Jaxon Smith-Njigba ( ; born February 14, 2002) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

for the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The club entered the NFL a ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Ohio State Buckeyes The Ohio State Buckeyes are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Ohio State University, located in Columbus, Ohio. The athletic programs are named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Ohio and after the state tree, ...

, where he set school records for most catches in a single game with 15 (twice) and most receiving yards in a single season with 1,606 in

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

. Smith-Njigba was selected 20th overall by the Seahawks in the first round of the

2023 NFL draft The 2023 NFL draft was the 88th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2023 NFL season, 2023 season. The NFL draft, draft was held outside of Kansas City Union Station, Union Station i ...

. He played in all 17 games in his rookie season and became a starter in week three due to an injury suffered by

DK Metcalf DeKaylin Zecharius "DK" Metcalf (born December 14, 1997) is an American professional American football, football wide receiver for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Ole Miss Rebels f ...

. He started 16 of 17 games in his second season, amassing 1130 receiving yards and tying a team record with 100 receptions.

Early life

Smith- Njigba was born on February 14, 2002, in

Nacogdoches, Texas Nacogdoches ( ) is a city in East Texas and the county seat of Nacogdoches County, Texas, United States. The 2020 U.S. census recorded the city's population at 32,147. Stephen F. Austin State University is located in Nacogdoches and special ...

. He grew up in

Rockwall, Texas Rockwall is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the County seat, seat of Rockwall County, Texas, Rockwall County. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that as of 2023, Rockwall's population is 52,918, up from 47,251 in the 2020 census. The name Roc ...

, and attended

Rockwall High School Rockwall High School is a high school that is part of the Rockwall Independent School District located in Rockwall, Texas. In 2022–23, the school was rated by the Texas Education Agency as follows: 90 (A) overall, 88 (B) for Student Achievemen ...

. Smith-Njigba led all high school football players in the

Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex The Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, officially designated Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, is the most populous metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Texas and the Southern United States, ...

with 97 receptions for 1,828 yards and 20

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

s in his junior season. As a senior, he caught 104 passes for 2,094 yards and 35 touchdowns and was named the recipient of both the

Landry Award The Landry Award is an honor given annually to the top high school football player in North Texas. The award was established in 2010 and named after legendary former Dallas Cowboys coach Tom Landry. It is awarded by Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, D ...

and the Texas Gatorade Football Player of the Year award. Smith-Njigba played in the 2019

All-American Bowl The All-American Bowl was an annual postseason college football bowl game played at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama from 1977 to 1990. The game was known as the Hall of Fame Classic from 1977 to 1985. In 1986, the National Football Foundatio ...

and was named a high school All-American by ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

'' and ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

''. Smith-Njigba finished his high school career with 5,346 career receiving yards and 82 touchdowns in 44 games played. A 5 star prospect and the #5 ranked wide receiver in the nation, Smith-Njigba received offers from many top

programs including Notre Dame,

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

and

Ole Miss OLE, Ole or Olé may refer to: * Olé, a cheering expression used in Spain * Ole (name), a male given name, includes a list of people named Ole * Overhead lines equipment, used to transmit electrical energy to trams, trolleybuses or trains Co ...

. Ultimately, however, he committed to

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

College career

Smith-Njigba played in seven games as a freshman and led Ohio State's freshmen with 10 receptions for 49 yards and one touchdown. He was named a starter at the slot receiver position for the Buckeyes going into his sophomore season. On November 6, 2021, Smith-Njigba recorded 15 receptions (single game school record) for 240 yards (the second most receiving yards in a game in school history at the time) and one touchdown in a 26–17 win against

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

. Later that season, he set both an Ohio State single game and FBS Bowl record for receiving yards with 347 in Ohio State's win in the

2022 Rose Bowl The 2022 Rose Bowl was a college football bowl game played on January 1, 2022, with kickoff at 5:13 p.m. EST (2:13 p.m. local PST) and televised on ESPN. It was the 108th edition of the Rose Bowl Game, and was one of the 2021–22 bo ...

. In that game, he also recorded 15 receptions (tying his own record set in the aforementioned Nebraska game) and passed

David Boston David Byron Boston (born August 19, 1978) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Ohio State Buckeyes, earning first-team All-American ho ...

for the single season receiving yards record at Ohio State with 1,606. Smith-Njigba was limited to just three games in 2022 due to a hamstring injury and his decision to not participate in the

College Football Playoff The College Football Playoff (CFP) is an annual single-elimination tournament, knockout invitational tournament to determine a national champion for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, D ...

. In addition, Smith-Njigba announced that he would pass on from his senior year of college and enter the

College statistics

Professional career

Smith-Njigba was selected by the

in the first round (20th overall) of the 2023 NFL Draft. He caught his first regular-season NFL pass week 1 against the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West ...

with a one-yard completion from

Geno Smith Eugene Cyril "Geno" Smith III (born October 10, 1990) is an American professional football quarterback for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the West Virginia Mountaineers, leading them ...

. Smith-Njigba started his first game in week 7 of that year after starter

was sidelined due to a rib injury; during that game, he caught his first career touchdown pass on a 28-yard pass from Smith. On October 29, Smith-Njigba caught the game winning touchdown pass from Smith on screen pass against the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

. On December 18, Smith-Njigba caught the game winning touchdown pass from

Drew Lock Paul Andrew Lock (born November 10, 1996) is an American professional American football, football quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Missouri Tigers football, Missou ...

on ''

Monday Night Football ''Monday Night Football'' (often abbreviated as ''MNF'') is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games that air on Monday nights. It originally ran on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from 1970 NFL season, 1970 t ...

'' against the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

. As a rookie, he appeared in all 17 games and made three starts. He finished with 63 receptions for 628 receiving yards and four receiving touchdowns. In the 2024 season during the week 9 game against the Los Angeles Rams, Smith-Njigba recorded a career high game with seven catches for 180 yards and two touchdowns. He finished the 2024 season with 100 receptions for 1,130 yards and six touchdowns. His 100 total receptions on the season tied

Tyler Lockett Tyler Deron Lockett (born September 28, 1992) is an American professional football wide receiver for the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Kansas State Wildcats. He played 10 seasons in t ...

for the franchise record. Smith-Njigba also made the

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (since 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's All-star, star players. The format has changed ...

for the first time in his career.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Personal life

Smith-Njigba is of half Sierra Leonean descent, and wears the country’s flag on the back of his helmet. His paternal grandparents are from

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...

. Smith-Njigba's older brother, Canaan Smith-Njigba, is a professional baseball player who is currently a free agent.

References

External links

Ohio State Buckeyes bioSeattle Seahawks bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith-Njigba, Jaxon 2002 births Living people Sportspeople from Rockwall, Texas Players of American football from Rockwall County, Texas American football wide receivers Ohio State Buckeyes football players American people of Sierra Leonean descent Sportspeople of Sierra Leonean descent Seattle Seahawks players