Does Jaxon Smith-Njigba's OPOY award give him the belt as the best former Buckeye in the NFL?

Jaxon Smith-Njigba quietly had the best season by an offensive player in all of the NFL. The former Ohio State wide receiver has helped lead the Seattle Seahawks to their first Super Bowl since 2015. With such an amazing season, Smith-Njigba won the NFL Offensive Player of the Year Award.

It was a close race with San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffery, who also won Comeback Player of the Year, as Smith-Njigba has 271 votes (14 first-place votes) and CMC has 223 votes (12 first-place votes).

In just his third year in Seattle, Smith-Njigba became the second player in Seahawks history to win the awards, the first since 2005. This is the first NFL honor that a former Ohio State player has won since 2023, when CJ Stroud won Offensive Rookie of the Year, an award that has been dominated by former Buckeyes since 2016.

Smith-Njigba is the first former Buckeye since wide receiver Michael Thomas won the Offensive Player of the Year award back in 2019. So, with this win, does Smith-Njigba hold the belt for best former Buckeye?

This season, Smith-Njigba in the regular season finished with 119 receptions for 1,93 yards, 600 more yards than his 2024 season. He also averaged 15.1 yards per catch, another improvement from 2024, and had 10 touchdowns. It is clear he has the most dominant performance of any other former Buckeye this season.

This was the year of wide receivers from Ohio State in the NFL. Smith-Njigba was one of many former Buckeyes who had amazing seasons, along with rookie Emeka Egbuka, Garrett Wilson, Chris Olave, Terry McLaurin, and Marvin Harrison Jr.

The Buckeyes certainly know how to send pass-catching talent to the NFL, and Smith-Njigba winning the Offensive Player of the Year award proves that, and now he has a chance to go an finish an amazing season with a Super Bowl win.