The New York Giants just signed quarterback Daniel Jones to a massive contract extension, and now they need to help him out by drafting a wide receiver in the 2023 NFL Draft. The Giants receiving corps was one of (if not) the weakest in the league last season, and that needs to change if the Giants want to build on their 2022 success. At the NFL Scouting Combine, Ohio State WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba looked healthy, recovering from an injury. Here is why a Jaxon Smith-Njigba Giants pick is a perfect fit.

Jaxon Smith-Njigba is a perfect fit for the Giants roster in NFL Draft

In 2022, first-year head coach Brian Daboll shocked the NFL world by truing the Giants into a playoff team with Daniel Jones as his quarterback. And he did so with a terrible group of wide receivers.

Darius Slayton, Richie James, and Isaiah Hodgins — who the team signed off the Buffalo Bills practice squad mid-season — were Jones’ top WR targets.

In the 2023 offseason, the team cut disappointing big-money wideout Kenny Golladay and James, Slayton, and Sterling Shepherd are free agents. This leaves Hodgins, 2022 second-round pick Wan’Dale Robinson, and Collin Johnson, who missed all last year with torn Achilles’ tendon, as the team’s top WRs heading into the new season.

While the Giants' passing game worked with smoke and mirrors (and great running seasons from Jones and Saquon Barkley), the team must upgrade the WRs if they hope to become more than a plucky underdog in a weak NFC next season.

Ohio State WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba is a player the Giants need to look at with pick No. 25 in the 2023 NFL Draft. Because after the NFL Scouting Cobine, his health concerns seem to be OK, and he could be one of the steals of the NFL draft at the backend of the first round.

At the NFL Scouting Combine Smith-Njigba measured 6-foot-1, 196 pounds, proving that he has the frame to be a top NFL pass-catcher. And while he is waiting until the Ohio State Pro Day to run his 40-yard dash, he navigated the other drills with ease.

Smith-Njigba posted a 35-inch vertical jump, a 10-foot-5-inch broad jump, a 6.57-second three-cone drill, and a 3.93-second 20-yard shuttle.

Those numbers for the three-cone drill and 20-yard shuttle were the best of not only the WR class but better than every NFL draft prospect at the NFL Scouting Combine. Those drills test quickness, agility, and change of direction, which translates to route-running and separation for wide receivers.

Most importantly, the drill showed that the hamstring injury that cost Smith-Njigba all but three games of his 2022 Ohio State season is a thing of the past.

To see what Smith-Njigba can really do, you have to go back to 2021. That season, with Justin Fields at QB, the Texas native had 95 catches for 1,606 yards. He led the team in both those categories over New Orleans Saints WR Chris Olave, New York Jets WR (and 2022 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year) Garrett Wilson, and top 2024 prospect Marvin Harrison Jr.

In an Ohio State WR room full of superstars in 2021, Jaxon Smith-Njigba led them all.

And that’s what a Jaxon Smith-Njigba-Giants union would give the team, a player who can turn into a WR1 at the NFL level.

Smith-Njigba isn’t a DK Metcalf or A.J. Brown type who is going to dominate defensive backs with his size, nor is he a Tyreek Hill or Ja’Marr Chase type who will blow by defenders with electrifying speed.

What he is, though, is a jack-of-all-trades who can do everything on the route tree for his quarterback and has sure hands to grab anything that comes his way.

A player who Smith-Njigba might remind you of is one of his Buckeyes teammates’ father. Marvin Harrison was a player who could get open at any time and was a possession receiver in the best sense of the term. At his best, Jaxon Smith-Njigba as a Giants player could turn into a player like Harrison someday.

And if that is the case, a Jaxon Smith-Njigba Giants pick at the back of the first round would be a major steal.

Daniel Jones needs a player like this, who can make the tough catches and keep the sticks moving on drives. With bigger, more physical wideouts like Isaiah Hodgins and Collin Johnson and a speed-burner like Wan’Dale Robinson around him, Smith-Njigba could be the WR to tie the whole group together.

His time at Ohio State proved he’s a player. His NFC Scouting Combine proved he’s healthy. And now a Jaxon Smith-Njigba Giants pick in the NFL draft could prove his worth at the next level.