Eagles Doing Late Draft Work on WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba - Report

Ohio State pass-catcher Jaxon Smith-Njigba is considered one of the top players at his position coming into Thursday night's draft, and it would certainly be a surprise if he was the pick at No. 10

PHILADELPHIA - The turn for home in the final days leading up to the 2023 NFL Draft has begun, and charging hard on the outside of the pack for the Philadelphia Eagles is … Jaxon Smith-Njigba?

That seems to be the case, per the Pro Football Network’s Tony Pauline.

Pauline tweeted that the Eagles are “making a late push” and are “doing a lot of work on him in recent days.”

Smith-Njigba is considered one of the top wide receivers in the draft.

The Ohio State product had a monster season two years ago with 95 catches, for 1,606 yards and nine touchdowns. He was hampered by a hamstring injury in his final season that limited him to three games.

In the Buckeyes’ 48-45 comeback win over Utah that season, he had 15 catches for 347 yards and three touchdowns.

Ohio State has sent some terrific receivers into the pros recently, including Terry McLaurin of the Washington Commanders, the New Orleans Saints Chris Olave, and the New York Jets’ Garrett Wilson.

Speaking of the Jets, Pauline believes they could be in play to select Smith-Njigba with the 13th overall pick.

The Eagles have spent first-round picks in receivers in recent seasons, taking DeVonta Smith 10th overall two years ago, and Jalen Reagor 21st overall in 2020.

Smith has been spectacular. Reagor washed out and was shipped to the Minnesota Vikings last offseason.

The Eagles also spent a first-round pick on a pass-catcher back in 2015 when they made Nelson Agholor the 20th overall selection. 

Agholor, who signed with the Baltimore Ravens after five seasons with the Eagles, one with the Las Vegas Raiders, and two with the New England Patriots, has had his ups and downs but was terrific in the Eagles’ Super Bowl LII win over the New England Patriots with nine catches for 84 yards.

Why would the Eagles pick another receiver in the first round like Smith-Njigba?

This could very well be a smokescreen sent out by general manager Howie Roseman, letting other teams know if they want to upgrade their receiver room, they might want to come up to No. 10 to get him.

The Eagles still have Smith locked down on a rookie deal through 2024 and can pick up his fifth-year option in 2025 and A.J. Brown was a beast in his first year with the Eagles, setting the franchise single-season record for yards with 1,496. He also had 11 touchdowns and a career-high 88 catches.

After that, they have Quez Watkins and recently signed free agent Olamide Zaccheaus, Britain Covey, and a host of others.

Smith-Njigba, however, would certainly see his share of snaps and cold contribute immediately to an Eagles offense that returns mostly intact from last year’s Super Bowl team, except for starters Miles Sanders and Isaac Seumalo.

Smith-Njigba’s role could grow based on the decisions the Eagles will eventually have to make on Smith and once Brown’s contract begins to swell into steep salary-cap charges, which begins in 2024 at $12.4 million then jumps off the charts in 2025 at $26.5M.

So, on some levels, Smith-Njigba makes some sense.

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Ed Kracz covers the Philadelphia Eagles for SI's EaglesToday.

Please follow him and our Eagles coverage on Twitter at @kracze.

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