Jaxon Smith-Njigba
The latest Ohio State receiver to hit the NFL
Photo: Jay LaPrete | Credit: AP
Grade at the bottom, analysis in the middle.
Details:
Third team All-Big 10 in 2021
Born 2/14/2002 (21 in rookie year)
Career Stats: 110 CTH - 1698 YDS - 15.4 YPC - 10 TD
2021 Stats: 95 CTH - 1602 YDS - 16.9 YPC - 9 TD
Injured for essentially the entire 2022 season, opted out of playoffs
Jaxon Smith-Njigba is going to be talked about in a very different light than he would have been if he had been eligible to enter the draft last season. JSN recorded a 340+ yard game against Utah in the Rose Bowl to end his sophomore season and was expected to be - at the very least - a Biletnikoff finalist in his junior year.
Obviously, injuries derailed that goal. JSN suffered a hamstring injury in September that kept him out for months and limited his ability.
So, we really don’t know what Jaxon Smith-Njigba looks like post-injury. But, we do know that he didn’t exactly have a ton of spare juice to lose.
When watching JSN, the first thing that pops on tape is the fact that, for all his production, he is not fast. At all. JSN ran a 11.46 100m (~4.78 40) as a junior in high school - a time that absolutely does not qualify for any sort of competitive meet in Texas. Add in a hamstring injury to someone who clearly lacks top end speed and it raises some cause for concern.
UPDATE:
JSN’s RAS was significantly better that I thought - despite a still-slow Pro Day 40 (4.53). His 3.93s short shuttle and 6.57s 3-Cone show that he is an extremely twitchy and fluid athlete - I didn’t give him enough credit there.
Onto the film.
As I said, the first thing that stands out about JSN is his lack of top-end speed.
JSN does take off here but if you’re someone billed as the top guy in a class - this needs to be a house call if you get that kind of access to green grass. Especially against Purdue.
This is another pretty good example of what I mean when I say JSN lacks top end speed. He’s schemed wide open here, yes the ball is on his back shoulder but there is no way that he should get hawked here. It’s a consistent problem on his film and one that I think limits his NFL upside to a considerable degree.
However, JSN does possess a considerable amount of favorable traits - his best being his ability to manipulate his body.
This is a really nice example. Here’s the breakdown: OSU comes out in quads to the boundary - so the weak safety knows that there’s a crosser coming back the other way from JSN (about 30-40% of his routes are crossers). So he sets up to ‘wall’ #3 (JSN) from getting across the field with help over top from the other safety. JSN does a great job of squeezing the near safety and then pressure stepping under the backside safety before splitting the two and getting himself wide open. That is natural to him and a massive strength of his game.
Here he runs another over - this time using a ‘stair step’ technique to pressure the nickel vertical so he has room to work horizontally (you’ll notice he takes two steps straight up field around 5 yards, that’s to flip the nickel’s hips open). He also does a nice job attacking back downhill when the nickel is in trail position - making it impossible for him to undercut his route and negating the speed differential between him and the DB.
On what is arguable the defining play of his college career - JSN shows who he is on tape. Not a lot of elite speed on display here but his low tempo on the route early entices the DB to look in and gives JSN just enough space to get on top on his fade. He then does a great job shielding his hands using his inside shoulder and makes an unbelievable catch for a touchdown. This is JSN at his best - using tempo and body control to make up for a lack of physical gifts.
He also gets props for being a great blocker:
The Grade
Jaxon-Smith Njigba is going to be a pretty good NFL player, so let’s look at where he fits in.
His strengths are clear: He has a knack for manipulating a defender’s eyes, he understands how to disrupt a DB’s path to the ball (highly underrated skill) and he shows a great feel for space from the slot. Extremely fluid and has good twitch/change of direction in his game. Shows good vision while the ball is in his hands. He also is an exceptional blocker on the interior and the perimeter.
His weaknesses are also pretty cut and dry: He lacks prototypical size and completely lacks top end speed. Not super effective after the catch on short, intermediate or deep throws. Doesn’t show tons ability to improve in those categories. Long-lasting hamstring injury causes some eyebrow raising. One-hit-wonder possibility with all of his production coming alongside two 1st round WRs (Garrett Wilson + Chris Olave).
JSN is going to have a long career in the NFL, but he is going to be a slot receiver only as he lacks the speed and size to play outside in the league. He needs to continue to refine his repertoire to a Keenan Allen level if he wants to find consistent success as a top receiver in the league.
I’m going to grade Jaxon Smith-Njigba out at a 7.1
His Best Fit: Any team that does not have an immediate need for speed at receiver and is looking for an immediate high end third option or a low end second option, that could possibly develop into something more.
Player Comparison: A less juiced up Amon-Ra St. Brown or a taller Hunter Renfrow. Think the size, speed (~4.6 for all three) and ability from the slot fits nicely for this trio.
Damn, this makes a lot of sense. I really though it was about to be a slightly smaller Dhop haha No top end speed, + contested catching & + route running.