Jaxon Smith-Njigba is an American Football player who plays mainly as a receiver for the Ohio State Buckeyes. Smith-Njigba was born in Rockwall, Texas on 14 February, 2002.
Jaxon plays for the most part as a slot receiver. What he lacks in the speed department, he makes up for it with his route running. Smith-Njigba is considered to be one of the best route runners and he will look to improve on this in the league.
The best aspect of his game is his great body control. He is known to make some breathtaking catches while still being in control. He had an elite 2021 season in college, especially towards the latter stages. The main reasons for concern are his lack of speed for a receiver and his injury which ruled him out for almost the entire 2022 campaign. Any team looking to take him in the draft
Jaxon Smith-Njigba at Rockwall High School
Jaxon was born and brought up in Rockwall, Texas. He went to school in Rockwall High School and immediately made an impact on his football team. In his Junior year, he was a standout receiver in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex grabbing 97 catches for 1,828 yards and 20 touchdowns.
He continued this excellent showing by improving his numbers the next year. In his Senior year, he had 104 passes for 2,094 yards and 35 touchdowns. He was awarded the Landry Award, an annual award given to the best high school football player in North Texas. He was also given the Texas Gatorade Football Player of the Year award.
By the end of his High School career, he had featured in 44 games in which he caught 82 touchdowns to add to his 5,346 receiving yards. On the back of his High School performances, Jaxon received offers from many Universities which included Notre Dame, Nebraska and Ole Miss. The wide receiver eventually settled on the Ohio State Buckeyes.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba at Ohio State University
At Ohio State University, Jaxon is majoring in Health Sciences. As a freshman at Ohio State, Jaxon featured in 7 games. With 10 receptions for 49 yards and one touchdown, he was Ohio State’s leading freshman receiver. However, he has decided to pass up his senior year and enter this year’s NFL Draft.
It was in his Sophomore season when he got a lot more game time. In November 2021, he set a school record by catching 15 catches in a single game. He lit up the field later that year in the Rose Bowl game with a whopping 347 receiving yards. His effort earned him the Rose Bowl game MVP. He had a tremendous finish to his Sophomore season including the last 5 games where he had consecutive 100+ receiving yards and garnered 958 total yards on 60 catches.
Coming into the 2022 season, he was touted as one of the top receivers in college football if not the best one. Unfortunately for Smith-Njigba, he could play in only 2 games in 2022 as he suffered a hamstring injury that sidelined him for the remainder of the season.
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