Turron DavenportESPN13:11 ET2 minute read
INDIANAPOLIS — Former Ohio State wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba says he’s fully healed from the hamstring injury that kept him out for most of last season and he intends to participate in all but one practice of the NFL scouting combine of the 40-yard dash to attend.
“I’m ready to go out and attack and show my skills,” Smith-Njigba said Friday. “Two weeks ago I was at 100 percent. I’m taking things slow to close the book on this nagging injury I feel like I have. But I still didn’t have enough reps at 40, so a day you’ll see me run.”
NFL teams had hoped Smith-Njigba would see the 40 run at Indianapolis to compare him to the other top wide receivers in 2023. ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. ranks Smith-Njigba the No. 2 wideout in class behind Zay Flowers (Boston College), while Todd McShay has him at No. 3 behind Quentin Johnston (TCU) and Jordan Addison (USC).
Smith-Njigba will undergo medical tests at the combine, with coaches and front-office executives overseeing the results of the hamstring injury that limited him in 2022. These results will not be published.
The hamstring injury came early in Ohio State’s season opener against Notre Dame, and Smith-Njigba played in parts of two more games and finished the season with five receptions for 43 yards while running 42 total receiving routes.
At the start of 2022, Smith-Njigba was forecast to be one of the best wide receivers in the country. Expectations were high after Smith-Njigba’s stellar Rose Bowl performance, in which he caught 15 passes for 347 yards and three touchdowns that marked a 2021 season in which he rushed for a Big Ten-record 1,606 yards with an exclamation mark .
But after a frustrating year as a junior, Smith-Njigba is looking to prove he’s the top receiver in this year’s draft.
“I just think my playmaking skills in this draft are second to none,” he said. “From playing basketball [as a kid], I feel that my creativity is also what sets me apart. Being able to create and respond to defenders is the strength of my game and capitalizing on that. I’m just trying to use all those qualities and get the job done.”