Former Ohio State star JSN says Jeremiah Smith is set for a huge 2026

Former Ohio State wide receiver, Super Bowl champion, and current Seattle Seahawk Jaxon Smith-Njigba was back in Columbus over the weekend for the Buckeyes spring game. During the event, Smith-Njigba was asked about Jeremiah Smith, another dominant Ohio State wideout, and whether he considers himself a mentor to the rising star.

“I wouldn’t say a mentor, but he knows anything he needs, he can always call me, text,” Smith-Njigba told Big Ten Network’s Michele Steele during Ohio State’s spring game. “We definitely get together, talk some ball. Just super proud of him and him pushing the bar even further than what we did.

“It’s exciting times. It’s exciting times here. He’s an exciting player, he’s a winner, and it’s going to be great to see him, this year, flourish.”

Jaxon Smith-Njigba had an unusual career at Ohio State. As a true freshman in 2020, he appeared in seven games and recorded 10 catches for 49 yards and a touchdown. He primarily served as a depth receiver behind Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson during the COVID-shortened season.

In 2021, Smith-Njigba exploded onto the scene with a breakout sophomore campaign, setting school records with 95 receptions for 1,606 yards. He eclipsed 1,000 receiving yards and broke the Big Ten single-season receiving yards record. He closed the year with a legendary Rose Bowl performance, hauling in 15 catches for 347 yards and three touchdowns.

Then, in 2022, he suffered a hamstring injury in the season opener against Notre Dame. The injury lingered throughout the year and limited him to just three games.

Now in the NFL, Smith-Njigba is widely viewed as one of the top three receivers in football after a dominant 2025 season in which he posted 119 catches for nearly 1,800 yards. JSN clearly has high expectations for his Ohio State brother in Jeremiah Smith and believes he can dominate in 2026 while chasing some, if not all, of the Buckeyes' receiving records.