Welcome to the Skull Session.
What Ohio State football said:
This Duo >> https://t.co/77cP2XCqpz
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) June 2, 2025
Have a good Tuesday.
WATCH OUT, COLLEGE FOOTBALL. In an interview with NBC Sports’ Nicole Auerbach last month, Ryan Day said leading the Buckeyes to a national championship has lifted pressure off his shoulders. It’s also made him excited for Ohio State’s future, describing it as “a wonderful place to be” with a culture that is “very, very strong.”
“When you’re a first-time head coach at a place like Ohio State, and you get so close (to winning a national championship), you don’t get the benefit of the doubt. Once you win that national championship, for the most part, you’ll get the benefit of the doubt moving forward," Day said. "Not that anything is guaranteed because once you lose a game, it’s not good (laughs).
"But that’s part of the job here. It’s part of the excellence. It’s a wonderful place to be. You get to be around great people, you get to recruit great people — even in a day and age where there’s a lot of craziness going on. But we do, we have good people here. Our culture is very, very strong. I always kind of said to recruits and families, ‘If we win one of these national championships, watch out, we’re gonna be doing it for a while, and it’s gonna be a lot of fun.’”
Watch out? To the rest of college football, that’s a warning. To me, it’s an encouragement — one that’s music to my ears.
BEST OF THE 2000s. This week, The Athletic added to its Best of the 2000s collection as Grace Raynor ranked the Best No. 1 Recruits of the 21st century. The article was the latest in a series that has also included the Best Teams, Best Players, Best Coaches, Best Programs and Best Five-Star Quarterback Prospects.
Raynor’s top No. 1 overall recruit was Texas quarterback Vince Young. She continued with Jackson State/Colorado cornerback Travis Hunter, Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence, Oklahoma running back Adrian Peterson, LSU running back Leonard Fournette, South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney, Alabama offensive lineman Andre Smith, and at No. 8 and No. 9, Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith and Ohio State/Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers.
The 2000s have given us plenty of star power on the recruiting trail.
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) June 2, 2025
But not all top prospects are created equal.@gmraynor ranks the best No. 1 recruits of this century. pic.twitter.com/GNItMRhjv9
No. 8 - Jeremiah Smith, WR, Ohio State, Class of 2024
With his career still going, Smith is a tough one to rank, but if he plays anything like he did as a true freshman, he’ll go down as one of the best receivers in college football history. Last season, on Ohio State’s national championship-winning team, the Freshman All-American caught 76 passes for a ridiculous 1,315 yards and 15 touchdowns.
9. Quinn Ewers, QB, Ohio State/Texas, Class of 2021
Ewers joined Young as the only two quarterbacks of the modern era to earn a perfect 1.0000 rating. After reclassifying to the Class of 2021, he spent just one season at Ohio State before transferring home to Texas. In Austin, Ewers led the Longhorns to two College Football Playoff appearances while throwing for 9,000-plus yards as the program’s most productive quarterback since Colt McCoy.
It took one season (one season!) for Smith to become one of the best No. 1 recruits in the modern era. From now until he becomes the No. 1 overall pick in the 2027 NFL draft, Smith will continue to climb the ranks here, perhaps higher than Young and Hunter, but certainly higher than Lawrence, Peterson, Fournette, Clowney and Smith.
THE CASE FOR SMITH. You know what would help Smith climb the ranks toward becoming the top No. 1 recruit of the 2000s? A Heisman Trophy. Last week, ESPN’s Pamela Maldonado made the case for Smith to win college football’s most prestigious award after he and Alabama’s Ryan Williams appeared on the cover of EA Sports College Football 26.
The second-year Ohio State Buckeyes wideout enters this season with the most hype of any non-quarterback since Reggie Bush or Adrian Peterson. Smith is tied with Cade Klubnik and Garrett Nussmeier for the second-shortest odds to win the Heisman at ESPN BET, and Smith has the shortest preseason Heisman odds for a wide receiver in over 15 years and shortest for any non-quarterback since 2018 — even shorter than DeVonta Smith in 2020. (DeVonta won the award that year.)
Smith was listed at +1500 to win the award in January, so why has there been so much steam this far out from the season? For one, he is built like a guy meant to play on Sundays, a technician with elite route running, next-level separation and a flair for the dramatic. Smith had a record-setting true freshman campaign at Ohio State, posting 76 catches for 1,315 yards and 15 touchdowns in 2024, all FBS records for a true freshman.
However, it wasn't just his stats, it was how he played, with highlights like a one-handed catch against the Michigan State Spartans, a 60-yard bomb against the Nebraska Cornhuskers and a double move that left the Penn State Nittany Lions' top corner frozen. Smith delivered a "SportsCenter" moment each week.
The best-case scenario for Smith is for him to develop early chemistry with redshirt freshman QB Julian Sayin, Ohio State going over 10.5 wins (+115) and the Buckeyes returning to the College Football Playoff with Smith leading the offense. A showdown against Heisman Trophy favorite Arch Manning and the Texas Longhorns in the season opener Aug. 30 gives Smith the opportunity to shine early. If he does, hello Heisman talk.
The only concern is that he is still young in his college career. Unless Sayin plays lights out in his first season under center, it's hard to see Smith producing consistently enough to beat out a field of veteran talent.
I understand Maldonado’s concern about Sayin (and I would assume Lincoln Kienholz, who is still in competition with Sayin for the coveted QB1 title). However, I think Smith may be one of those wide receivers who’s quarterback-proof, like Terry McLaurin on the Washington Commanders (before Jayden Daniels arrived, of course) or Garrett Wilson on the New York Jets. Smith is that good, and he’ll only get better. As long as Sayin or Kienholz can feel comfortable with a “Four is down there somewhere” mindset, I think Smith will be just fine in 2025.
IT’S SIMPLY TOO GOOD. Ohio State’s creative and branding director Ethan Miller posted an image on social media this week that showcased the studio where the Buckeyes’ creative team will take pictures of prospects on their official visits. I won’t be the first to say it — and I certainly won’t be the last — but Miller and his department knocked the decorations out of the park.
OV szn is in session
— Ethan Miller (@ethantlmiller) June 1, 2025
#GoBucks pic.twitter.com/1UeBRi9iZZ
SONG OF THE DAY. "Always Been You" - Quinn XCII.
CUT TO THE CHASE. John Brenkus, "Sports Science" host and co-creator, dies at 54... Sicily’s Mount Etna erupts with columns of smoke and ash... John Mulaney’s righteous quest to make the weirdest thing possible... No helmets, no pads, full tackling, is this the future of football?... May 2025 sure felt cold and wet, but did Columbus break any records?
