COLUMBUS, Ohio – Jaxon Smith-Njigba speaks last now.
That's the tribute to the Ohio State receiver's game heading into the 2022 college football season. The rest of the Buckeyes' receivers met with reporters first inside the Woody Hayes Athletic Center on Aug. 25.
Smith-Njigba took advantage of that seniority by exchanging the practice gear for a clean look. The junior wore a gray Nike sweatshirt with the hood up, unzipped just enough to see Brutus the Buckeye on his T-shirt. The first question was easy: "How confident are you in the receivers?"
"Very, very confident," Smith-Njigba said. "Just like I was confident in myself when a lot of people didn't know me coming in, and y'all were asking the same questions to Chris and Garrett. It's the same thing. We like to say, 'We like to reload here in Zone 6.'"
Zone 6 is the long-standing nickname for Ohio State's receiver room. It's the most-talented position group in the FBS despite losing Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson; back-to-back picks in the 2022 NFL Draft. Smith-Njigba – who had 95 catches for 1,606 yards and nine touchdowns in 2021 – spent most of that media session raving about the Buckeyes' other receivers.
Emeka Egbuka? "He runs great routes."
Julian Fleming? "He's a great competitor."
Marvin Harrison Jr.? "He's got it all."
All three of those receivers are potential first-round picks, too. The 2023 recruiting class features three more top-10 receivers in Brandon Inniss, Noah Rogers and Carnell Tate. Ohio State coach Ryan Day and passing game coordinator Brian Hartline have made a claim for the Buckeyes to be the new "WRU." Smith-Njigba – last seen breaking the Rose Bowl record with 15 catches for 347 yards and three TDs – crossed the rite of passage into the lead role.
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This 6-1, 200-pound route-running unicorn deserves to be in the conversation for best player in college football; yet it is an every-day battle just to be the best player in his position group.
"If you want to be the best you have to bring it every day or you won't be the best in the room," Smith-Njigba said. "That's what I really love about it, and I knew I was going to be better just being around guys like Chris, Garrett, Marv, Emeka. I just love competition and trying to be the best."
Smith-Njigba inherited that confident attitude from his home in Rockwall, Texas. That is where the competition started.
"I was a great playground player back in my day," Smith-Njigba said. "Back at recess. My brother played quarterback and got me right."
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Canaan Smith-Njigba is the lone professional athlete in the house, at least in 2022. He plays outfielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates, and he hit a double in his Major League Baseball debut on June 15.
Canaan can't hold in the laughter when recalling the backyard football games with his younger brother. They kept a notebook. They numbered plays. They practiced before other kids came over.
When game time arrived, Canaan would simply look over at Jaxon and shout: "No. 2!"
"We would run the play and score a touchdown almost every time," Canaan told Sporting News. "We were unstoppable, and everyone in the neighborhood knew that."
Their parents, Maada and Jami, instilled the philosophy of, "Work when nobody is looking." That meant early mornings and skill development. Jaxon had a real-life JUGS machine in Canaan.
"He's 10 yards away, and I'm throwing it as hard as I can toward him to make him catch it," Canaan said. "If he drops it, I'm like his coach. He always had fun, though, and we always had fun together."
"(Canaan) is one of my heroes and guides me really well," Jaxon said. "He just set the standard for me. He would tell me how great I am or how bad I am – all the time. For him to be in my ear, it's one of the reasons why I'm here today.”
Canaan was drafted by the New York Yankees in 2017 and started his career in the minors, and by that time Jaxon had emerged as a star receiver at Rockwall High School and would be one of Hartline's early commitments on Nov. 14, 2018. This was the start of building that receiver room.
Why did Hartline take so much interest in Jaxon?
"Sometimes you can't put it on paper," Hartline said. "You can't really quantify it. It's a feel. You obviously saw his production. He was very productive as a junior, even as a sophomore.
"He became everything we thought he could be," Hartline said. "Again, as we got to know him more and more and his family. They're awesome people. That combination, believe it or not, it's sometimes hard to find."
Smith-Njigba wasn't done proving it. Canaan remembers a conversation during that junior season in which Jaxon had 97 catches for 1,828 yards and 20 TDs.
"I remember him telling me, 'Canaan, I feel like I'm a top 30 or top 40 route runner in the world,'" Canaan said. "This was him at 16 years old. I believed him, but I never really saw it. When I finally saw him play again, I thought, 'This dude was really working on his craft.'"
Jaxon wasn't initially invited to The Opening in Dallas before his senior season. He was on a plane to see Canaan play baseball in Charleston, S.C. When a last-minute invitation arrived, Jaxon's itinerary changed. He boarded a plane back to Dallas and drove straight to the event, where he impressed with a dominant showing in 7-on-7 play.
"That's one of my favorite stories," Canaan said. "I feel like our whole life we've been overlooked. 'How is Ohio State the first big school to offer him?'"
Canaan wasn't the only one impressed.
"He was balling at The Opening," Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud said at Big Ten Media Days on July 27. "I was like, 'Who's that dude?' They said, 'He committed to Ohio State.'"
Smith-Njigba followed that up with 104 catches for 2,094 yards and 35 TDs as a senior. So, in his final two high-school seasons that totals up to 201 catches, 3,922 yards and 55 TDs. Stroud committed to Ohio State on Dec. 18, 2019. Together, Stroud and Smith-Njigba were part of a loaded 2020 class.
"It's not a coincidence, but God made it somehow that we connected," Stroud said. "Right when we got to school we had a good connection."
Stroud and Smith-Njigba have combined for high-yield production on the field. In 2021, Smith-Njigba had 95 catches on 112 targets; an absurd 84.8% catch percentage that is built on that connection with Stroud.
"They have a high level of chemistry," Day said at Big Ten Media Days. "C.J. may tell you that sometimes he looks for Jaxon a little too much, but they do. That was built when they knew each other in high school, but certainly on the scout team that first year. Their friendship has become stronger."
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Every artist has a signature pattern. With Smith-Njigba, it starts with the release from the line of scrimmage. Where does that inspiration come from?
"I like to try to be creative," he said. "Work on my creativity. It's fun because I can do that sitting on the couch in my mind. I've tried some new things, new releases. There is stuff that I can always improve on. I like to work on my overall game and see where it takes me."
Smith-Njigba recalled thinking about those releases before his breakout performance against Oregon on Sept. 11, 2021. He finished with seven catches for 145 yards and two TDs, and one of those scores was after a stutter-step juke where he froze the Ducks cornerback in the middle of the field.
"That one I was waiting on," Smith-Njigba said. "Before I line up, I always have a pre-snap idea of what I'm going to get done; a pre-snap plan."
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Stroud recalled a scenario against Maryland when the Terrapins switched to a Cover-2 before the snap, and he did not have to say anything. Smith-Njigba rerouted toward the linebacker, split the safeties and made the catch in the seam. Smith-Njigba's 75-yard touchdown against Nebraska caught the attention of Michigan State safety Xavier Henderson, who warned the other Spartans' defensive backs during the film session.
"He's a lot faster than you think," Henderson said. "I didn't really know he had shake like that until he made that big play vs. Nebraska where he caught the pass, made the cutback and got up the field.
"When you watch him, it looks like he's a vet – like he's been in college for about four years," Henderson said. "Just the way he runs his routes, manipulates his body and he might be covered but it is the way he contorts his body, gets dudes away from him so he can make a tough catch. It really reminds me of a dude in the NFL. From a kid so young, it's really impressive."
College GameDay analyst Desmond Howard, who won the Heisman Trophy in 1991 as a receiver at Michigan, sees yet another hidden skill in Smith-Njigba's game.
"I think he has great hand-eye coordination and his ability to track the ball is uncanny," Howard told SN. "When I say track the ball, he's a guy who can be running down the right sideline – and naturally you would be looking over your left shoulder for the ball – and he can track it to the point where he can catch it with his right shoulder on the sideline. There are not too many people who can do that."
Harrison Jr., who is primed to be Ohio State's next breakout receiver, sees the precision at practice.
"Jaxon is very smooth and quick and his change of direction is probably the best in the country," he said. "It's kind of hard to do what he does. I can't really mimic it too much, but that's what makes him great for sure."
Harrison Jr. watched that on the field at last year's Rose Bowl Game against Utah, where Smith-Njigba had six catches of 30 yards or more. That included the go-ahead TD with 4:42 remaining in the end zone that led to the 48-45 victory. Smith-Njigba said that was his favorite play from 2021.
"I don't know too many people that's making that catch," Harrison said. "I was blessed to be right in front of it. I ran the hitch, and he ran the slot fade. I got a good angle of it, and it was just an amazing catch."
That was the capper to 2021, and a preview of the huge expectations for this season.
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Smith-Njigba isn't afraid to speak about individual goals.
The Biletnikoff Award? "Jordan Addison; he's a great player. He definitely had a great year. He deserved that. If it was me, I would have given it to Garrett or Chris – or Jameson Williams."
The Heisman Trophy after Alabama receiver DeVonta Smith became the first receiver since Howard to win the award in 2020? "We started watching his film immediately and getting in our coaches' ears about it."
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The potential for a 2,000-yard season? "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't thinking about it. I think about everything, honestly."
After any one of those statements, however, Smith-Njigba quickly defaults to the "control the controllable" mantra. He has the right support system to chase those goals, and it is not limited to Zone 6.
Stroud and Smith-Njigba – both projected to be top-10 picks in the 2023 NFL Draft – traveled to each other's hometowns this offseason. Smith-Njigba went to Los Angeles on spring break. Stroud visited Dallas on July 4 weekend. They found time for workouts, too.
"We match well together," Stroud said. "We get each other. I definitely think the stuff we do off the field does play into what we do on the field. That's where our chemistry comes from."
Day, who is trying to lead the Buckeyes back to the College Football Playoff, continues to find new wrinkles for Smith-Njigba in the playbook. When asked what those wrinkles were, Day smirked.
"We've tried to come up with some different things for him, and he's very talented that way," Day said. "Some guys run routes the way they are drawn up in the playbook, and some guys get open. He's that kind of guy."
For Canaan Smith-Njigba, who stayed with his brother in Columbus last offseason, it goes back to those backyard football games. Jaxon has stayed true to that work ethic to this day. He does not have a NFL comp, and that is a good thing.
"His game is authentic," Canaan said. "He plays to his style, and his style only. You can coach it for sure, but he has that awareness and ability to get open and really help his quarterback. At Ohio State, they play him to his strengths."
That should continue when Jaxon joins his brother as a professional athlete; something not lost on the younger Smith-Njigba.
"We've always dreamed about this, since we were three years old, little kids, playing knee football in the living room," Jaxon said. "It's a dream come true."
The standard hasn't changed either, not with a competitive receiving room. This could be the best offense in college football history and a record-breaking season for Smith-Njigba. He took advantage of his time to speak at the podium at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.
That confidence never wavered. He will do the rest of the talking on the field.
"I want to win," he said. "I want to go 15-0. That's where my mindset is. I feel like if we get to the natty; when we get to the natty all the individual goals will hopefully follow after that. Our three goals – beat the team up North, win the Big Ten and win the natty. Whatever happens after that happens. I'm just going to play my tail off for 15 games."
