Welcome to the Skull Session.
You love to see a C.J. Stroud appreciation post:
CJ7 appreciation post. pic.twitter.com/sfWRorbPQI
— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) July 7, 2026
Have a good Thursday.
“HUH???” Public service announcement: Don’t believe everything you read on the internet.
Wait, didn’t I write that on Wednesday?
I did.
Whether it’s an uncle’s comments about his nephew’s recruitment or a report from a satirical X account, take a second to ask yourself: “Is this real?”
Jeremiah Smith didn’t need much time to answer that question this week when he saw “Shane Tuttle” report that the Ohio State wide receiver is making $0 in NIL money this season. The post even included a doctored quote that read, “I want to win another National Championship. I figured that money could be used to make our team stronger in other areas.”
Smith simply quoted the post with “Huh???” and a few laughing emojis.
Huh???? https://t.co/nn63GlZLcJ
— Jeremiah Smith (@Jermiah_Smith1) July 7, 2026
According to On3 and Rivals, Smith’s current NIL valuation sits at $5 million, ranking No. 5 among all college athletes nationally behind Miami quarterback Darian Mensah, Kentucky power forward Milan Momcilovic, Louisville center Flory Bidunga and Oregon quarterback Dante Moore. While I’ll admit those outlets have a better finger on the pulse of NIL valuations than I do, I’d argue their numbers for Smith are already outdated — especially after he told On3’s Chris Low he could have made more than $10 million to transfer from Ohio State this offseason.
“But that’s not how I operate,” Smith told Low.
Now, just because Smith didn’t leave Ohio State for a $10 million payday doesn’t mean he’s playing for free. The Buckeyes have made sure Smith is well compensated as he enters what will likely be his final season before heading to the NFL — and he deserves every penny.
After all, he’s the best player in college football.
JULIO AND MEGATRON, ALL IN ONE. Remember Air Noland, the former Ohio State quarterback who transferred to South Carolina after his first season with the Buckeyes?
Noland, now a quarterback at Memphis, appeared on the Raw Room podcast with NFL veterans Daren Bates and Jalen Collins last month. While the trio talked football, Bates asked Noland to name his favorite wide receiver that he’s thrown to in his college career.
“Jeremiah Smith,” Noland answered without hesitation. “Julio Jones, Megatron (Calvin Johnson), all in one. I’m telling you.”
“I don’t know about that now,” Bates responded.
“I’m telling you, though,” Noland said, asserting his claim. “I’m telling you.”
“We got to see that established now,” Collins said.
“Jeremiah puts his head down. He grinds,” Noland said. “You gon’ get some fear walking in front of him. He’s one of them dudes.”
Collins, a former cornerback, laughed. That made me laugh because Collins was a second-round pick who played five NFL seasons before making stops in the XFL and CFL.
Jeremiah Smith would pack him up quick.
But I digress.
Noland’s point was that Smith’s rare combination of talent, physicality and mentality makes him stand out even among elite college football players.
“An average college football player (sees him) and is like, ‘Whoa,’” Noland said. “He’s tough. You can see it.”
Hoooooo, man. Yes, you can.
A DANGEROUS DUO. OK, one more section about Jeremiah Smith. Just one more.
This week, On3’s J.D. PicKell ranked the top 10 quarterback-wide receiver duos in college football, and Julian Sayin and Smith claimed the No. 1 spot.
The Ohio State duo earned the top ranking because of their combination of talent and chemistry. In his first season as the Buckeyes’ QB1, Sayin threw for 3,610 yards and 32 touchdowns, with both marks ranking among the best in the FBS. Smith hauled in 87 passes from him for 1,243 yards and 12 touchdowns, earning unanimous All-American honors and Big Ten Receiver of the Year recognition.
An Duo@juliansayin2 @Jermiah_Smith1 pic.twitter.com/TDd6jGmXpB
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) July 8, 2026
Sayin and Smith finished ahead of several impressive duos in the top five, including Miami’s Darian Mensah and Malachi Toney, Texas’ Arch Manning and Cam Coleman, Oregon’s Dante Moore and Dakorien Moore, and Notre Dame’s CJ Carr and… Mylan Graham?
Wow. PicKell is really buying into Graham’s potential in South Bend.
We’ll see if the former five-star receiver lives up to the hype for the Fighting Irish.
As for Sayin and Smith, though, we already know what both players are capable of. There should be plenty of fireworks from those two this fall.
WELL, THAT’S INTERESTING. Ohio State is college football’s only recession-proof program, so how is it possible that the Buckeyes have never been the team that defined an entire decade of the sport?
That’s the question I had after reading an article from Chip Patterson this week, in which the CBS Sports writer named the greatest college football program from each decade since the 1920s. Here were his answers:
- 1920s: Notre Dame (83-11-3 record)
- 1930s: Alabama (79-11-5)
- 1940s: Notre Dame (82-9-6)
- 1950s: Oklahoma (93-10-2)
- 1960s: Alabama (90-16-4)
- 1970s: USC (93-22-7)
- 1980s: Miami (99-20)
- 1990s: Nebraska (108-16-1) and Florida State (109-13-1)
- 2000s: Florida (100-30)
- 2010s: Alabama (124-15)
- 2020s: Georgia (73-9)
Patterson named Ohio State as an honorable mention for the 2020s, lauding Ryan Day’s performance as head coach of the Buckeyes. He wrote this about Day’s program over the past six seasons:
Ohio State and Ryan Day, like Georgia, had their own local issues to handle before ascending to the top of the mountain. A four-game losing streak to Michigan placed immense weight on Day and the Buckeyes, but a bounce back in 2024 to win the first-ever 12-team College Football Playoff moves Ohio State back in line to challenge the Bulldogs for decade supremacy.
Ohio State needs another national title to get level with Georgia in the decade count, but given the level of recruiting and consistency under Day, it's likely they'll have a roster talented enough to win it all nearly every year between now and 2029.
Ohio State and Georgia are the only programs to finish in the top-10 of the final AP poll in each of the last five years, setting a standard that Oregon, Notre Dame, Indiana and Kalen DeBoer's Alabama are pushing to match. There is plenty of time left for Georgia or Ohio State to be unseated, but it's easy to look at those two as the programs that have ruled the first six seasons of the 2020s.
After reading this article, I was left with a would-you-rather question: Would you rather have Ohio State be an unquestioned Team of the Decade — even if that meant enduring stretches of mediocrity afterward — or would you rather have what the Buckeyes are now?
A program that is never bad, always in the national championship conversation and consistently among the most talented teams in the country, even if it hasn’t had one decade defined entirely by its dominance?
SONG OF THE DAY. "Here It Goes Again" - OK Go.
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