Ohio State receiver Jeremiah Smith is possibly the best player in the nation. He has consistently performed on the biggest stages, even with teams doubling and tripling the receiver. His play has made it so Smith is the clear favorite to win the Heisman Trophy.

Still, being the favorite this early in the season is not always the best situation, which is something that Brett McMurphy of On3 pointed out.

“He also has joined a group of some of the best college football players of the past 12 years – a club with a complicated history: Oregon’s Dante Moore, Alabama’s Jalen Milroe, Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud, Ole Miss’ Matt Corral, Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence, Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa, Penn State’s Saquon Barkley and LSU’s Leonard Fournette,” McMurphy wrote.

The group features players who all entered October as the favorite to win the Heisman Trophy. This year, that player is Smith. The last time a player finished September as the favorite to win the award and actually won it was Lamar Jackson in 2016.

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Smith still has an uphill battle ahead of him. As McMurphy notes, nine of the last 12 Heisman winners played on a team that was undefeated in November, while nine of them also were on teams that won ten or more games. Further, just three of the 12 players were non-quarterbacks.

Ohio State has a tough schedule ahead. They will visit Indiana and USC both in October. Further, the final month of the season features a currently 3-1 Oregon, a 3-1 Northwestern, a 5-0 Nebraska, and rival Michigan. Ohio State already has a loss on the year, falling to Texas in Week 2. Smith may be the favorite for the Heisman, but if Ohio State stumbles, that may not be enough for him to bring home the award.