00:00You know, he's doing things athletically I never had the ability to do.
00:03The athleticism reminds me a lot of Randy Moss and Calvin Johnson.
00:07That is said by Larry Fitzgerald.
00:10And funny thing about Fitz, like he was a great, I don't know if it's funny,
00:12he was a great guy to be able to high point footballs and contested ball catcher
00:17and had like good speed, maybe not elite speed, big body.
00:21But like the thing with JJ is he's so fast.
00:23And this goes on to have the rest of the court.
00:25I'm always careful trying to rank guys because I have a ton of respect
00:30for the Randy Mosses and the Michael Crabtree's and the Calvin Johnson's,
00:34the guys who have come before them and helped write the story of college football.
00:38But based on what he's done over the first three years,
00:41he's earned the right to be in that conversation.
00:45And then Jackson Smith and Jigba comes in.
00:49He's bigger, faster, stronger.
00:51His route running has gotten better.
00:52I can definitely tell that he's working on that.
00:55And so you see all the physical ability, all the, everyone knows his physical prowess,
01:01but him working to develop as a receiver is something that is huge to steal.
01:05And like, that is crazy high acclaim from a Hall of Fame receiver,
01:09comparing him to maybe a couple other Hall of Fame receivers,
01:11and then get one guy who's the reigning offensive player of the year.
01:15And one of the top five receivers in the NFL talking about how good he is right now too.
01:20Yeah, I think what's crazy is, it's not like we compare him to one specific receiver.
01:25We kind of just pick and choose everyone's best attribute and then put it on him.
01:29Like we say that he's as big as Calvin Johnson, but also he has the catching ability of a Randy
01:34Moss.
01:34Then he also runs routes like Michael Crabtree.
01:37Like it's literally just a customizable player where you're taking all the best traits from all the best wide receivers
01:43that have ever played college football
01:44and put it into this one dude in Jeremiah Smith.
01:47I think that's probably the craziest part, but yeah, he's continuously getting praise from the best wide receiver in the
01:52NFL right now.
01:53One of the greatest to ever do it in Larry Fitzgerald.
01:56And honestly, I don't see it ending.
01:57I feel like in the next six months, he's going to continue making plays.
02:00He's going to continue having these high profile guys just commenting, saying,
02:03Hey, like this dude really needs to be in the conversation for one of the best wide receivers of all
02:08time,
02:08because he's earned it at this point.
02:10All right.
02:10So looking at the other side of this, the guy that came in that was supposed to be the number
02:15two receiver
02:15and supposed to be tremendous for Ohio State and not that he's underwhelmed.
02:19People don't realize like JJ was a mutant.
02:21Like he was an anomaly with his ability to come in and play at such a high level early on
02:27in his career.
02:29Very few guys can do that.
02:30Chris Henry, you feel still, does it feel like he's been building some momentum here over the last couple of
02:35weeks?
02:36I would say so.
02:37I would say those two catches against Indiana were huge.
02:40I expected more, but the fact that he was able to get a couple of those catches
02:43and they were in big clutch situations, like that one on the side that I believe was on third down,
02:48that was huge to move the stick.
02:49So I feel like he is building a little bit of momentum.
02:52It feels like the bye week for a guy like him can be huge,
02:55especially when you're going to a new quarterback who, I mean, honestly,
03:00probably Luke Fahey threw about as many balls to Chris Henry in training camp as Julian Sand did,
03:04because they're not just putting Chris Henry out there with the ones from day one.
03:10So I threw spring ball and everything.
03:13I feel like they may have a pretty solid rapport, and this could be a great opportunity,
03:17a great movement week for him, if you will.
03:20Yeah, and they've got that freshman connection.
03:22I feel like that also works huge.
03:24Plus, they've been getting reps together.
03:26And I feel like with a guy where maybe you expect Julian to be a little more accurate,
03:31if Luke Fahey isn't as accurate, then I feel like throwing to that big 6'6 body frame,
03:36I feel like that would help you where maybe if you don't throw the perfect ball,
03:39he's still able to go up, climb the ladder, and catch something.
03:42So I feel like he needs to be utilized a lot in the next, I guess, few games
03:46and then really ramp him up for the playoffs, for the Big Ten Championship,
03:50whatever you think it is, because I really think he needs to be the wide receiver too right now.
03:55I feel like he's owned that.
03:56Well, and what's interesting is Devin McEwen's a little bigger,
03:59but Kyle Parker, not huge, Brandon Innes, not huge.
04:01And when you have a quarterback that's not big,
04:04sometimes those big bodies still are easier to see.
04:06And so you're looking forward, and guys are beginning to progress.
04:09Now, there is like a freshman wall, I think, kind of like a rookie wall,
04:12where it can be hard.
04:13I remember my freshman year, like you're starting to get to around Halloween,
04:17which is usually when the regular season's wrapping up for high school football.
04:21Maybe, you know, back in the day, you know,
04:23we used to have eight teams in the region make the playoffs.
04:25You play a playoff game, maybe two, but you were kind of done.
04:28Like, I looked at this, like, gosh, we're at the halfway point, man.
04:31And like, this is the last week of Ohio high school football.
04:34And you're just like, you become mentally exhausted.
04:37And so you're hoping that he can push through that.
04:39But guys like Brock Boyd, Traquate and Guilford,
04:42like, I think those guys, they're big bodies.
04:44They're all in the same class.
04:46And you talk about that freshman connection, like just being around,
04:49probably throwing to those guys a little more.
04:50Ryan talks about, you know, especially Brock Boyd and Chris Henry trying to get
04:54those guys going a little bit and the ball finding them to a greater degree.
04:59It wouldn't shock me if those guys still become maybe a little more prominent
05:04with how they operate and what their roles are.
05:08And honestly, maybe Luke looking for them even a little bit more.
05:12I would like that because Chris Henry goes out,
05:14makes some really big plays against Indiana.
05:16Brock Boyd, he was hurt.
05:17But anytime I watch him in the game, he is going out there,
05:21busting his tail, making blocks.
05:22And I know that, like, that lights a fire on the Ryan day.
05:25He loves seeing that stuff.
05:26So I feel like this is an opportunity, like we said,
05:29where some of these young guys in this bye period can get a lot more reps
05:32and maybe earn a couple spots and be able to play more in these games.
05:36And you talk about the freshman wall that they hit.
05:39I hit that wall, like, in week two, week three.
05:41But I feel like now with, like, the program that they've been able to build,
05:44these freshmen are probably a little more mature than I was at that point.
05:48I feel like they'll be able to push through that a little easy
05:50or easier than guys like me were able to.
