Redshirt freshman wide receiver L’Christian Smith is leaving the Ohio State football program per reports. The news was first reported by Bucknuts. Ohio State has not yet confirmed the move.
Smith played in one or two games last year, but did not catch a pass.
This year he was slated to be fourth in line at the X position behind seniors Austin Mack and Binjimen Victor, and junior Jaylen Harris.
Smith was always an intriguing prospect at over 6-foot-4 and 220 pounds, but he has also had other interests aside from football.
Nicknamed “Blue” as a baby, Smith chose Ohio State over Kentucky when Urban Meyer expressed to him that he would get to play receiver at OSU and not tight end.
There were reports that some suitors were telling Smith that OSU would make him a tight end, but Meyer sat down with Smith and told him they want him at receiver, but if he grows into a tight end, they’d have a plan for him there as well.
“When I went up there he just wanted to let me know that, ‘Wide receiver, that’s what we wanted to bring you here for,’” Smith said back in August of 2017. “But it’s all about development. Say I get taller and gain a few pounds, and then I become a tight end. You never know. He gave me two plans. So if I stay this size, I’m a wide receiver. If I get bigger, I’m a tight end. That’s pretty much what he told me, so we’ll go with it.”
Without Smith, Ohio State is now down to 86 scholarships. They need to be at 85 or under by this fall.