‑stars across the country may weight pass‑happy offensive systems and media exposure even more heavily when picking schools. That ripple effect only strengthens Ohio State’s pipeline—and, some insiders argue, widens the gap between the sport’s resource giants and everyone else.

Jeremiah Smith hasn’t so much shattered the quarterback monopoly as he has relegated it—at least temporarily—to the sidebar. Whether he ultimately hoists the trophy in December is a story that will be written over twelve furious Saturdays and, Buckeye fans hope, a College Football Playoff encore.