Jaxon Smith-Njigba was a star at Ohio State and the Cowboys like him - but rumors have the receiver's draft stock falling. Here's why.
FRISCO - The Dallas Cowboys have an affection for local guy Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who showed star quality at Ohio State and more recently showed up for a visit to The Star in Frisco. But rumors have the receiver's draft stock is falling, with veteran reporter Peter King the one pushing the notion.
Writes King: “Jaxon Smith-Njigba had a left hamstring injury last year. He had a gigantic 2021 season at Ohio State, then played only 60 snaps in 2022, and I’m hearing some reticence about taking a guy 12th or 18th in the first round when, in a 4.5-month season, he managed to play the equivalent of one football game with a hamstring injury.''
The Smith-Njigba camp will argue that the hamstring injury is old news, and that the season before at Ohio State, even the other guys in a talent-rich receivers room - including Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson, now NFL stars - considered him maybe the best of the bunch.
And the "why'' of that is a matter of record, as in 2021 he set a host of Buckeyes records while recording 95 catches for 1,606 yards and nine TDs.
To be fair, King is not doing a rip job here, as he adds, “This is not an overriding negative on Jaxon Smith-Njigba, an excellent receiver prospect. But the Ohio State football season was five months long last year, including practice, and Smith-Njigba got a left hamstring injury early ... and never got on the field in the last 10 weeks.
From a Cowboys perspective? We can tell you they simply do not view the prospect, who was born in Dallas and played high school football in Rockwall (he was named the Texas Player of the Year as a senior) as an "injured player.''
Still King points out another relative negative, noting, "He runs a 4.48 40 (yard dash) I’m not the only one wondering: How is Jaxon Smith-Njigba the top-rated receiver on so many boards?''
The Cowboys, drafting at No. 26 in the first round, don't care about the "why's'' of the other boards except for this: If he somehow slides to Dallas? He'll be a strong consideration to be a homegrown Cowboy.
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