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Jeremiah Smith has the ‘Randy Moss effect,’ says FOX’s Joel Klatt

Paul Harvey

By Paul Harvey

Published:

Jeremiah Smith has wasted little time establishing himself as one of the best receivers in all of college football. However, Joel Klatt believes the elite freshman could have even bigger numbers if Ohio State took a different strategy.

According to Klatt, he has been “waiting” to see the Buckeyes spend a portion of time going with heavy targets designed for Smith. While the young wideout is already wrecking defenses, Klatt believes he could be targeted upwards of 15 times a game until a defense shows Smith cannot be stopped.

“I’ve been waiting for Ohio State, whether it’s just a series, or a quarter, or a half, or a game, just say he’s the best, most dominant player on the field and we’re going to target him 12, 13, 14, 15 times,” said Klatt during a recent episode of “The Joel Klatt Show.”

Klatt went on to describe the reason why is that Smith is so good, it often doesn’t matter what the coverage is or who the defenders are around Smith. It’s reminiscent of Randy Moss, one of the most dominant receivers in the history of football.

“Smith is so good and so fast. There are rarely players I say this about, but he is a ‘regardless’ wide receiver,” Klatt explained. “That means that regardless of the coverage, you throw it to him… There’s a bit of like the Randy Moss effect with Jeremiah Smith and I’m just wondering if they potentially go that direction.”

Moss spent 2 seasons at Marshall as a major college star, registering 54 receiving touchdowns and 20.3 yards per catch. He would go on to carve out a Hall of Fame career in the NFL and still ranks 4th all-time in receiving yards (15,292) and 2nd in receiving touchdowns (156).

We’ll see if Smith can come close to that kind of career, but he’s off to a scorching start.

Paul Harvey

Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.