By admin 
In a little over six months, Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith will undoubtedly be the first non-quarterback taken in the 2027 NFL Draft. But while everyone is projecting superstardom and all-time great achievements from the Buckeyes star, LeSean McCoy believes he’s already seen the greatness.
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In a recent appearance on Bleacher Report, the former NFL running back declared that Smith is already “the greatest receiver I’ve ever laid eyes on.” He highlighted Smith’s combination of speed, size and hands that mark him as the best he’s ever seen out of the many he has seen.
“This is the greatest receiver I’ve ever laid eyes on,” McCoy said. “Man. He is the greatest wide receiver I’ve ever seen. Argue with your mama. Speed, size, hands. (Greatest) I’ve ever seen. And I’ve seen a lot of them.”
McCoy drew comparisons to some of the greats of the last 20 years like Larry Fitzgerald, Julio Jones and AJ Green.
“My favorite growing up was Peter Warrick,” McCoy said. “I thought he was God great. I used to love… who else? Larry Fitzgerald. C’mon. Pitt, stand up. Julio was nice. AJ Green was really, really good too. The difference is I can see Julio’s body frame on Jeremiah, but he’s way more developed. He’s way more advanced.”
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McCoy further praised Smith for his maturity at such a young age.
“If you listen to his interviews, he’s such a mature kid,” McCoy said. “I keep telling you this about always being great. He’s always great. Always. And now you go to a school like Ohio State where they develop players well; he blocks, he’s tough, he’s smart. I watch him on double teams. I hate when players say, ‘Aw man, I’m always getting doubled.’ And? And? Because I watch Jeremiah Smith get doubled all the time and he brings the challenge on. He makes so many crazy catches and he’s fast. Everything you want in a receiver he has.”
The Next Big Thing?
It certainly feels like McCoy has his new favorite wide receiver and he’s far from the only one.
Smith is rapidly emerging as the most hyped NFL wide receiver prospect in years and it’s easy to understand why. He’s shattering records at Ohio State, a program that over the last decade-plus has produced some of the best wide receivers in the league.
That said, not every hyped prospect has broken out the way they were expected to. As easy as it is to hype players up, there’s a tendency to lash out at those players when they don’t perform as well as people projected they would.
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This story was originally published October 8, 2026 at 12:31 PM.