Ohio State WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba confident he is ‘a top-five player’ in 2023 NFL Draft: ‘I can win you the game’

Jaxon Smith-Njigba, resting on the podium and surveying a crowd of reporters, looked calm.

Ohio State had seen few setbacks in 2022. Still, he’d earned more than a few admirers, interviewer after interviewer bombarding him with questions.

Smith-Njigba won’t be participating in the 40-yard dash in this year’s NFL Combine, but he still sees himself as one of the fastest, strongest and most capable of this year’s crop, a belief he reiterated Friday morning in Indianapolis.

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“My playmaking skills are second to none,” said Smith-Njigba. “I see myself as a top five player, not just a receiver. I see myself as the top five player in this draft. . . . You throw the ball to me seven to nine times, I can win the game for you.”

Before suffering a cruciate ligament rupture last season, Smith-Njigba proved to be one of the most dynamic players in the country during his time in Columbus. In 2021, he became a third-team All-America after 95 catches for 1,606 yards and nine touchdowns as a sophomore. Smith-Njigba famously capped his season in style by throwing a Rose Bowl-record 347 yards in the Buckeyes’ demolition of USC.

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After that performance, he was touted as one of the top prospects in the 2023 NFL Draft. He received rave reviews from a range of media outlets.

Design projection by Jaxon Smith-Njigba

Vinnie Iyer of The Sporting News has let Smith-Njigba go to the Chargers at No. 22 overall in his latest mock draft.

Boy Scouts aren’t the only footballers who stand high on Smith-Njigba. Former OSU teammate Garrett Wilson — the No. 10 pick in the 2022 NFL draft — believes Smith-Njigba has more skills than himself or Chris Olave, another Ohio State alum who was a first-round pick in last year’s draft .

This is a ringing confirmation from a future contemporary.

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On the subject of Ohio State, Smith-Njigba expressed his regret at not being able to play more. He thinks if he did, confetti could have rained down on the scarlet and gray.

Still, a first-round pick is a pretty good consolation prize. And judging by the way people in the league view the 21-year-old, it seems Smith-Njigba will have every chance to prove his worth at the next level.