Most Important People #11 – Jeremy Smith

Photo Attribution: KT King

Who he is: Ah yes, Jeremy Smith, the in-state schoolboy legend, the #4 recruit in Oklahoma coming out of high school, a top 10 running back in the country, and seemingly the forgotten star in OSU’s constellation of incredible talent.

What he does: He has a career 5.9 YPA rushing average, higher than Tatum Bell and Keith Toston and equal to that of Kendall Hunter and Vernand Morency. He had more TDs last year (7) than everyone not named Blackmon or Hunter and as many as Randle, Bo Bowling, Tracy Moore, and Michael Harrison combined.

Where he fits in: YOU should be able to write this paragraph by now. LenDale to Randle’s Reggie, Cadillac to his Ronnie Brown, DMC to his Felix Jones. I already predicted that he would lead this squad in total TDs and there’s an outside chance we could be looking at two guys with 1,000+ yards on the ground. As a team OSU broke the 2,000 yard mark last year with 1,500 of it going to Kendall and I see no reason why they couldn’t go something like 1,000, 1,000, and 500 with Randle, Smith, and Sims.

Why he matters: He matters because Randle isn’t a feature back. Together they form a scary super-backfield that would cause insomnia for every defensive coordinator in the country. But if either gets h-word the other’s powers will be diminished at least a little bit. Randle will have a big year and because of that OSU will be good, but none of that will come unless Smith can keep up that gaudy YPA average and continue punching it in the end zone.

This post is part of our series on the 20 most important people to a 2011 Oklahoma State title run. Check the full list out here.