Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith is the greatest receiver in college football history, and frankly, I don’t know if there’s much of an argument anymore.

Smith walked onto the field as a true freshman and was already the best wide receiver in the entire sport. He has held that title every season since. Now his final college football season is on track to be the best of his entire career.

So why are we still waiting to say it?

Every GOAT debate comes down to criteria, and Jeremiah Smith fits into both

When we talk about the best of the best in college football, you usually get a mixed bag of reactions depending on the position. Take quarterbacks, for example. A lot of people will throw out Joe Burrow, Tim Tebow, and Cam Newton, and each name comes with a different set of criteria.

To me, Newton has the single greatest college football quarterback season of all time. But it was only one season. If you’re in the Tebow camp, your argument is usually rooted in longevity. Neither answer is wrong. It just depends on what you value.

That’s what makes the Smith conversation different. You don’t have to pick between peak and longevity, because he has both. He was the best receiver in the country from his first game, and he has never given that spot back.

Jeremiah Smith checks every box you could look at

I’m ready to say it at this point. Smith is the best receiver I’ve seen in my lifetime, and I think he’s the greatest college football receiver of all time.

Now, to be clear, I’m not someone who gets swept up in the moment and hands out these titles easily. I’m in the same camp that has Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes as the greatest quarterback I’ve ever seen with my own two eyes, even though I give a ton of credit to Tom Brady. I also think Rams defensive end Myles Garrett is the greatest defender I’ve ever seen in the NFL.

So if you want to say I’m overreacting, sure, that’s fine. I’ll live with that. But I don’t think there’s a wide receiver you could stack up next to Smith and comfortably say he is significantly better.

And think about where he’s doing this. We’ve talked plenty about Ohio State being Wide Receiver U. Smith is now the best player to come out of that position room, with the records to back it up. Pair that with a national championship, and potentially two after this season, and the résumé is just about complete. What else do you need to see?

The Biletnikoff argument doesn’t hold up, and is about to fall apart

And you may say he hasn’t even won the Biletnikoff Award yet. Fine, you could say that. Other players have won it in back-to-back years, and that’s a real accomplishment.

But you could have made a strong argument that Smith should have won it last year. And barring an injury, he’s going to win it this year. One piece of hardware that arguably should already be on his shelf isn’t going to be the thing that keeps him out of this conversation.

Some people want to wait until the trophy is in hand, the season is over, and the draft has come and gone before they make the call. I understand the instinct. But we don’t have to wait around when we already know the answer.

Jeremiah Smith is the greatest wide receiver college football has ever produced, and his final year is only going to make the gap wider.