If you hit the rewind button in the summer of 2023, it felt like Jeremiah Smith was visiting Florida Football weekly. Headline after headline hyped up his constant visits to Gainesville, but in the end, Smith stuck with his commitment to Ohio State.
Over 1,200 yards later in his freshman campaign up north, Smith is a reminder of why elite talent does matter in college football and a potential proof of concept for what is possible in 2025 as Florida will be bringing in two five-star receivers of their own.
Florida Football: The future is now
In back-to-back playoff wins, Smith had six catches for 103 yards and seven catches for 187 yards. The former five-star has not only lived up to the hype, but he has exceeded it, and if Ohio State does go on to win the national championship, he will be a massive reason why.
This isn't to muse how Smith could and/or should have been a Gator. And this isn't to explore the pipe dream that somehow DJ Lagway convinces Smith to hit the transfer portal.
This is simply to explore and be reminded that there is a difference between "good" talent and "elite" talent, and if a team wants to navigate the multi-round structure of the playoffs, they need elite talent on their roster.
Take it for what it is worth, but in all seven playoff games so far, the team ranked higher in the 247 Talent Composite is the team that emerged victorious.
Florida's hope for 2025 is that they have elite talent at QB with Lagway, and they have elite talent incoming at wide receiver with Vernell Brown and Dallas Wilson.
For all the musing of Florida's approach in the transfer portal, there is a pathway Florida doesn't need to add anyone else if Brown and Wilson are as advertised.
Keep in mind Florida hasn't had a 1,000-yard receiver in decades. It has also been a hot minute since they have signed a wide receiver rated as highly as Wilson. Since 2000, Wilson is the 5th highest-rated wide receiver the Gators have signed, according to 247.
Even if Wilson and/or Brown are 75% of what Smith has been, that would still come out to a 900-yard season in 2025. If Florida plans to take a step forward in 2025, they will need someone to eclipse 900 yards.
And you can't do that simply by being a "good" receiver.