Jaquez Smith Working Hard to Make His Mark in a Talented Wide Receiver Room

Image: Rusty Mansell 247 Sports

Written by Sammy Jacobs (@Hoosier_Huddle)

The Indiana Hoosiers have a long list of wide receivers who have made their mark in the record books and on the Big Ten. Whether it be Jade Butcher in the late 1960’s to Ernie Jones in the mid-1980’s to Thomas Lewis in the early 1990’s to Courtney Roby and James Hardy in the 2000’s to more contemporary names like Tandon Doss, Cody Latimer, Shane Wynn, Whop Philyor and Ty Fryfogle. The list goes on and on and I am sure I left out a bunch of names, but the bottom line is, Indiana has a good history of producing wide receivers. Incoming freshman Jaquez Smith is working hard to make sure he can make an impact on the Hoosiers wide receiver room over the next few years.

“I have learned is that we are all talented at the end of the day, but you have to know when to lock in and to stay in our playbook. You have to know what the main thing is. Our main goal is getting to the national championship. You have to lock in. What they are helping me with is just staying in the playbook.” Smith said on a Zoom call earlier this week.

Smith is a four-star recruit out of Atlanta, Georgia who comes with a high ceiling and ability to be a physical receiver. In order to get ready for his journey through the Big Ten, Smith has been hitting the weight room this summer.

Smith said he is “just hitting different muscles like I never had before. Hitting my lower body like I never have before because I am a big upper body guy. I have been working on my flexibility more than anything.”

The Georgia native compares himself to current Seattle Seahawks wideout D.K. Metcalf who played under current IU wide receivers coach Grant Heard at Ole Miss.

“DK is a working horse, and I feel like I'm a workhorse as well, especially you know, staying after practice catching like 150 balls a day.” Smith said of why he feels he is comparable to the NFL star.

Smith is joining a talented group that features reigning Big Ten Wide Receiver of the Year Ty Fryfogle along with veterans Miles Marshall, D.J. Matthews and others. Despite his high recruiting ranking, Smith will need to earn his playing time and that starts by learning the playbook.

“Like they all say, if you don't know the playbook, you can't play, so that's the, that's the main thing.” Smith said.