Jeremiah Smith’s potential NIL earnings after Ohio State’s title are staggering

The Ohio State Buckeyes are your 2024-25 College Football Playoff national champions, and the roster built in Columbus was a exactly the group they needed to assemble to get the job done. Reports earlier in the year indicated the team paid out approximately $20M in NIL to players, many of whom eventually earned All-American honors — and now the program's first title since 2014-15.

But one player in particular was a huge reason Ohio State reached the summit of the inaugural 12-team CFP. And since he's too young to make a leap to the pros, he'll reportedly be compensated handsomely for his skills next season.

WR Jeremiah Smith set to receive big NIL pay day at Ohio State in 2025

Freshman wide receiver Jeremiah Smith broke several school records this season, and he's only 19 years old. He set the mark for most receiving yards (1,315) and receptions (76) in a season by a freshman as well as the most receiving touchdowns in a year (15) both by a Buckeye player and in Big Ten history.

247Sports' Brad Crawford reported Tuesday that Smith is set to make north of $3 million in NIL money during his upcoming sophomore season. To put that into context, top transfer receiver Eric Singleton will be making $1 million at Auburn next year and former Georgia quarterback Carson Beck will receive a whopping $4 million for his final college season at Miami.

That looks to be money well spent, especially with Smith appearing as a way-too-early Heisman Trophy contender in most lists. Of course, his 2025 production will depend on the reliability of presumed starting quarterback Julian Sayin, but Smith's skills alone speak for themselves.

The Buckeyes will be out to defend their national championship, just as the Georgia Bulldogs did in 2021 and 2022, and Smith will likely be the key to any sort of back-to-back title crusade ending successfully for fans in Columbus.