College football Freaks List 2025: Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith tops a list of 101
College football Freaks List 2025: Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith tops a list of 101
Even though I’ve been reporting the Freaks List since 2005, I am still blown away numerous times while working on this project with what I hear about some of the amazing things college football players have done or can do.
I rely on the intel from coaches, schools, teammates, parents, NFL scouts, NFL Scouting Combine trainers and agents. As you can see, the hardest part of this project is keeping it to 100. To think, when I first started the list, there were only 10.
Editor’s note: This article is part of our Freaks List series, which chronicles the strongest, fastest and most physical players in college football.
The best college football player in the nation is also its biggest Freak, and he won’t turn 20 until after Thanksgiving. Smith entered college with a ton of hype and backed it up with 76 catches for 1,315 yards and 15 touchdowns for the national champions. He led the country with six receptions of at least 50 yards.
Part of an unprecedented run in Columbus of elite wide receivers, the 6-foot-3 1/2, 223-pounder is clearly the most gifted. He’s the biggest, strongest and fastest. Smith’s testing and timing numbers are remarkable.
Asked which of his Freakish feats this summer he’s most proud of, Smith said it’s his 225 pounds on the bench for 20 reps. “I’m very proud of that,” he said. “I could probably only hit like five before I got to Ohio State. I came in weak.”
Smith’s 11-foot broad jump, 38-inch vertical jump and 23.5 mph on the GPS are jaw-dropping for a receiver his size. Could he get up to 24 mph?
“Whooo. I don’t think so,” he said. “That’s like track speed right there.”
Smith, who also squatted 550 pounds, credits the work he’s been doing with South Florida-based trainer Pearson Sutton since he was 8 for his explosiveness. “The way my trainer and my dad prepared me, working me out two, three times a day just made me bigger, faster and stronger.”
