Jaxon Smith-Njigba will be one of the first wide receivers selected in the NFL Draft later this month, and considering the way the last two Ohio State wide receivers (Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave) performed as rookies, there's some extra enthusiasm for him. Might Smith-Njigba be even better?
It's lofty expectations, but it's not an outlandish thing to speculate about. Especially considering people who have said he's better include Wilson and Olave themselves and Ohio State offensive coordinator Brian Hartline, who ranks his top 5 from the last six years as sophomore Marvin Harrison Jr., Smith-Njigba, Wilson, Olave, and Terry McLaurin.
However you want to order them, it's a pretty nice recent track record. Looking at the production from when Smith-Njigba was in the lineup with Wilson and Olave -- and when they both sat out the Rose Bowl after their final season -- it's not an unreasonable assessment.
In that January 2022 game against Utah, Smith-Njigba blew up by catching 15 passes for 347 yards and 3 touchdowns. But looking at how he performed in games with both Olave and Wilson on the field, or just one of them, there's also some remarkable production.
Table below shows the three receivers' stats from games in 2021. Top yardage numbers from each common game are in bold. Smith-Njigba was the main man down the stretch that year. In a game Wilson missed, he caught 15 passes for 240 yards and a score.
| OHIO STATE WIDE RECEIVERS, 2021 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opp | Wil. | Wil. | Wil. | Ola. | Ola. | Ola. | Jax. | Jax. | Jax. |
| Minn. | 5 | 80 | 1 | 4 | 117 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 0 |
| Ore. | 8 | 117 | 1 | 12 | 126 | 0 | 7 | 145 | 2 |
| Tulsa | 6 | 70 | 1 | DNP | 2 | 33 | 0 | ||
| Akron | 4 | 124 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 1 | 5 | 93 | 1 |
| Rut. | 3 | 71 | 1 | 5 | 119 | 2 | 2 | 66 | 0 |
| Md. | 5 | 84 | 2 | 7 | 120 | 2 | 5 | 103 | 0 |
| Ind. | 5 | 59 | 0 | 2 | 24 | 1 | 6 | 99 | 0 |
| Penn St. | 7 | 82 | 0 | 3 | 44 | 1 | 6 | 97 | 0 |
| Neb. | DNP | 7 | 61 | 1 | 15 | 240 | 1 | ||
| Pur. | 10 | 126 | 3 | 9 | 85 | 1 | 9 | 139 | 1 |
| Mich. St. | 7 | 126 | 2 | 7 | 140 | 2 | 10 | 105 | 1 |
| Mich. | 10 | 119 | 1 | 7 | 88 | 0 | 11 | 127 | 0 |
Primarily playing in the slot, it's not a surprise he caught more passes or finished with more yards in a lot of games. It also makes you think a little about the ridiculous bounty that C.J. Stroud has enjoyed the last two seasons, most notably with that trio in 2021 and then Marvin Harrison Jr. last year (Smith-Njigba battled a hamstring injury all season and played in only three games, something that could potentially affect his draft stock).
Ultimately, Smith-Njigba isn't likely to be drafted quite as early as Wilson or Olave, probably not because of the injury concern but due to speed. Both of those players were clocked with 4.38-4.39 40s at the combine. Smith-Njigba didn't run there, and at Ohio State's pro day was in the 4.5 range. At 6-foot-1 and 196 pounds, he's an inch taller and about 10 pounds heavier.
Wilson just won the Offensive rookie of the year and Olave finished 4th. Hard to imagine Smith-Njigba is better, but who am I to argue with Hartline? Some team is going to land a pretty nice player.
--Andy Richardson