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2021, on paper at least, looked to be the transition year for Ohio State football. The Buckeyes saw Justin Fields hit the draft and began life with CJ Stroud under center. Expectations, at least by the standards Ohio State has set for itself over the past decade or so, were comparatively low, but that didn't stop Stroud. He was electric in 2021, finishing as a Heisman finalist and guiding his team to an 11-2 record.
In the Rose Bowl, however, concerns once again popped up when his top receivers Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson both decided to forego playing the bowl game in order to begin draft prep. The load of the pass offense then fell on the player who is now, headed in to 2022, the true X-factor for the Buckeyes on offense. He finished with nearly 350 receiving yards and three touchdowns in that game. That player is Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
Ohio State X-factor in 2022 college football season
Smith-Njigba is the perfect receiver for Ryan Day's staff to build an offense around. He's as good on the outside as he is in the slot, and he has the speed, technique, and hands to be a real difference maker wherever he's put. In a way he's very similar to the outgoing Olave, but perhaps more explosive down the field, and definitely a more favored target by Stroud. Not to mention, in that Rose Bowl, it looked as if he and Stroud had been running those pass concepts their entire lives together. The chemistry between the two just oozed off the television screen.
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If that chemistry continues into 2022, expect Ohio State to be right there in the thick of the College Football Playoff discussion deep into November, even if they stumble early on against Notre Dame. Day has had a penchant for building great offenses during his time in Columbus, and his 2022 edition appears to be no different. We're talking Biletnikoff Award levels of talent from Smith-Njigba, and it's not an exaggeration to be putting him in that kind of company compared to the rest of the country.
Not many receivers in college football are as technically sound with that level of speed, making Smith-Njigba an absolute nightmare for corners all over the country. That Rose Bowl performance? It came against the No. 21 defense in the country according to Football Outsiders, and that's not even the only absolutely incredible game Smith-Njigba had in 2021. He also logged receiving yards totals of 240 yards against Nebraska, 145 against Oregon, 103 against Maryland, 139 against Purdue, 127 against Michigan, and 105 against Michigan State.
Smith-Njigba was often overshadowed in national conversation in favor of Olave and Wilson, despite leading the Buckeyes with 1,606 receiving yards. It's really a shame for Smith-Njigba to have missed out on a Biletnikoff finalist designation in 2021, but with the focus of the offense fully being to him in 2022, expect his name to stay in that conversation as long as he stays on the field. There may even be whispers of a Heisman candidacy if he keeps this pace up, though with the recent positional tendencies of the Heisman, it's unlikely he'd win the award.
When you watch Jaxon Smith-Njigba in 2022, just know you're likely watching the first receiver off the board in next year's NFL Draft. His ceiling is as high as it can be, with nothing off the table in terms of accomplishments. He's that much of a difference maker, and Ohio State football is expecting huge things from this X-factor during this upcoming season.
