COLUMBUS, Ohio — Moments after Ohio State‘s annual student appreciation scrimmage, a mob of undergrads swarmed Jeremiah Smith as he stretched near the sidelines of the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. Smith stood and signed as many autographs as he could while police struggled to clear space for him.

The buzz around the star Buckeyes wide receiver has only intensified since he made the game-clinching catch against Notre Dame — a play that sealed Ohio State’s first national championship in a decade and made Smith a Buckeye legend in just one season.

Yet while Ohio State fans are still savoring that title, the NFL is already excited about Smith’s future — even though he won’t be draft-eligible for another two years.

Behind the scenes, NFL front office executives, scouts and coaches are calling Smith a “generational” prospect — the product of one of college football’s most dominant true freshman seasons in recent history. In interviews with a dozen of them, ESPN was told the 6-foot-3, 215-pound phenom wouldn’t fall outside the top five of this year’s draft — despite being just 19 years old.

“The fact you’re that big, move that fluidly, then have the body control to adjust your body to make these ridiculous catches — it’s just, check, check, check,” said an NFC personnel executive.

Two wide receiver coaches added that Smith would be their top-rated receiver — ahead of Colorado two-way star Travis Hunter.

“Just because of his upside — it’s through the roof,” said one of those assistants, who also views Smith as a superior pro prospect to any of the record seven receivers taken in last year’s first round, including Pro Bowl rookies Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas Jr. “He just changes the game for defenses. You can’t just leave him on an island. When you have a guy like that, it just changes everything. … I haven’t seen any flaws in his game.”

One general manager even claimed that, were he available for this draft, Smith would go No. 1. No wide receiver has been selected No. 1 since Keyshawn Johnson in 1996. The same GM said that former Oklahoma running back and 2012 league MVP Adrian Peterson was the only other true freshman he can recall being this ready for the NFL.

“In this particular draft, there’s a lot of good players, a lot of depth, but if you think about just the explosive, dominant playmakers, [Smith] would stand out,” said an AFC scout. “That’s what jumps off the film when you watch him. You place him in this draft and you’re like, ‘Well, I don’t really see anyone on that level.'”

Ryan Day’s in-time reaction when he found out Jeremiah Smith was signing with Ohio State.

This is the visual definition of RELIEF.@nbc4i pic.twitter.com/0b5PFikxpT

— Jerod Smalley (@JerodNBC4) December 20, 2023

OHIO STATE COACH Ryan Day was addressing the media on December signing day in 2023 when he was informed that Smith had officially signed with the Buckeyes. Day breathed a sigh of relief, then feigned fainting from the podium.

A five-star prospect with offers from nearly every powerhouse program, Smith arrived in Columbus last spring with as much hype as any Buckeye recruit in recent memory.

Somehow, he exceeded it.

Even in a stacked Buckeyes offense with running backs Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson as well as receiver Emeka Egbuka — all projected top 50 picks in this draft — Smith stood out.

In his Ohio State debut against Akron, Smith dropped his first target. But he bounced back to score a pair of touchdowns, providing a glimpse of what was to come.

Over the following weeks, Smith dazzled with an array of one-handed grabs and explosive scoring plays. By early November, he had broken Ohio State’s true freshman receiving records set by Pro Football Hall of Famer Cris Carter in 1984.

Smith wound up leading the Buckeyes with 1,315 receiving yards and 15 touchdown receptions. He exploded in the College Football Playoff against some of the nation’s top defenses. Despite being held to only one reception in the semifinal victory over Texas, Smith still finished with 381 receiving yards and five touchdowns over Ohio State’s four playoff victories.

“He clearly proved it down the stretch how good he is,” said an AFC personnel executive. “I was just so impressed with the combination of size, quickness for his size, route-running feel and how he wins the one-on-ones.”

That culminated with his biggest one-on-one grab of the year in the national title game.

Following a furious second-half rally, Notre Dame was on the verge of getting the ball back in the final two minutes with a chance to tie. Facing third-and-11, the Buckeyes put the game in Smith’s hands. Quarterback Will Howard heaved the ball down the sidelines to Smith, who beat Notre Dame cornerback Christian Gray to haul in the 56-yard reception. Four plays later, the Buckeyes kicked the 33-yard field goal to seal their 34-23 victory.

“That just showed how much they believe in him … and how freaking good he is to make that play when the game is on the line,” an NFL receivers coach said. “I’m just so impressed with how poised and mature he is at his age, with all the hype and expectations around him.”

Even after producing such an iconic catch, Smith said he remains hungry.

“Just because I made that one play … can’t get big-headed,” he said last week. “I always feel like there’s room for improvement. Never feel like you just got it. That’s one thing a lot of people mess up on, feel like, ‘Oh had one good year, OK, I’m relaxed.’ That’s not in me. I’m going to continue to do it for years and years to come.”

That’s a terrifying proposition for the rest of college football. It’s also the biggest reason why Ohio State could defend its title despite losing 14 starters from last season’s championship team.

Smith could have taken his talents elsewhere. Multiple agents speculated that Smith could have commanded at least $5 million in NIL money from other schools had he entered the transfer portal. Instead, he has been focused on becoming a more vocal leader for the retooling Buckeyes.

“A lot of it is learning how to become a good teammate, learning how to encourage other guys around them to play winning football, which he does,” said Day, who praised Smith’s humility under such a bright spotlight. “You’re starting to see him come out of his shell a bunch. … He’s still just a young man trying to find his way and he is. When you look at him, you don’t think it, but he is.”

This spring, the Buckeyes have experimented with utilizing Smith out of the slot to add ways to get him the ball. They’re also expanding his route tree, which figures to enhance his NFL readiness.

“You’re chasing that 1%. … That’s what he’s chasing,” said Ohio State offensive coordinator and receivers coach Brian Hartline, who has challenged Smith to improve his football IQ, anticipating how defenses guard him instead of reacting to it. “He has some of the highest goals and he’s not [there] right now. He’s doing a good job being hard on himself.”

OHIO STATE’S PROWESS in producing NFL wide receivers in recent years is unmatched.

In Garrett Wilson, Chris Olave, Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Marvin Harrison Jr., the Buckeyes have produced four first-round picks at receiver in the past three drafts alone. Egbuka could keep that streak going if he goes in the first round.

One AFC personnel executive was quickly sold on Smith’s NFL future while watching him dominate in a preseason practice, before he had even played in a game.

“Nobody could touch him,” he said. “Couldn’t even get a hand on him.”

Now, he sees shades of A.J. Green and Julio Jones in Smith’s game.

Those two went in the top six of the 2011 draft. Green went on to make seven Pro Bowls with the Cincinnati Bengals. Jones was a five-time All-Pro for the Atlanta Falcons before retiring this month.

“He’s fluid like A.J., but explosive and a dog at the catch point like Julio,” the AFC executive said.

Others in the NFL compared Smith’s style and pro potential to Jones, who boasted a similar frame.

Jones, who also starred as a true freshman for Alabama, became a national champion. The Falcons famously traded up in the draft to get him.

One NFL receivers coach predicted Smith will become “the most sought-after receiver prospect since Jones.”

New Ohio State defensive coordinator Matt Patricia has marveled at Smith’s “presence” on the field this spring.

The former Detroit Lions head coach, who won two Super Bowls as New England’s defensive coordinator, including Super Bowl LI over Jones and the Falcons (Tom Brady’s 28-3 comeback) said if he were game-planning against Smith, he would double him on every snap.

“No way you’d leave him one-on-one,” Patricia said.

Smith is sure to face even more attention from opposing defenses as a sophomore. With a new quarterback and several untested playmakers around him, Smith will shoulder a bigger load for the offense, especially early in the season.

Like Smith, Peterson was also a freshman wonder. He nearly rushed for 2,000 yards, finished second in the Heisman Trophy and propelled the Sooners to the national title game. But over the next two seasons, he battled injuries and loaded defensive boxes. While Peterson still went No. 7 to the Minnesota Vikings in 2007, some scouts caution that Smith’s path could follow a similar arc under the microscope. Scouts acknowledged that Smith’s game could get nitpicked the closer he gets to the 2027 draft. One specifically noted that he wants to see if Smith can run more precise routes instead of relying on his physical dominance.

“[Marvin Harrison Jr.’s] routes were precise, like he’d already been in the league,” the scout said. “He had that constant play speed in and out of his breaks and knew how to set guys up over and over again. [Smith], you see good routes for sure, but he still feels like what he is — a younger guy who is still growing into his game and hasn’t needed to always be precise because he just wins because he’s better than you.”

Another NFC personnel executive added, “Three touchdown games against teams that won’t be in the [playoff] aren’t going to get much of your attention [anymore].”

That’s the standard Smith has already set for himself. And the NFL can’t wait to see what comes next.

“We’ll see how Jeremiah’s story goes,” an AFC scout said. “But everyone [in the league] is talking about him. You hear all the buzz: ‘Who is this dude? How can we get this guy on our team?’

“That’s the track he’s on right now.”