Why Jaxon Smith-Njigba Will BREAKOUT in 2024 Fantasy Football (Film Breakdown)

after out producing Garrett Wilson and Chris as a sophomore at Ohio State expectations were Skyhigh for Jack then jiga coming into the 2023 season he was being drafted extremely high in fantasy football and people were just expecting him to take over for Tyler Lockett now due to his ning hamstring injury from Ohio State due to some training camp injuries and just taking some time to adjust to the NFL speed the end of the year only scoring 8.8 fantasy points per game which is not at all what people expected so today we're going to be diving into the film and telling you if you should or should not still be excited about ja with jiga and if you should be drafting him or not in 2024 fantasy football we're going to look at jsn the slot right here and now this is where he's just going to run a nice little underneath route picks up the first down and this is something I saw him doing a lot of Ohio State too he's not necessarily the the fastest or most explosive guy but he has very quick feet to where he can turn up the field in a hurry and that alone helps him get those extra two to three yards that a lot of wide receivers don't really get so in a PPR format where it's essential to get those dump offs that you can turn into first downs that is going to be crucial I really didn't like what I saw out of Shane walren last year and I definitely think that he could have utilized him a lot better the second half of the year it was great but we're going to show you a few examples up next of a few play calls that I didn't really like from him and and starting off here we have jsn he's just going to kind of sit down underneath I'll show you it once the ball gets to him and yeah so he just sits down underneath the middle it's just two Defenders around him right there and there's nothing he could have really done I mean there's just one two right here third and four I like that they are targeting him in that kind of situation that is important but still I that's just not really his fault I don't like the play design at all you know maybe you could say he should have separated better but when there's two guys in the area I'm not really sure how much you can do now this next play as well we have him on the bottom of our screen right here and he's going to run just a nice little out route and I just again it's a Zone coverage so I don't know if that's as much on the play design it's also a little bit on goo Smith the ball was high you could say oh he needs to make that catch which is honestly a fair point it hit his hands in the NF you really have to be able to bring in any ball that hits your hands so it's a fair point but still there are you know two guys again one two drape all over him and he's short of the sticks as well so it makes me question if it was really a good play call to begin with it almost gets intercepted actually so not a great you know rout by jsn this is early in the year but also not the best play call in the world either and that's something you're going to see a lot in this video here's the beginning of the year play call we have jsn out there and it's just a little smoke screen where he's just the second option throws at him very late he gets one yard there's really nothing you could do there there's guys all around him he just wasn't being used especially early on the year in a situation where he was set to succeed where they really trusted him he was being used more as you know a dump off option you know check it down to him and see what he can do but they wer really weren't taking any shots to him in the intermediate part of the field field which is something that I really found surprising because in Ohio State it felt like he was really able to you know just burst off the slot win in the middle of the field and pick up these chunk plays where he could honestly use you know like I talked about his Yak ability even though he's not you know the fastest guy he has quick feet to where he can turn up field in a hurry and pick up a decent amount of yards after the catch now this next stretch of plays is honestly pretty concerning because you say okay he should have been used better but at the same time this is a very low a do okay that's not bad that's like what seven yards again same kind of concept but here again just underneath not much he can do there and we're going to see it again just another screen pass to where there's really nothing for him to do and I just don't really like that I think he is again he's good with the ball in his hands but I don't want that to be all of his targets I want to see him getting the the ball more in the intermediate part of the field I want him to be running those Slants if you're going to try and get the ball in his hands run it underneath route run a slant route like we saw early on I don't really like the fact that they're giving him a ton of screens because as we've seen he hasn't been able to really do anything he hasn't had one good screen play out of the four that we've seen so far here's a play that I really like though and we have Jason it's a third in one situation so again we love to see him getting trusted here he goes in the middle of the field stops recognizes finds the open space and picks up the first down so beautiful play by Json here and we're going to skip to the goal line a goal line Target it again it's just a very bad pass and we definitely have seen that a lot I think there are a lot of Gino Believers after his amazing season but after that I it's really really hard to keep justifying these type of throws because that's just nowhere near him it's third and goal you got to you know put a touch on the board when you're down seven late in the third quarter and he just can't it's just a very bad play design or maybe just a very bad throw by youo Smith and jsn is just getting an empty calorie Target right there this is an interesting stretch of plays from jsn right here and we're going to play it here this is a little dump off again actually picks up decent yards so it's getting better as the games go on again screen pass here third and 22 so take that with a Granda but he is able to get some yards and here we have a third and nine it's in the red zone so you need to pick this up or at least get close to the first down marker to where you can think about going for it now we have jsn I'm going to highlight him right here he's at the top of your screen and what's he going to do third and nine obviously you're going to want to run him at least close to the marker because that first down it's a nice route I would like it to be a little more sharp but the ball could be more anticipation but you see the guy behind I I think he definitely has more than enough space uh to close out on that ball and he just doesn't do a very good job of actually running to the ball you can kind of see here he just like kind of stops camps under it I would have liked him to see you know come up a little bit get that ball and then maybe try and make a move up field but he kind of just like backs into the ball just puts his hands like he's trying to catch it with his chest and because of that you see number 42 right there can just get a direct line right into his chest and just hit him super hard Pop the ball out and there's not a completion here so again this is from chronological order from the beginning of the season to the end this is week three as we can see by the ticker at the bottom uh so we can see him develop but that's definitely on JS in there I would have loved to see him make that play but that's a fair reason to why he's not getting a ton of Red Zone targets you give him that opportunity and you just think that he doesn't make that kind of rookie mistake third down opportunity for for jsn and what's he going to do this is going to be Zone coverage so he kind of just goes to the middle three guys around him and we can see here yeah so we got that guy kind of faded out so that's not really one one and a half one two two guys around him and this time he knows he has to go up against that ball he knows he's pass the first down marker he just does a good job of holding his ground kind of he doesn't totally like let the ball come into him and just does a better job of making that catch hang on to the ball and moving the change that's something that we see later on in the year he kind of corrects that mistake and that's what's going to build coach's trust and ultimately coach trust and quarterback Trust on top of that is what's going to help him increase his targets from 93 to over the 100 110 Mark in 20124 another goal line Target for Smith and jiga here and this is a very bad play now here's what I'm talking about goal line targets are so crucial because everyone knows the best way to get fantasy points is through touchdowns and good players get targets even better players get Targets near the Red Zone because that's when's most crucial so showing that you can win and earn Targets in the Red Zone even if it's not all your fault is very important but here I'm not really sure why the ball is ever going to him he throws into double coverage and it gets picked off so again that's going to go in the stat sheet as a you know pass intended for him in the red zone that he didn't haul in but we look at Gino Smith here and it's like man what are you doing and why are you giving your slot receiver a jump ball when you you have literally a freak of nature DK Mecha on the other side like can we make it make sense and this is also why I'm a little concerned about Gino Smith because that's just a bonehead mistake right there and right now from watching jsn I'm also watching Gino and it is not pretty he looked he looks pretty bad right now at this point in the film now you can't actually see jsn on this play but perfect right here finds him in the middle of the field Gets behind his guy a nice little deeper slant and that's just a quick throw and catch that goes for 15 yards it's not just that little dump off screen get one or two yards no they're not he's not a deep threat but he is very good in the intermediate part of the field give him a slant 9 10 up the field and he is able to turn that into not only that he finds the soft spot in the zone he turns that into an extra two to three yards because he's able to make that nice cut in a dime get the ball early and make those quick feet turn up field again let's take this with a grain assault but third and goal they have a lot to go so I do understand they are playing more prevent defense but from the slot it's a slant route and he gets around a few guys picks up three or four more yards that's exactly what we should be looking for from jsn here's our first jsn touchdown he kind of just runs towards the middle of the field it gets wide open it's honestly a better play design than it is a catch but in his own coverage he gets the sof spot the defense finds that seam and they trust him enough to deliver that strike right down the middle so good play I wouldn't say did anything Exceptional from separating but it's nice to see him find the back of the end zone in that manner now next up we go right back to a screen and here he actually gets a nice chunk so I do understand that at times it might be a good idea to give jsn a screen it is later than the video uh so what we're at like week seven 8 now but yes I'm fine with giving him screens you know on third down you know occasionally but please don't give it to him every single play another example of that intermediate type route I was talking about we're going to have GSN right here finds the middle of the field finds the soft spot Cuts back a little bit tries to get around the guy I like the idea lost a few yards but just a nice job getting you know 10 yards up the field and that's the kind of quick you know throw and catch ball that you want him to be getting on a consistent basis same kind of concept right here and we're going to watch his you know work off the line a little bit makes a nice move gets good leverage on his guy he has him on his back foot chasing around him and he just stops in the middle picks up the first down very nice play you see it's not really a long drop back you know get the ball get it out pick up 10 yards repeat that's where jsn is going to thrive and I think Ryan grub is going to have him in that situation a lot next year this is a play that needs to be made by jsn Third and seven so crucial down it's really in the late stages of the game 17 to 10 so they're going to put him on a on a slant great play design doesn't get a ton of Separation so that's also a negative but it hits his hands a little outstretched but it's something I definitely saw in film to where his hands aren't super sticky I didn't see a ton of drops like this but it's almost like if the ball was in his range he wasn't bringing the ball in a lot it was you know 50/50 he's not doesn't have bad hands but I definitely wouldn't say that he has great hands after watching the film so after all the hate we've given him for getting so many screens after all the inconsistent with the screens it's a little bubble makes a man miss or really just gets around his block and picks up his second touchdown of the video so again I'm not going to say I don't want him used on screens because it's not like he's bad he was pretty good with them at times at Ohio State but I would like to see him improve or I would like to see that usage drop down just a little bit in the screen game because like I said he's good you know running into that and I that's why I like the bubble for him a lot more because he can move and like evade though with those like blocks that are already set for him it doesn't really have to be you know him making a guy Miss on his own starting to become a big issue here third and four crucial situation and they're going to give the ball to their guy jsn little out route and he just loses concentration and just drops the ball it's in his hands he turns up field and it pops out you just can't make that kind of mistake and this is later in the year as well we're in week nine so it's really tough as a quarterback to keep going back to your guy when they just make simple silly mistakes like that we have Json at the top of your screen and here is a very nice play by him he's working on his man gets not really any separation but does a good job working back to the ball over the shoulder catch beautiful move and kind of just turns up field not getting anything after the catch but really nice tracking here I think that's something that is very underrated about him very good play he can track the ball very well and I think that is going to show up a lot more on this film cuz it definitely did at Ohio State now we're on week 11 and this is something that I really it's not a phenomenal play but I want to point out he's getting better it's third and five crucial situation and it's not an easy catch he has a guy draped all over him but he picks up the first down gets five more after that nice easy pitch and catch and hangs on to the the ball so it's nice to see Improvement in that area from you know times where he definitely had issues hanging on to the ball and drop issues early on in his rookie campaign up to this point we don't have a single clip of him going up to get the ball so here it is third and 10 gets around his guys shows off the hands flashes them and makes the catch on two two bodies so very good play very good catch and here we just saw two consecutive plays to where he hangs onto the ball B with a guy draped all over him in this situation it's two and shows off trusting his hands using them versus early in the year where we had again a few bad drops and even just him trying to use his body more so to haul in the ball again very positive trend later on the season his hands are really starting to improve one-handed grab brings it in against the 49ers beautiful play down the sidelines that's just the kind of highlights that you love to see getting better as the season goes on I don't love this as much though second and goal Red Zone attempt and doesn't really separate himself from his man draped all over him and just not a great you know pass either there's nothing you could do there I don't know why he throw that Jason didn't really separate you you got to be able to separate near the goal line and all of his touchdowns have not been in that fashion this is actually a pretty good play by jsn you can see right here if I highlighted both guys him and Lockett but goal line attempts he has his guy beat just runs out of end zone out of his reach here's a play where I can actually see him separate against his man in the red zone so in the goal line in that case so really like that play definitely probably could have used the field better to maybe stay in bounds then maybe the throw is better but it's definitely you know a slight Improvement in the right direction we're getting near the end of the season and we have jsn here let's look at the game scenario you guys probably remember this Monday Night Football 32 seconds left third and 10 Drew lock in the game Seahawks down four and who do they turn to they turn to jsn on a deep route separates well over the cat over the shoulder catch and brings it home for what's going to be the walk-off touchdown that's incredible concentration incredible hands as well that's like right on his fingertip so just gets around his man beats him creates the space and brings in the game winning touchdown so again another example of him making his best plays of the year down the stretch which is perfectly fine for a rookie we can't expect too much out of these guys just because we've been spoiled with these generational prospects to where they produce right away it's fine to let a rookie produce later in the year and develop that's a good thing also keep in mind that he was dealing with injuries at Ohio State last year dealing with an injury in training camp so his opportunity to adjust to the NFL improve and get better came from him actually playing in the games again end of the year we're going to see him really start to heat up he's on his man gets inside on him and just creates some nice separation we're going to see better in the next frame scores a touchdown third and 11 well they're down yeah just shakes his man right off him adjust to a pretty bad throw by gin Smith and brings it in for six so not an easy catch at all especially to control your body stay in bounds he's kind of close to the back of the end zone and just you know it's just the fast feet that start to get the defender lost and he really started to display that near the end of the year where we can see early on he was getting bottled up a lot more but near the end of the season I could tell obviously just from watching every single Target he was getting more separation near the end of the year after watching the film my main takeaway is jsn is still a very good player and he developed throughout the season which is something that we see from a lot of rookie wide receivers the sophomore year is when that breakout typically happens and especially because he had that nagging injury at Ohio State in his junior year I think that is more prevalent to him than anyone else he's a very good player but it's all about the price on Underdog he's going at the wide receiver 46 cost and I'm drafting him everywhere at that price I don't think he finishes lower than a wide receiver three wide receiver 36 due to his good separating abilities he has very quick feet and he just does such a good job finding the S on the defense we saw later on in the season he did a good job picking up those chunk plays getting the ball in his hands early and turning up field for three four yards after the catch which should turn him into a half PPR and even more of a PPR demon so this year I'm definitely drafting J and don't be surprised if he dominates I don't think he'll be a wide receiver one but it wouldn't it wouldn't be surprising to me if he was a mid to highend wide receiver too so that being said draft J with and jiga and I hope you guys enjoyed the video I'll see you guys in the next one

Channel: Fantasy Trading Room

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Keywords: dynasty fantasy football, dynasty rookie rankings, fantasy football today, dynasty rookie draft, fantasy football advice, fantasy flock, fantasy football rookies, nfl fantasy, nfl rookies, rookie rankings, must draft players, dynasty draft, fantasy football, fantasy football 2024, jayden daniels dynasty, must draft rookies dynasty, must draft rookies fantasy football, must draft rookies 2024, must draft dynasty rookies 2024, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Seattle Seahawks

Id: _lG8vTRttlU

Length: 20min 16sec (1216 seconds)

Published: Tue Jul 09 2024