Packers.com has consulted more than two dozen mock drafts from reputable national outlets and compiled a list of players most frequently mocked as draft selections in the middle portion of the first round (picks 10-20) who could fit Green Bay's potential roster needs.
Between now and draft day, when the Packers own the No. 15 overall selection in the first round, those players will be profiled with thumbnail sketches and videos known as "Prospect Primers."
Today's player is …
Jaxon Smith-Njigba, WR, Ohio State
Height/Weight: 6-1, 196
Key stats: In 2021, caught 95 passes for 1,606 yards – both single-season school records – and nine TDs before playing in just three games last year due to a hamstring injury.
College honors: Named third-team All-American by the Associated Press in 2021, and won Rose Bowl game MVP.
Background/other info: Highly anticipated 2022 season never materialized due to an ongoing hamstring injury, so he wasn't able to build on his record-setting 2021 campaign. That year, set Ohio State single-season marks with 95 receptions for 1,606 yards, on an offense that also featured two receivers chosen in last year's first round of the draft – Garrett Wilson (No. 10, N.Y. Jets, NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year) and Chris Olave (No. 11, New Orleans). With Wilson and Olave sitting out the Rose Bowl vs. Utah to prepare for the draft, caught 15 passes for 347 yards and three TDs for game MVP honors. The 347 yards was an all-time bowl game record as well as the school's single-game record and the fifth-highest total in NCAA Division I history. His 1,606 receiving yards on the season also broke a 20-year-old Big Ten record held by Wisconsin's Lee Evans (1,545 yards in 2001). Position coach at OSU, Brian Hartline – a Buckeyes receiver himself who had a productive NFL career – ranks him above both Wilson and Olave among the receivers he's coached.
