Ohio State football freshman already sheds his black stripe

When freshmen come into the Ohio State football program, they get a black stripe on their helmet. That signifies that they still have work to do before they are truly considered a Buckeye. It takes most freshmen until the Fall to shed their stripe, mainly because not all of them come in early in the Spring. Some don’t make it until the Summer.

That’s not the case with a lot of the freshmen this year. A ton of them are in Columbus early to participate in Spring practice. One of those freshmen is Jeremiah Smith. He’s a freshman and was the number-one overall recruit in the country. The freshman is a physical freak and coaches have already taken notice.

Jeremiah Smith becomes the fastest freshman in Ohio State football history to lose his stripe

Smith shed his black stripe today after just four practices. He becomes the fastest freshman to ever lose his black stripe. That shows just how good this kid is already. Smith might be good enough already to be the third receiver for the Buckeyes this season, alongside Emeka Egbuka and Carnell Tate.

Smith is just smooth in everything he does. He’s also big and physical, so there’s nothing a defender can do to defend him on most plays. Once he gets some experience, he’s going to be an absolute problem to deal with for opposing teams. The hype was already big surrounding him, but now it’s about to go even further off the rails.

I wonder how much playing time Smith will get early. The receiver room is just so loaded that it’s hard for these guys to get playing time right off the bat unless they’re true freaks. Then again, Smith must be a true freak if he already shed his black stripe. Perhaps he is the exception to the rule.

Even if he doesn’t start as the third receiver, Smith is still going to get plenty of playing time as a freshman. He’s too good not to.