Todd McShay doesn't think Ohio State WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba is a first-round pick

Ohio State wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba came into this college football season as one of the most highly-touted wideouts in the country. 

He was coming off a 2021 season that saw him catch 95 passes for 1,606 yards and nine touchdowns.

Not only was Smith-Njigba expected to be a star for OSU in 2022, but most pegged him as a high pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. 

Unfortunately, 2022 didn't go the way Smith-Njigba hoped it would and his NFL Draft stock has severely fallen as a result.

He played in only three games because of injury, but according to NFL Draft guru Todd McShay, that's not the reason NFL scouts don't see the OSU wideout as a first-round talent. 

"Coming into the season, prior to the injury, talking to scouts, it was like, 'All right, his production was outstanding and what he did was amazing, but maybe it's more system than talent,'" McShay explained, per 247Sports. 

"Because where's the explosive trait? Where's the speed? Where's the vertical ability? There's drops on tape. So there's all those things. But then you go back and say, 'He found a way.' So I struggle with Jaxon Smith-Njigba, I really do, because I see the talent there. I see the ability to create. But I do think he's going to be a No. 3 receiver. And every NFL scout that I've talked to said, 'You take a No. 3 early-mid-second-round pick. That's not a first-round pick. Mel's [Kiper] got him at No. 5 overall. That's fine. We can disagree on that. It's OK. But I think there's something missing there. And maybe I'll be proven wrong."