Sophomore receiver Jeremiah Smith became the first Ohio State EA Sports cover athlete on Tuesday when he was one of two players placed on the new EA College Football 2026 video game.
Smith, the Big Ten Receiver of the Year in 2024, joins Alabama sophomore receiver Ryan Williams on the cover of the video game. The honor for Smith comes after an unprecedented freshman season in 2024, when he smashed each of the Buckeyes’ freshman receiving records, going for 76 catches, 1,315 yards and 15 touchdowns.
The honor bestowed upon Smith by EA Sports is only the latest of a laundry list of awards the former No. 1 overall recruit has received one year into his collegiate career. In addition to being named the Big Ten Receiver of the Year in 2024, Smith was a first-team All-American, was named to the All-Big Ten first-team and was named the conference’s Freshman of the Year.
Like Smith, Williams burst onto the scene in 2024, recording 48 catches for 865 yards and eight touchdowns on the way to earning Freshman All-American honors.
Williams, a top-five recruit in the 2024 class, who played the entirety of the 2024 season at only 17 years old, was also named to the All-SEC first-team.
On the cover of the standard edition of the game, Smith is clad in Ohio State’s home uniform while holding a football alongside Williams. On the deluxe edition of the game, meanwhile, Smith is joined by junior safety Caleb Downs and head coach Ryan Day, along with a slew of other coaches, standout players, fans and mascots.
