The case for Jaxon Smith-Njigba at #6

The War Room Detroit Lions — The Den
1

The combine has made me rethink the guy I have as the top receiver in the draft.

  1. In a group with Will Anderson, Bijan Robinson, and in my opinion Bryce Young as having the highest floors in the class. I just don’t see any way he fails.
  2. Unlike Bijan, JSN plays a position of sky-high value.
  3. WR is a bigger need than we think. Chark could be gone and while we are counting on Jamo to take a leap, it would be naive to go into the year without cover. And if/when Jamo hits we’ll be stacked.
  4. He’d be great for Goff. Just like ARSB is.

My biggest problem with him has always been fit, I thought he was too similar to ARSB and would make the short area of the field more crowded and have a negative affect on the running game.

However the combine has changed my mind about that.

He checked in at 6’0.5, 196. That’s an outside receiver’s frame. Then he tested really well too.

A few years back I knocked Justin Jefferson because I thought he was slot only, @Air2theThrown can attest. Now unlike JSN, Jefferson had played outside but he was entirely meh, he didn’t take off until they moved him into the slot. But then he tested at the combine and did really well.

Screen Shot 2023-03-11 at 11.32.24 AM
Screen Shot 2023-03-11 at 11.32.24 AM1156×812 86.6 KB

I don’t expect JSN to run that kind of 40 but I bet his ten-yard-split is much better (and I’d guess he runs in the 4.5s overall, especially on Ohio State’s track. Hell he has an outside shot of getting into the 4.4s.). And as you can see from the rest of his testing, he’s a badass athlete. His agility numbers are phenomenal for a guy his size.

Screen Shot 2023-03-11 at 11.33.05 AM
Screen Shot 2023-03-11 at 11.33.05 AM1158×808 86.2 KB

Just because he hasn’t played outside doesn’t mean he can’t. His path to the outside was blocked at Ohio State by Olave and Garrett Wilson, and he was so good in the slot why mess with a good thing?

But I think he can be a lot more than that.

5 Likes
2

Recently I have been toying with the idea of JSN at 18. I can’t make the logic work for #6.

8 Likes
3

He won’t make it to 18, I doubt he makes it past GB but his 40 will matter for them.

4 Likes
4

If he doesn’t make it to 18 then they can have him.

5 Likes
5

Just no!

3 Likes
6

I would do it.

You’re looking at a future top 10 WR in the NFL wherever he goes. I just didn’t want him because of fit too.

But he’s going to be an elite player. You take elite players, and figure it out later.

10 Likes
7

Honestly

I wouldnt hate it entirely tbh

Solidifies a WR core

But it would rely on jamo having a big stepup next year, and we likely lose on the top CBs
(Though its a deep draft for it)

Risk and reward on this

1 Like
8

People forget that before his injury was severely mismanaged, he was a better prospect than Jalen Carter and was second to maybe Will Anderson.

2 Likes
9

He will be a very good receiver in the pros but not what we need to round out the room. Would also lead to a case of too many mouths to feed in terms of touches - it’s no coincidence that the offense went up a gear when hock was traded, it was addition by subtraction as you can only have so many volume guys.

I really like someone like Rashee Rice on day two to round out the receivers - a more big bodied possession guy who plays with a physicality. Would mesh well with St Brown and Jamo

1 Like
10

I would prefer more of a true X as well but 1) I don’t think there’s a good one in this class (Tillman is probably my favorite option), and 2) you don’t pass on talent just to fit the ideal. If the guy’s a stud, take him and make it work.

5 Likes
11

Yeah. Other than Johnston, it looks like alot of the round one and two receivers are alot like Saint. But then again, two Saints are better than one.

1 Like
12

I think he’s the safest player in the draft. I’m near positive he’s at least a top 20 WR in the league at his peak and it bet it’s close to top ten. He’s going to be an awesome pro.

8 Likes
13

its also cause he didnt really fit our system

hes a great reciever, but our TE’s are more for blocking, which he struggled in tbh.

14

More fascinating stuff from Bruce Feldman:

I’ll be stunned if Jaxon Smith-Njigba doesn’t have a bunch of 100-catch seasons in the NFL, and I think he’ll go higher than I’ve seen him on some early mock drafts. Of all the wonderful Ohio State receivers that have come out of Brian Hartline’s room in the past few years, rival coaches I spoke to thought he was the best prospect to this point. (Marvin Harrison Jr. will surpass them all next year, but he’s not draft eligible yet.)

At 6-1, 196, Smith-Njigba is the closest thing to a sure thing in this year’s receiver crop. Last year, the Buckeyes produced two first-round wideouts in Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave, and both were 1,000-plus-yard receivers as NFL rookies. According to the coaches we’ve spoken to who faced all three of them, Smith-Njigba is much more physical and has better change of direction than Wilson and Olave.

There has been some skepticism about Smith-Njigba’s speed, but his quickness is elite, and he displayed that in Indy. His 20-yard shuttle time of 3.93 seconds was the fastest by a receiver at the combine since 2013, and his 3-cone drill time of 6.57 seconds was better than anyone at this year’s combine.

Hartline, a former NFL receiver himself, wasn’t surprised at all. “Jax has a great feel of the game within the game, start there,” Hartline told The Athletic on Monday. “He knows how to use his body and how to win at the end of the play with whatever the job description is. There’s kind of a knack for that. Some guys just get it. As coaches we can try to enhance that, but from Day One, he always had that knack. There’s just something a little different for what Jax does.

“His change of direction is definitely the best that I’ve had. Garrett was pretty explosive. They all have their own niches, but when he changes direction out of a break, he doesn’t slow down. This game is really all about change of direction, and his is different, and I think it’ll be really hard for anybody to keep up with him when he changes direction because he is that elite at it, and that literally is the common denominator for creating separation in football.

“He’s kind of unguardable. He’ll be über-productive in the NFL. I think he will be a guy that leads the league in receptions and receiving yards. No one’s gonna be shocked. That’s just who he is, and he’s only gotten better, Like C.J. (Stroud) said, he’s the quarterback’s best friend.”

Source:

4 Likes
15

To be honest if he gets enough helium he may be someone we can legerage into a trade down.

2 Likes
16

That review is making him sound like DaVonte Adams II.

1 Like
17

Straight from his position coach who also coached Olave, Garrett Wilson and Jamo. His bona fides have been established for a long time.

2 Likes
18

Brian Hartline of course pumps up his own guys, but he knows what he’s talking about. We owe our program to him for what he’s done for us since he got hired.

3 Likes
19

I love JSN but I wouldn’t get him at 6 if I could trade back and won’t mind picking him up but bears are 9 they may be eying him idk. I think he’s solid I love his game.

1 Like
20

Bears fans definitely wanted him but now that they’ve added DJ Moore it’s probably unlikely. But honestly any of Atlanta, Philly, Tenneseee, Houston, New England, Green Bay or Pittsburgh could have interest. His market’s gonna be hot.

3 Likes