Unless you’re living under a proverbial rock, you probably heard about what went down at the Rose Bowl. A 93 point shoot out between Ohio State and Utah, and there was nobody who had a bigger impact than Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
It’s hard to blame you if you didn’t know the name Jaxon Smith-Njigba before the Rose Bowl. You’ll be hard pressed to avoid his name after the performance he just turned in though.
JSN spent the year living in the shadow of his teammates Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson.
Despite putting up over 1,200 yards in the regular season he was far from a household name. In a wide receiver room with two guys who will be first round draft picks this year and the son of a legend (Marvin Harrison Jr.) it’s easy to be over looked.
People could be dismissive of his production. “He draws the easiest matchups.” “Olave and Wilson are getting more focus.” “He has a Heisman finalist throwing to him.”
I don’t know how many detractors the young man has left after a 15 catch, 347 yard, 3 touchdown performance against the 10th ranked defense in the nation.
While he isn’t draft eligible this year. We here at MIP don’t discriminate based on age. My main focus might be the guys who we will see on Sunday next season, but it’s never too early to start looking ahead. So for our inaugural Down the Road Draftee, we present to you Rose Bowl hero, Jaxon Smith-Njigba
Jaxon Smith-Njigba
Position: Wide Receiver
School: Ohio State
Class: Sophomore
Size: 6’1 198 lbs
Bio:
Jaxon Smith-Njigba was a 5 star recruit from Rockwall High School in the Dallas-Fortnite Worth area. As one of the most productive receivers in the country he hauled in 296 catches, for 5,384 yards and 63 touchdowns in his high school career. He was ESPNs 5th ranked receiver in the nation when he committed to Ohio State.
On paper, his freshman year was unspectacular. Due to pandemic shortened eight game season and being buried behind Olave, Wilson, and breakout Alabama star Jameson Williams; he only managed 10 grabs for 49 yards. But as a wiseman once said, “Stats are like bathing suits. What they reveal is suggestive, but what they conceal is vital.”
Jaxon Smith-Njigba looked supremely polished as route runner immediately. His fluidity and agility was apparent. His hands looked excellent all evidenced by him making inarguably the catch of the year in 2020.
After the aforementioned Jameson Williams took his talents to Tuscaloosa, the stage was set for Jaxon Smith-Njigba to handle WR3 duties. With Olave and Wilson garnering a lot of attention from opposing defenses, the sophomore feasted.
He started off his campaign slow with a two reception twelve yard game, but that was the last time he would be an afterthought. His next outing against Oregon he caught seven balls for 145 yards and 2 scores. Showing the college football community how dangerous he could be. From that point on he was on a tear.
In eight of his next ten regular season games he posted at least 5 reception and 90 yards. Including a 15 catch 240 yard explosion against Nebraska and a 9 catch 139 yard day against Purdue. Over his last four games if he year he had a 45-611-3 stat line. His efforts helped the Buckeyes to a 10-2 record, an appearance in the B1G title game and a Rose Bowl birth.
With Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson both opting out of the game, Jaxon Smith-Njigba was WR1. He understood the assignment. The Buckeyes went down 14 points to Utah early, forcing the Buckeyes to go full air-raid. CJ Stroud and Jaxon Smith-Njigba might has well have been playing catch in the backyard. Stroud threw for 573 yards and 6 touchdowns, 347 and 3 of those touchdowns went to Smith-Njigba.
Over the course of the Rose Bowl, Jaxon Smith Njigba broke multiple records.
•OSU’s single season receiving yards record
•OSU’s single season receptions record
•OSU’s single game receiving yards record
•Rose Bowl receiving yards record
•Rose Bowl receptions record
He may have started this season with mild expectations. But next year he will undoubtedly be WR1, not just on Ohio State’s depth chart, but on a lot of NFL Draft big boards.
Strengths:
•Exceptional agility
•Amazing hands
•Elite body control
•Can lineup and win outside and from the slot
•Runs crisp concise routes
•Possesses NFL ready size with room to fill out
Weaknesses:
•Solid but not elite straight line speed
•Need to see a full season at the X and Z
•Could stand to improve play strength against the press and on contested catches