The Ohio State football program was in the midst of a College Football Playoff run back in the 2022 season. Yet, they were without one of their best players. Jaxon Smith-Njigba struggled with a hamstring injury throughout that entire season and said he couldn't go.
There is still a debate about whether Smith-Njigba was actually injured or if he sat out to protect his draft stock. Regardless, the Buckeyes could have used him. Instead, they had to rely on other guys to step up, including former walk-on Xavier Johnson.
Smith-Njigba went on to be a first-round pick by the Seattle Seahawks. He has now established himself as the best receiver in the NFL and just signed a massive extension. Someone within the Seahawks' organization is now blaming the Ohio State Buckeyes for his injuries.
The Seahawks claim Ohio State is at fault for Jaxon Smith-Njigba's injuries
Erik Kennedy, who is the Seahawks' Director of Equipment, claims that JSN's hamstring issues at Ohio State were caused by him wearing the wrong-sized shoe. He made this claim on the John Schneider Show.
"Jaxon Smith-Njigba, you were talking about him, was wearing a size 12, had hamstring issues, and things like that. Get's here, he's a 10 1/2...it's helped him. He hasn't missed time and things like that."
Kennedy claims that the Buckeyes caused the injuries by something as silly as putting him in the wrong-sized cleats. That is a big change in shoe size, so that would be a massive failure by Ohio State if that were true. Shoes should not be the cause of any injury for any player.
If that actually happened, then it stands to reason that it could happen again to another Ohio State player. Ryan Day needs to launch a full investigation into this, as they have several players out this spring due to soft tissue injuries. Getting the right equipment for guys should be the easiest thing the program does.
Day needs to look into this before the Fall rolls around. With the college football season longer than ever before, he can ill-afford injuries if he wants his team to win a national championship. Some injuries can't be prevented, but it sounds like getting guys in the right shoes should be a pretty easy fix.
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