Another year, another loaded and deep draft class of wide receivers.
Seemingly everywhere you look in today’s NFL there’s a highly drafted young WR playing like a star. From the Jet’s Garrett Wilson to the Saint’s Chris Olave to Green Bay’s own Christian Watson to the Bengal’s Jamaar Chase and the Dolphin’s Jaylen Waddle the young WR talent is taking the league by storm- and that’s only from the last two NFL drafts. Wide receivers are more numerous than ever so it seems- and instant contributors and stars can be found in the early rounds.
Which leads me to introduce Jaxon Smith-Njigba, the latest model spit out of THE Ohio State Buckeyes NFL Wide Receiver factory.
Smith-Njigba burst onto the NFL draft scene in 2021 as a sophomore playing with the likes of recent first round draft picks Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson. Even with the talented cast of receivers, Smith-Njigba got his touches, hauling in 95 receptions for 1,606 yards and nine touchdowns in the season.
His junior and final collegiate season was marred by injury, as Smith-Njigba only played in three games before having his season ended by a hamstring issue.
The 6’1” 196 pound WR is a product of Rockwall, Texas, a suburb of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, where he starred for Rockwall Highschool, amassing over 5,000 yards and 82 touchdowns in 44 highschool games played. Smith-Njigba was named the Texas Gatorade Football Player of The Year as a senior and also received the Landry Award (named after legendary Cowboys Coach Tom Landry) as the best highschool football player in North Texas. A 5-star all American recruit, Smith-Njigba had his choice of colleges before electing to head to Columbus.
Smith-Njigba did not run the 40 yard dash at the 2023 NFL Scouting Combine, but he did participate in other workouts, posting a 9.41 Relative Athletic Score. He ran an unofficial 4.48 40 time at his pro day according to Ian Rapoport, fast but not overly impressive in the day and age of 4.3 speedy wide receivers.
But Smith-Njigba doesn’t win with speed- though he can if necessary. His otherworldly agility and impressive route running more often than not left him open in space for Ohio State QB CJ Stroud to take advantage of.
He’s a playmaking wide receiver, building his game on outsmarting and then just flat-out beating the defense. As Smith-Njigba himself told PFF, ”I think my playmaking is second to none in this draft”
”I think my playmaking is second to none in this draft”
-Jaxon Smith-Njigba
Smith-Njigba’s head coach at Ohio State, Ryan Day, had high praise for his young receiver when speaking to the media and ABC 6 in Columbus.
“He makes such an impact,” Day said. “Not too many guys at the wide receiver position makes everyone else on the field better, but Jaxon does.
The defining moment of Smith-Njigba’s college career was the 2022 Rose Bowl Game against Utah, where Smith-Njigba exploded for an incredible 347 yards and three touchdowns on 15 receptions, setting Ohio State and FBS bowl game records for most yards in a single game.
If Smith-Njigba had been able to enter the draft after his breakout sophomore campaign, you can be sure he would easily have been a top 15 pick.
But injury history gives NFL GMs unease, as it should in a sport where injury is about as common as breathing.
As a result, a spectacular talent could be available for the Packers 15th overall selection. Who knows, perhaps this will be the year that the Packers front office finally takes a stab at a first round receiver. It’s that time of year. Rumors abound. The hot stove only gets hotter as we rapidly approach the NFL Draft.