The Cowboys added to their pass-catching arsenal by trading for Texans wide receiver Brandin Cooks in March. But that doesn’t mean they now consider themselves all stocked up at the position.
In fact, they’re said to be hosting the prospect many are calling the best wide receiver in this year’s draft class, perhaps with an eye toward using their first-round pick on him later this month.
Dallas will reportedly use one of their official 30 visits to host Ohio State’s Jaxon Smith-Njigba, according to NFL insider Ian Rapoport.
#OSU WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba, a consensus first-rounder, has already had a Top 30 visit with the #Falcons, source said. Among the many he's scheduled to visit are the #Ravens, #Texans, #Bills and #Cowboys.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) April 10, 2023
The 21-year-old Dallas native is considered one of the top wide receivers available, usually alongside USC’s Jordan Addison, Tennessee’s Jalin Hyatt, and Boston College’s Zay Flowers in most scouting reports. But former NFL scout and Reese’s Senior Bowl executive director Jim Nagy tweeted on Monday that “numerous teams” have Smith-Njigba ranked as the only wide receiver truly worthy of a first-round grade in 2023.
That fact alone might make the college junior a long shot for the Cowboys, who pick 26th overall. But his record-breaking career with the Buckeyes and sensational combine performance absolutely make him worth spending an official visit on.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba is a WR prospect in the 2023 draft class. He scored a 8.30 RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 493 out of 2892 WR from 1987 to 2023. https://t.co/RrcrPi3mcG #RAS pic.twitter.com/bDkKTVNnw0
— Kent Lee Platte (@MathBomb) March 26, 2023
Stellar players do sometimes fall unexpectedly on draft day: that is, after all, how the Cowboys ended up with CeeDee Lamb. That was such an unforeseen curveball that the Dallas staff hadn’t even done a pre-draft interview with Lamb when they turned in his card in 2020.
They apparently won’t be caught similarly off-guard with Smith-Njigba.
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