Will Jaxon Smith-Njigba ever play for the Ohio State football team again?

Saturday was supposed to be the celebrated return of Jaxon Smith-Njigba. He’d only played a few quarters of football for the Ohio State football team this year because of a hurt hamstring. The Iowa game was the first time he’d been healthy enough to play since Week 3 against Toledo.

Instead, it was another disappointment. Smith-Njigba wasn’t an impact when he was on the field, catching just one pass for seven yards. Worse than that, he re-injured himself in the third quarter and didn’t return. I saw him limping on the sidelines from my seat in the stands.

This game was supposed to be the game that ramped JSN up for this week’s game against Penn State. Instead, I have a question that I have refused to ask the last few weeks that I think is appropriate to ask now; have we seen the last of Jaxon Smith-Njigba in a Buckeye uniform?

We are seven games into the season now. It’s more than halfway. through the 2022 campaign. Smith-Njigba was projected to be the first receiver taken in the 2023 NFL Draft. While that may not be true anymore, he still is projected to be a first-round pick.

Does that fact make JSN sit out the rest of the season to further protect his draft stock? Ohio State has already proven to be an elite offense without him. Smith-Njigba could get his hamstring healed up and just start training for the draft and leave this season behind him.

While I don’t think he would quit on a team that has championship potential, I’m not putting it out of the realm of possibility. He has to do what’s best for himself and his future. I don’t think he will want to do this though. He’s way too competitive of a guy to do something like that.

I think JSN will try his best to get healthy for the stretch run. If he’s healthy, this offense goes from being elite to being completely unstoppable. I hope he can get healthy soon.