Is there even a debate about who the best wide receiver is in college football?
Embrace debate! A question was prompted by media personality Brooks Austin on Thursday about which receiver he would take in the draft, all things equal, between Ohio State's Jeremiah Smith and Miami's Malachi Toney.
The exact prompt was stated as this: "If we had to go win a game on Saturday in a college football environment, which one of these guys are you taking?"
The point here is not to disagree with Austin, which I do in this case, who said that he might lean with Toney, but it is to ask a follow-up question: how much better is Jeremiah Smith than the rest of the players in the country?
In my opinion, which could be debated, it's not close, and it hasn't been close for a very long time.
Smith's timeline for me begins in Week 4 of his Freshman season against the Michigan State Spartans, and the play is one that will be looped on his highlight tape forever.
Quarterback Will Howard took a big hit and had to come out of the football game, which substituted the backup, Devin Brown, under center to take a snap.
In most cases, if a backup is coming in for a play or two, the coach calls an easy completion or even a run play to protect the player from making a big mistake coming off the bench. Well, this wasn't the case as the Buckeyes were up against the clock at the end of the half.
So, the approach shifts for the play caller who now needs to call a pass play that is aimed at his best player. In this case, Ryan Day and Brian Hartline dialed up a play for No. 4, and he cashed it in just his fourth career game. Not to mention the highlight that he created, the fact that they went to him spoke volumes.
That was the signal to me that he was the No. 1 option on the field for Ohio State, and from there, he catapulted into being the best wide receiver in college football.
In terms of the question that was asked, I don't think it is close between Smith and anyone in the country, let alone Malachi Toney. That isn't to say that Toney is a bad player at all; it is just to underscore how impactful Smith is when he is on the field.
Schematically, Toney can be a matchup nightmare for teams. He is impossible to cover with a linebacker or safety, and he can really be used as a chess piece. However, playcallers have to be strategic on where to deploy him and how to deploy him.
Smith, on the other hand, walks onto every field and is open. Period, end of story. If you need further evidence, just go back and watch this catch.
Whether you're starting an NFL team, a college team, a high school team, or a peewee team, Jeremiah Smith is the answer for the wide receiver that should be picked 1.1 off every single board.
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