Four-star Dallas (Jesuit High School) running back EJ Smith has released a Top 5 of Ohio State, Georgia, Texas A&M, Stanford, and Florida. Smith is the son of NFL Hall of Famer and all-time leading rusher Emmitt Smith.
It’s that time. Top 5. Thank you family and coaches for guiding me towards making my five decisions. There isn’t an order to my top 5. pic.twitter.com/eBzD0U5NO9
— EJ (@ejsmith_22) June 23, 2019
Smith (5-11 198) has been to Ohio State a number of times, including last spring and also last November for the Michigan game.
Ranked the No. 4 all-purpose back in the 2020 class per the 247Sports Composite, Smith is the No. 126 player in the nation and the No. 19 player in the state of Texas.
Smith also holds offers from Texas, Alabama, Michigan, LSU, USC, and many others.
Playing all over the field for his high school team, Smith rushed for 890 yards and 12 touchdowns on 154 attempts last year, and also caught 40 passes for 478 yards and 5 more touchdowns. As a sophomore, he rushed for 1,177 yards and caught 33 passes for 540 yards, scoring 31 touchdowns from scrimmage.
Rivals ranks Smith as the No. 3 athlete in the nation and the No. 95 player overall. ESPN ranks him as the No. 13 receiver and the No. 95 player in the nation as well.
Only four Crystal Ball projections have been cast so far.
Ohio State already has three wide receivers committed, but no running backs. Receivers Julian Fleming, Gee Scott, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba are each ranked in the top 90 players in the nation.
Running back is a swiftly moving picture right now for Ohio State. They have no commitments, but have hosted 5-star running backs Kendall Milton and Bijan Robinson in the last few weeks. Four-star Florida running back Jaylan Knighton was on campus this weekend, and 4-star Maryland running back Blake Corum was on campus a week ago.
Four-star Washington running back Sam Adams — a teammate of Gee Scott — took his official visit to Ohio State as well.
In-state running back DeaMonte Trayanum took an official visit to Ohio State earlier in the week, but it appears he could be heading to Arizona State for an opportunity to play running back. Trayanum is also an all-state linebacker.
The Buckeyes are still searching for an H-back in this class, and Smith could fill that void quite well. While the H-back in Ryan Day’s offense is more of a pass catcher than a runner, a player like Smith could do both for the Buckeyes.
