Smith was born on Nov. 29, 2005, in Miami Gardens, Florida. At seven he tried out for a youth team, the Miami Gardens Ravens, and was cut. A year later he made the league and won its version of the Heisman.

At Chaminade-Madonna in Hollywood, Florida, he caught 58 passes for 1,073 yards and 20 touchdowns as a junior and won state titles in the 110- and 400-meter hurdles. He finished as the No. 1 prospect in the 2024 class and the highest-rated receiver recruit since rankings began in 2000, ahead of Julio Jones and Dorial Green-Beckham.

He scored both of Ohio State’s first-half touchdowns in his debut, a 52-6 win over Akron. By the end of the season he had set the FBS records for receiving yards and touchdowns by a true freshman and wiped out Cris Carter’s school freshman marks of 41 catches, 648 yards and eight touchdowns.

1. Dec. 21, 2024Six catches, 103 yards and two touchdowns in a 42-17 playoff win over Tennessee.
2. Jan. 1, 2025Rose Bowl MVP: seven catches for 187 yards and two touchdowns against Oregon.
3. Jan. 20, 2025Five catches for 88 yards and a touchdown, including a 56-yard catch late, in the 34-23 title-game win over Notre Dame.

As a sophomore he caught more passes for fewer yards a catch, and drew more attention than any receiver in the country. He repeated as the Big Ten’s receiver of the year, was a unanimous All-American and finished sixth in the Heisman voting.

The season ended without a second title. He had eight catches for 144 yards in a 13-10 loss to Indiana in the Big Ten championship game, then seven for 157 and a touchdown in a 24-14 playoff loss to Miami in the Cotton Bowl.

Seven games into his junior season, Smith leads the Big Ten in receiving by 243 yards. He averages 18.9 yards a catch, the highest of his career, and Ohio State is 6-1.

2026 receiving yards, game by game

Against Illinois he had 12 catches, 217 yards and four touchdowns. A week later at Iowa he had 11 for 206 and two more, and became Ohio State’s career leader in catches and touchdown receptions. He had already passed Michael Jenkins for the school yardage record against Kent State.

Last Saturday’s 38-yard touchdown on fourth-and-1 at Indiana was the decisive score in a 19-15 win that ended the Hoosiers’ 22-game winning streak.

That Indiana touchdown was the 39th of his career, tying Michigan’s Braylon Edwards for the Big Ten record. One more makes it his alone. He is also the first Ohio State player with 10 or more touchdown catches in three seasons.

Big Ten career receiving yards

He needs six yards to pass Dorien Bryant for third and 246 to catch John Standeford. Ohio State’s next game is at USC on Oct. 31, with Oregon, Northwestern, Nebraska and Michigan still to come in the regular season.

WhyNFL tallied 18 mock drafts published by named analysts between Oct. 13 and Oct. 22. Smith went first in 14 of them and never lasted past the third pick. The other four No. 1 picks went to quarterbacks Drew Mestemaker, Arch Manning and CJ Carr and Texas edge rusher Colin Simmons.

Field Yates’ first mock, built on the order through Week 6, sends him to the winless Chargers, who have no receiver in the top 50 in receiving yards per game. The draft opens on April 29.

The last receiver taken first overall was Keyshawn Johnson, by the Jets in 1996. Since then, the highest a receiver has gone is No. 2: Charles Rogers in 2003, Calvin Johnson in 2007 and two-way star Travis Hunter in 2025.

1. 1996Keyshawn Johnson goes No. 1 to the Jets, the last receiver taken first.
2. 2022First receiver: Drake London at No. 8. Ohio State's Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave follow at 10 and 11.
3. 2023First receiver: Ohio State's Jaxon Smith-Njigba at No. 20.
4. 2024First receiver: Ohio State's Marvin Harrison Jr. at No. 4.
5. 2025Two-way star Travis Hunter goes No. 2.
6. 2026First receiver: Smith's Ohio State teammate Carnell Tate at No. 4, to Tennessee.