Ryan Day addresses how many plays are designed for Jaxon Smith-Njigba, adapting with him out

Ohio State coach Ryan Day said in his weekly press conference that he had “a lot” of plays designed for star receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba heading into this season. Unfortunately, he hasn’t been able to put them to much use.

The Buckeyes leading receiver last season, Smith-Njigba suffered a hamstring injury in the season opener against Notre Dame and missed three of the next four games, including the past two weeks. His status is once again in question heading into Week 6 against Michigan State.

Although Day would much rather have a healthy Smith-Njigba, he has noticed one silver lining out of the otherwise negative situation. The receiver’s absence has forced both the coaching staff and other pass catchers to step up, and Day has been proud of the way they’ve performed as the Buckeyes sit at 5-0.

“When we talk in here we always say one of the strengths of college coaching is being able to adapt to what you have,” he said. “That’s what you’ve seen here. That kind of had to happen in game when we were in the Notre Dame game. It kind of caught us all off guard. Then we’ve had to do that here over the (past) couple of weeks. Looking forward to getting Jaxon back and getting him going. He certainly brings a whole other element to our entire offense.

“I guess the silver lining here is that we’ve kind of had to go down the road of some different packages and you can see that those guys have embraced it. You’ve got to credit our staff and our kids for really embracing it and putting it on the field because it wasn’t something that we spent a ton of time on in the offseason, but some. But now it’s on the field. It’s one thing to practice it, but it’s another thing to put it on the field and be successful. We think that it gives us some versatility in our offense as well.”

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Emeka Egbuka and Marvin Harrison Jr. have stepped up as the top two receivers with Smith-Njigba out, combining for 54 catches, 917 yards and 11 touchdowns. However, Day has been extremely impressed with what he has seen out of tight ends and young receivers as well.

“I think certainly the tight end play between Cade (Stover), Mitch (Rossi), Gee (Scott),” Day said. “Those guys have been solid contributors for us. Then also just the young receivers. I think seeing the way that the offensive line has handled some of the run game and the way the running backs are running. When you add all that stuff together, you’re seeing progress there.

“Again, nowhere where we need to be and as we continue to get challenged more, we’ll see where the adjustments need to be made. But I think that’s something we’ve looked at here in the first five games and seen some progress.”

Ohio State has a bye next week, which may cause Ryan Day to play it safe Saturday against the Spartans and rest Jaxon Smith-Njigba once again. But if he ultimately does make that decision, he can at least do so with the confidence that there will be plenty of playmakers to step up with the Buckeyes star sidelined.