100 Days of Mocks: NFL.com Selects Smith-Njigba

With 27 days until the 2023 NFL Draft, our 100 Days of Mock Series rolls on with eight fresh mock drafts.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers, as you know, haven’t drafted a receiver in the first round since 2002. Would a change at quarterback lead to a change in philosophy?

In a new mock draft by NFL.com data scientist Cynthia Frelund, the Packers selected Ohio State’s Jaxon Smith-Njigba with the 15th overall selection. As the best slot receiver in the 2023 NFL Draft, if not the best receiver overall, he’d fit an immediate need working between Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs.

At 6-foot 5/8 and 196 pounds, Smith-Njigba put up elite numbers in the agility tests at the Scouting Combine, including a 3.93-second time in the 20-yard shuttle – historically a key number for Green Bay’s scouts. His straight-line times weren’t so hot with a so-so 4.52 in the 40 and a poor 1.65 10-yard split.

Frelund pointed to some other numbers: the ability to run 10 yards in 2.5 seconds while pressed.

“Smith-Njigba … fit(s) this mold,” she said.

Jaxon Smith-Njigba at pro day. (Adam Cairns/USA Today Sports Images)

In what was unofficially his millionth mock draft this year, CBS Sports’ Josh Edwards also went with Smith-Njigba in the first round. He pointed to the need to surround Love with more weapons.

While he missed most of 2022 with a hamstring injury, Smith-Njigba in 2021 dominated from the slot even while sharing targets with Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave. According to Pro Football Focus, Smith-Njigba ranked fifth with 87 slot receptions, third with 1,367 slot yards and seventh with eight slot touchdowns. He was second in yards per slot route.

“Jaxon Smith-Njigba is a player who runs the right routes and is always in the right place,” Edwards wrote.

This was a three-round mock. The firepower continued in the second round with tight end Darnell Washington. Safety/slot Jartavius “Quan” Martin of Illinois – who ran a 4.47 40 with a 44-inch vertical – was the pick in the third round.

Edwards didn’t trade Aaron Rodgers in this mock. It’s interesting to see who was available if the Packers wound up with the 42nd overall pick.

Rotoballer also went with Smith-Njigba.

At Pro Football Network, Kent Lee Platte – aka “Math Bomb” and the brains behind Relative Athletic Score – also focused on Love by picking Utah tight end Dalton Kincaid. He is coming off a season of 70 receptions for 890 yards and eight touchdowns.

Speaking of Love, Platte wrote, “Getting him a security blanket who is a mismatch for linebackers and safeties alike is a safe bet.”

Bruce Feldman of The Athletic took Notre Dame tight end Michael Mayer. This is a really good mock, filled with quotes from college coaches. The selection of Mayer, a complete, ready-to-go, every-situation tight end, comes with four quotes. Here is one:

“He’s not elite at any one thing but he’s really, really good at all of it. Actually, I take that back — his ball skills are elite. He is intelligent and a tough human being. He’s everything that you’re looking for. Even though he doesn’t run away from people, he understands how to use his body, understands spacing. He just knows how to get open.”

Sports Illustrated fantasy expert Michael Fabiano also went with a tight end.

Former NFL player Blake Brockermeyer of 247 Sports went with … a quarterback.

At Athlon Sports, Luke Easterling went with a too-small-for-the-Packers receiver in the second round of his two-round mock. Iowa pass rusher Lukas Van Ness was the pick in the first.

Finally, we went tight end in our fifth seven-round mock.

100 Days of Mocks

Starting Jan. 17, when there were 100 days until the start of the NFL Draft, we started our mock-worthy goal of 100 mock drafts in 100 days. Here are the last 10 days of the series.

From yesterday, it's our fifth all-#Packers seven-round mock draft.

- First-round tight end
- Rodgers traded for a second
- Third-round receiver
- Entirely too many Big Ten playershttps://t.co/hAWuip5Itq

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) March 31, 2023

Packer Central’s fifth seven-round mock draft

28 days: An “Energizer bunny”

Breaking down ESPN.com’s seven-round mock

29 days: Tannenbaum takes a tackle

30 days: Three mocks, three different first-round tight ends

31 days: First-round receiver streak in Jeopardy

32 days: A Rodgers trade and a short story

33 days: Breaking down NFL.com four-round mock

34 days: Kincaid rests his case

35 days: You can bet on Michael Mayer

36 days: Defensive tackle with “special” skill-set

37 days: Seven-round mock shows challenge I Kiper 3.0 I Jeremiah 3.0