In the newest episode of "The Football Room," James Foster and I turned back the clock to the 2023 NFL Draft.
After watching their rookie seasons, we regraded the top 32 picks in the 2023 NFL Draft. Part one of the series covered the first 16 picks. But the newest episode covered picks 17-32.
Which included the Seattle Seahawks' selection of Jaxon Smith-Njigba with the 20th pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. This article will share how we graded the pick and some of what we had to say about Smith-Njigba.
James Foster: C+
"I'm going with a C+ here for Jaxon Smith-Njigba. I thought it was a solid kind of unremarkable rookie season, it didn't have the high-end usage as you'd expect with a WR on a team with DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett. But I felt like he was exactly as advertised coming out of college. Outside of the fact that he had a real drop issue, 11.3% drop rate last year is definitely on the high end."
Destin Adams: B
"I ended up going with a solid B. The usage rate wasn't there, and I think that's why it was a shock that Seattle started the WR run last year. Because we knew that a rookie WR wasn't going to be able to come in day one and be that game changing level player. But I think the pick of Jaxon Smith-Njigba was all about the post-Lockett (Tyler) tenure in Seattle. Which we are probably coming close too."
Smith-Njigba appeared in all 17 games for the Seahawks during his rookie season. He recorded 63 catches, 628 yards and four touchdowns. Not at all a bad rookie season; he just wasn't able to surpass some other rookies. Many will hold that against him after he was the first WR drafted last year. But his circumstances affected him more so than his talent. Having to share time with DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett would have been hard for any rookie to put up elite numbers.
Check out the rest of what James and I had to say about Smith-Njigba and the rest of the picks 17-32 in the 2023 NFL Draft by checking out the episode now.
