Vikings Draft Thermometer: WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba
Welcome to the Vikings Draft Thermometer series, PurplePTSD‘s one-stop shop for all your 2023 NFL Draft needs. Throughout this series, we will be examining a number of prospects ahead of the 2023 NFL Draft, analyzing their strengths, weaknesses, what exactly their role could be at the NFL level, and most importantly, whether or not they could end up playing their first NFL snaps in a Vikings uniform. With that, let’s take a look at today’s prospect: Ohio State WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
Background
- Height: 6’1″
- Weight: 200 pounds
- School: Ohio State
- Games Watched: Oregon (2021), Akron (2021), Penn State (2021)
Statistics
- 2020: 10 receptions, 49 yards, 1 TD (7 games)
- 2021: 95 receptions, 1606 yards, 9 TDs (13 games)
- 2022: 5 receptions, 43 yards (3 games)
Strengths
Jaxon Smith-Njigba is one of the smoothest route runners you’ll see out of the slot. Every movement he makes is fluid and completed seemingly with ease. He utilizes a number of different fakes in his routes, and that helps him create separation from defenders. Then, after the catch, he is an extremely shifty runner and can make tacklers miss to pile up YAC.
The Ohio State product is never going to be considered one of the biggest guys on a football field on a weekly basis, weighing in at just 200 pounds on a good day. However, he remains one of the more consistent players at making catches in traffic, and he has very capable hands that you like to see in an NFL prospect.
Smith-Njigba punches above his weight class in one-on-one situations, and that should translate to some big playmaking ability in the NFL.
Weaknesses
For all the good with Smith-Njigba, there are still some question marks as he heads to the NFL. Largely, these question marks revolve around the role he played at Ohio State. He’s never really been asked to be a true outside receiver considering he had both Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave in 2021.
Throughout his collegiate career, his production has been limited almost exclusively to the slot, and that could impact his draft stock. Additionally, his small stature does not allow him to have strong reps as a blocker in either the run or screen game.
Finally, Smith-Njigba is a very smooth mover with a strong burst off the line of scrimmage, but he doesn’t have an elite second gear like some of the other burners in the slot. What you see off the line is really what you get with him.
NFL Projections
- Draft Round: Early-Mid Second
- Immediate Role: Starting slot receiver
- Best-Case Scenario: Brandin Cooks
- Vikings Draft Temperature (0= no possibility, 100= get him a purple jersey now): 50
Overall, Jaxon Smith-Njigba looks like he’s going to transition fine to the NFL, and the Vikings certainly have a need at WR in this draft process. However, as of now, the draft position is what stumps me for his path to the Vikings. Minnesota will likely be picking somewhere in the 20s when April rolls around, and that may be too high to Smith-Njigba, especially with other receiver likely to be on the board.
After that first round, the Vikings aren’t projected to make another selection until late in the third round, nearly 70 picks later. Right now, there are two scenarios where the Vikings could find their way towards landing Smith-Njigba: either wide receivers fly off the board early in the first round, or Kwesi Adofo-Mensah makes a trade to get back into the second round. Right now, though, each of these scenarios are major hypotheticals, making me lean towards believing the Vikings will go in a different direction.
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Josh Frey is a Class of 2020 graduate of The College of Idaho with a bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing. He also earned minors in History, Human Biology, and Journalism. When he’s not writing about the NFL, Josh enjoys marathon training, playing video games, or rooting for the Milwaukee Brewers and Bucks. For more of his opinions, check out his Twitter account: @Freyed_Chicken.
