May 2, 2023 • 19 mins
Former Ohio State and new Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, drafted in the first round by Seattle last week, joins Dave Softy Mahler and Dick Fain to talk about the last 48 hours, why he fits with the Hawks, meeting teammates, his style, and his visit.
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(00:00):
Straub watching fans and texts. Areyou d me? The gritty Dance consulates
what a monster game. You canwatch this book forever. You won't see
many better games by a wide receiverthan this. When you watch him on
(00:20):
tape, you see a guy wholooks like an NFL pro. I mean
he looks as polished as it gets. You talk about a separation generator.
This guy has unbelievable short area quickness. His short shuttle time was ridiculous.
It was under four. That isphenomenal. All right. The voice is
right there, Greg co Sell andRob rang By the way Highlight courtesy of
(00:42):
ESPN as well. And I gottatell you I am so fired up for
the selection of Jackson Smith and Jigba. I'm gonna tell him right now on
the radio show Jackson. There arethree people on this radio show. My
name's Dave, my partner's name isDick, and believe it or not,
our producer's name is Jackson. Butin honor of you being here, I
am changing my name to Jackson.Dick is now going to be called Smith,
(01:03):
and Jackson will now be called inJigbook. So this radio show is
now called Jackson Smith and Jigboak everyday three to seven on KJR and honor
of you. How's that sound power? I love it? I love it.
Thank you for having me. Heyman, Welcome to the two h
six, And first of all,give us a quick thought on what the
(01:23):
last forty eight hours or so havebeen like for you. Ever since Thursday
nightmare, it's been crazy, Honestly, had the fire in the Seattle early
in the morning. The next day, I was drafted, didn't get any
sleep, but take all the timeyesterday and caught up on some sleep.
So we're all good. Now.How much time had you spent how much
(01:47):
conversation had you had with John Schneiderand Pete Carroll prior to getting drafted?
Yeah, I mean I remember havinggreat conversations with them. They came up
for the pro day, talk tothem a lot to combine, but they
didn't get the fire up there,So you know, I was I was
going through mixed emotions. Didn't knowwhere I was gonna go or if they
(02:08):
you know, really really like me. But um, I knew that we
had a good conversation in pro dayand just me being in that offense,
you know, I was just superexcited and you know, I thought there
was a possibility that they might takeme, just you know, from the
conversations that we had prior. Youknow, we thought there was a chance
that maybe the Texans would take itat number twelve and you would get reunited
(02:30):
with CJ. Strout and get toplay with him in the NFL. But
now you get to play with GinoSmith and Tyther Lockett and DK Metcalfe and
Kenny Walker and Bobby Wagner. Haveyou heard from any of your new teammates
yet, Man, Yeah, I'vetalked to them. I got to meet
d DK when I was down there. Tyler Lockett reached out, Gena reached
(02:50):
out, Man, I'm I'm superexcited to, you know, play with
those guys that are unbelievable players.Can't wait to get in there and learn,
man, and catch them balls fromyou know, Gene, you know
he came from playing, came toplaying at all. We heard that Chris
Fowler cut from your Rose Bowl fifteenmonths ago. Man, I got to
go back to that day. Youhad over three hundred yards receiving fifteen catches.
I mean, what what allowed thatgame to play out the way it
(03:15):
did for you? I mean wasit scheme? Was it just you had
an out of body experience? Imean, what what? Why did it
play out the way it did thatday? Man? I would just say
the opportunity. You know, onse day he see me and decided to
decide to throw my way fifteen times, and I just you know, do
what I do, which is,you know, make make the most out
(03:37):
of every opportunity. You know Ican. And you know I was just
blessed, you know that night tojust get a lot of opportunities and you
know, do what I had todo. And you know I looked out
at the end of game, afterhunt of yards and it was just a
crazy out of body experience to show, Yeah, if you had the over
in that game, you're a happycamp or two. By the way,
the Ohio State Utah Rose Bowl BallJackson Smith and Jagba is with US Seahawks
(04:00):
first run draft pick at number twenty. And you know we mentioned CJ.
Stroud there and I'm a big fanof his, as I know you are
as well. CJ. Stroud oncesaid that you were the best route runner
he's ever thrown. Too. I'mcurious about what you think makes you so
unique when it comes to running routes. Man, I'm just a student of
the game. I love ball.I love the receiver position. I've been
(04:23):
a receiver since you know, Istarted playing football, which is a three
years old, and I just think, you know, my creativity, you
know it's unique. And you know, I just you know, playing basketball,
playing different sports, playing short style. That definitely helped my brother growing
up as a you know, goingHe grew up as a quarterback. So
(04:43):
to have him, you know,literally living next to me in the same
room and just taking his brain andjust knowing what the quarterback like. You
know what I'm saying. And youknow, I love this position, and
you know, I think, youknow, there's no ceiling for me.
You know where I can take it. Yeah, Jackson, you mentioned playing
basketball and baseball. Any good atthose other sports, man, I would
(05:05):
say, I'll say I was prettygood. You know, I could compete.
I competed at a high level whenI was younger, and I love
those squats to death. But youknow, football just came easiest to me
and is definitely my colleague. Well, you played for a huge school in
Dallas and high school Friday night lightsthat got you prepared for big time college
football. Then you played a bigtime college football factory. So talk about
(05:29):
how the transition from high school helpedyour college days and how you think the
transition from a big time college footballprogram will help you in the NFL.
Right, I mean playing in highschool playing against you know, big time
schools in Texas. You know,there's no stadiums there, the crowds there,
there's nothing like it, you know, playing high school football in Texas.
(05:50):
And you know, I think whatthat you know, guys apart,
you know that comes from Texas.I would say to coaching. You know,
I grew up around blessed to growup around great coaching and people who
love the game and who've been inthe game for a long time. So
I think that just set me up, you know for success. And of
course going to House State me andin that room with Coach Heartline and all
(06:12):
the great receivers that came through thereand are still there now, you know,
I mean, this was the path, you know, that was chosen
for me, and you know,I couldn't be more thankful. Well.
Jackson Smith and Jake again with usnew Seahawk wide receiver and Jackson Dick mentioned
that game with Utah. That wasJanuary first of twenty twenty two. You've
only played three games in seventeen monthssince that Rules Bowl game because of the
(06:34):
hamstring. And let me ask youabout that, man, because I know
there was some people out there.I saw your dad was lightening up Todd
Mchee on Twitter for his thoughts aboutthe way you handle the whole thing.
If you could go back and handlethe hamstring injury any different, is there
anything differently you would have done orwould you have done everything the same?
(06:56):
Um? I'm I'm thankful for whathappened, and I'm thank well. You
know, God put me in aposition to grow and learn from, you
know, the Hansering injury. Um, if I could do it over again,
I definitely wouldn't the only thing Iprobably wouldn't have played against Alito.
But um, but I'm blessed,man, I'm blessed. God did this
for a reason, and you knowI'm gonna come out stronger, a better
(07:17):
person, a better player. Soum, but yeah, I learned a
lot about my body. I learnedyou know, definitely, you know how
to take care of it. Youknow, I was never injured prior,
never missed a practice, never misseda game, so those are good.
I take it out of learning alearning experience, though, um I wouldn't
change anything. I mean, youknow, because at the end of the
day, I'm gonna be a betterplayer, right, is that? Hammy?
(07:40):
All the way back? Now?Since that Iowa game last October?
Are we ready to go? Wewe stripped and ready to go? Love
it straight up? Jackson Smith andJake but joining US Hawk's first round draft
pick wide receiver Rod of Ohio State. If I asked you, do you
think you compliment DK and Tyler,I'm sure you would say yeah. So
I'm gonna ask a different way.Why does Jackson Smith and Jigbe's skill set
(08:05):
compliment Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf.I mean, I feel like my game,
there's a lot to my game,and you know, I've always been
a guy to come in and findthe role and find you know, and
put my style in to you know, maybe something they're lacking, which those
guys can do it all. Butyou just add a weapon another weapon,
I can do it all. Imean, I think it's gonna be dangerous
(08:28):
and Gino you know back there swingingit. I mean, the potential is
crazy. The potential is crazy,and I love playing with great players.
So I'm blessed to be a Dhawkand I'm blessed to playing at stadium and
in front of those fans. Man, We're gonna light it up for sure.
There's only one problem, as Isee at Jackson again Jackson, Smith
and Jacobs with us on the radioshow. Only one problem with the draft
(08:48):
class that you were selected in.You got two Michigan guys in this class
with you? How about that?Twos in this class? Have those guys
busted your chops at all? Aboutthe Ohio State mission game? How's that
going to go over in the lockerroom? You guys all show up together,
right man? Man, I'm surethey will. I'm sure they will,
But I mean, we were gonnaWe're gonna see that practice. I
(09:11):
know those guys are great. It'sgood to have, you know, my
big ten people with me, butI hope they don't go too hard on
me. And I'm curious because thisis now you are now, I believe
if I'm not mistaken, man,the fifth Ohio state wide receiver to be
taken in the first round in thelast three years. What is going on
out there? What's in the waterout there that keeps producing these first round
(09:33):
whiteouts from Columbus. The development,the development, you got everything you need
a stay, you got the coaching, and you got the players to compete.
So I mean you mix that alltogether, you go out there every
day and compete and try to bethe best. I mean, only good
things can happen being surrounded by thosegroup of people in which I'm excited about
(09:54):
because I feel like Seattle is thesame way, and you know the ceiling
tie, you know, everybody andcompete and get better. And you know,
I'm just blessed to bless for thejourney, blessed to be down this
road to come from Texas high schoolfootball and then go to a house they
clown the biggest stage, and nowI'm a Seahawk. I mean, you
know, you know I can't askfor anything else. Jackson, What NFL
(10:16):
player do you watch and say,Yeah, I kind of play like that
guy. A lot of guys Ilike to I like to be like a
mixture of guys. You know,if I if I just say it,
make sure I would say like CooperCup, Stefan Diggs, you know I
would say I would say probably makesyou seam those too. I'll take that.
Yeah, that we'll all sign upfor that. Those guys are also
(10:37):
making about ninety million dollars together,by the way, so I don't work
out well for you as well.I got one more for you, Jackson.
It's the most important question that you'llget all freaking day long. Okay,
you're ready. This is the mostimportant question you'll get. Should we
or should we not draft you inour fantasy team in September? You should?
(10:58):
You want to win? You wantto win, all right? Yeah,
go ahead and draft me like wewere making it happen in season to
show, all right, you're gonnalight it up in your one. You're
telling people, all right, you'regonna light it up in your one.
I mean, that's the goal.That's the plan. The plan has to
win. The plan is to makethe playoffs and win. And and that's
(11:18):
all I have on my mind.And tell him this team win and I'm
sure good things will come with that. I love it. Hey, congratulations
man, all right, best ofluck, and we'll see you here at
camping about a week or so,Buddy gas Man if there, Gustie hot
you bet, Thank you man,Jackson Smith and john sounds like an awesome
guy, right, Yeah, soundslike the kind of guy you want to
spend your number twenty draft pick on. He was my favorite pick before we
(11:41):
talked to him. Now I likehim even more. What do you change
your name? Jackson to Jackson Smithand jack dump the Felts. Nobody knows
Jackson Felts, but they all knowJackson Smith. That's actually a great question.
By the end of the of hiscareer, in the next decade or
so, who will be the morefamous Jackson in Seattle, Jackson Felts or
Jackson Smith in Jigba. And shouldJackson Felts change his name? Well,
(12:05):
Jackson Smith and Jigba right now,really quickly. Yesterday I was on the
phone my parents and I gave themsome crab saying, why couldn't you put
the XO N in my name?It's a better way is smelling it.
It's so much cool, so cool, Jackson Kirkland, Jackson Smith, Jigba,
Jackson Felts or Reggie Jackson. Howtell me how is Dickson spelled?
It's not d I c ks.No, you gotta have an X in
(12:28):
there. It's much such better.I think you have an opportunity here,
young man, you really do tojust say, you know what? What
what road do you want to godown with the rest of your life?
I got to be known as aradio producer and a stupid ass shold like
this? Or do you want tobe known as Jackson Smith in Jigba for
the rest of you? Is agreat name for a garage band, though,
isn't it? It is Jackson Jigball. Well, I mean, look,
(12:52):
we've heard over and over again howmany teams where does it like sixty
five percent of the time they playthree wide receivers? Is that right?
It really is like like the Nickelpackage is your base defense? Now in
the NFL with two linebackers, thethree wide receiver set is becoming more and
more a base set offense in theNFL. And look, the one question
that I had, and I thinkwe all know the answer to it,
(13:13):
is did this signal the beginning ofthe end of the d Eskrig era?
Right? Like? I mean,obviously the guy's got two years left and
a four year deal. He wasa second rounder. But this is a
move that was made because d Eskridgecan't stay healthy. Let's face all,
if d Skridge had turned out tobe what they thought he was gonna be,
they probably don't make this election righthere, this is also Tyler Lockett
in two years. Absolutely, Imean Tyler Lockett. Yes, could be
(13:35):
released at the end of this year. Yes, he is going to be
This will be his thirty one yearold year. They could get out after
this year, but they could reallyget out after twenty twenty four and not
I'm saying that we want to throwTyler Lockett to the curb man gee.
But a thirty two year old widereceiver is you know, there's not a
lot of thirty two year old widereceivers that are gonna get you eighty five
catches and eleven hundred yards, andthat's what you need from your number two
(13:58):
wide receiver. But the is you'lleventually need three. And you're always gonna
need three, whether it's Lockett Metcalfand in Jigba or in Jigba Metcalf and
somebody else who takes Lockett spot ina couple of years from now, you
gotta have three. And I'm tellingyou, if they don't draft d ask
if d s Bridge had panned outand did what they thought he was gonna
do. I don't think they makethe selection here. They go after somebody
(14:22):
else. Now. They may goafter a wide receiver next year or in
a couple of years from now.But Tyler Lockett, to me, doesn't
look like a guy who doesn't haveat least maybe two or three good years
four years. So I think heplays the rest of his contract in Seattle
and then you see but I look, I mean, maybe you feel bad
doing this and putting expectations on akid. I think that this Jackson Smith
and Jigba guy that we just talkedto you, by the way, I
(14:45):
think he's gonna blow up in yearone. I could see a sixty five
catch eight hundred yards, six orseven touchdown type year out of him as
the number three guy. Absolutely totally. Well, if it depends on how
much you're gonna throw the ball,because if you think, I mean if
Locke, let's say Lockett has theex same year he had last year,
eighty four catches, nine touchdowns,dk metcalf. If he has the exact
(15:05):
same year that he had last year, there's another Let's see what he had,
he had ninety catches for a thousandyards. So there's there's one hundred
and seventy five catches from those twoguys. I mean, are we gonna
throw the ball five hundred times thisyear? I don't think so. I
don't think you need to. Ithink that targets that would have gone to
tight Ends, targets that would havegone to other receivers. I think we'll
(15:28):
find a way to get the guyinvolved. I can see a sixty catch
year out of him for sure.Absolutely. I mean, look, here's
the other part of this. Wetalked about Witherspoon and how we wanted to
be a Pro Bowl type player.Kind of the same thing for Smith and
Jigba. He's a top twenty pick. He's a first rounder. Dick.
You draft the first round wide receiverand you expect that guy eventually to be
(15:48):
a star. I think he's gonnaI think he's gonna be a star.
Now, you're probably right. NoahFan had fifty catches. Yes, those
are gonna might not be here nextyear. Those are gonna go to Marcy's
good one had twenty seven, WillDisley at thirty four. So you're right.
The tight ends had over a hundredcatches last year, right, So
you're gonna significantly see a drop offin tight end catches up. Yeah,
(16:11):
but are you including Goodwin in thatgroup? Goodwin I twenty seven. More
So that's that's about one hundred andthirty. So Disney and Fan had how
many targets Disney and Fan? Howmany targets combine? Fan had sixty three,
Disley had thirty. It's one hundredtargetsween those two forty two A good
one. Yeah, I mean,I think you're probably right, very doable,
very doable for him, And Ithink he'll be able to do it
right away because he's Ohio statewide receivers. Most of them come out and they're
(16:34):
pro ready, yes, because theyrun that pro style set in Columbus.
And look, I mean, Idon't know about the guy on you know,
jet sweeps and things like that.I think he's the kind of guy
that you want to just get thefootball to. One thing I was gonna
bring up when I totally forgot Goddarn't eighty five percent whatever it is if
his snaps and Columbus came in aslot. So how do they use him?
Yeah? Next year? Is hea slot guy? He is he
(16:56):
on the outside? Do they movehim around a lot in this offense.
I was gonna ask him. Wegot the rap sign so we didn't get
a chance to ask him there.But I'm looking at Geno last year,
it's five hundred and seventy two attempts. You imagine it's gonna be about the
same. I'm just trying to seewhere he gets them from. And I
think you're right. I think hegets them from good one and I think
he gets them from the tight endspot. So and maybe he gets a
(17:18):
few from DK and Tyler too,right. I mean, it wouldn't shock
me if DK, instead of havingninety catches, had eighty catches. Now,
that would just drive Hugh Millen crazy. He would go nuts if DK
Metcap didn't have almost one hundred catchesall the different season. I'm making twenty
four million bucks. And then Tylerprobably this is probably Tyler's first year to
drop off a little bit, right, I mean, at thirty one years
old, and you got a guythat you've never had next to you in
(17:41):
a third wide receiver with a tonof talent, by the way, just
totally shifting gears to a different player. And by the way, he was
great. Thanks for Jackson Smith andJake By the hokpr staff for getting him
on. The kid from Michigan,the center Jackson. What's his nickname again,
Big big Old big shagoon ol Timmy. I'm just gonna call him big
(18:02):
old Lou. Is that cool withyou, guys? I'm talking about big
Older you know? He was theOutland Trophy winner, Yeah, as the
best interior alignment in the country,and he was a fifth rounder. When
was the last time you heard ofan Outland Trophy winner lasting until the fifth
round? I'm going back look atthis list of names. Jordan Davis to
Georgia, Alex Leatherwood of Alabama,Penney Sewell, Quinn and williams at Oliver
(18:25):
cam Robinson, Joss Garnett, BrandonShurff, Aaron Donald, Luke jocol The
last time I think, I thinkthose are all first round picks. By
the way, where was Aaron Donald? Take him? By the way,
he was not a first rounder?Was he a late first rounder? He
was taken in the first round?Pick thirteam? Sorry. The last time
there was an Outland Trophy winner thatwas not a first round pick I think
(18:45):
was Barrett Jones out of Alabama andhe was a fourth rounder and Dominican Sue
Andre Smith, Joe Thomas, RobertGall Are you kidding me? How in
the world did the Outland Trophy winnerlast until the fifth round? We gotta
find out Daniel Jeremiah Wouldjor And it'sat six pm tonight. They'll give us
this great for the Seahawk Draft.Bret Bielama now the head coach at Illinois.
(19:06):
He was on with us when hewas at Arkansas talking about Alice Collins.
He was on the air with uswhen he was at Wisconsin talking about
Russell Wilson. Bret Bilma is gonnajoin the radio show and talk about the
number five pick and mister Witherspoon nexton ninety three three KJRFM.
Straub watching fans and texts. Areyou d me? The gritty Dance consulates
what a monster game. You canwatch this book forever. You won't see
many better games by a wide receiverthan this. When you watch him on
(00:20):
tape, you see a guy wholooks like an NFL pro. I mean
he looks as polished as it gets. You talk about a separation generator.
This guy has unbelievable short area quickness. His short shuttle time was ridiculous.
It was under four. That isphenomenal. All right. The voice is
right there, Greg co Sell andRob rang By the way Highlight courtesy of
(00:42):
ESPN as well. And I gottatell you I am so fired up for
the selection of Jackson Smith and Jigba. I'm gonna tell him right now on
the radio show Jackson. There arethree people on this radio show. My
name's Dave, my partner's name isDick, and believe it or not,
our producer's name is Jackson. Butin honor of you being here, I
am changing my name to Jackson.Dick is now going to be called Smith,
(01:03):
and Jackson will now be called inJigbook. So this radio show is
now called Jackson Smith and Jigboak everyday three to seven on KJR and honor
of you. How's that sound power? I love it? I love it.
Thank you for having me. Heyman, Welcome to the two h
six, And first of all,give us a quick thought on what the
(01:23):
last forty eight hours or so havebeen like for you. Ever since Thursday
nightmare, it's been crazy, Honestly, had the fire in the Seattle early
in the morning. The next day, I was drafted, didn't get any
sleep, but take all the timeyesterday and caught up on some sleep.
So we're all good. Now.How much time had you spent how much
(01:47):
conversation had you had with John Schneiderand Pete Carroll prior to getting drafted?
Yeah, I mean I remember havinggreat conversations with them. They came up
for the pro day, talk tothem a lot to combine, but they
didn't get the fire up there,So you know, I was I was
going through mixed emotions. Didn't knowwhere I was gonna go or if they
(02:08):
you know, really really like me. But um, I knew that we
had a good conversation in pro dayand just me being in that offense,
you know, I was just superexcited and you know, I thought there
was a possibility that they might takeme, just you know, from the
conversations that we had prior. Youknow, we thought there was a chance
that maybe the Texans would take itat number twelve and you would get reunited
(02:30):
with CJ. Strout and get toplay with him in the NFL. But
now you get to play with GinoSmith and Tyther Lockett and DK Metcalfe and
Kenny Walker and Bobby Wagner. Haveyou heard from any of your new teammates
yet, Man, Yeah, I'vetalked to them. I got to meet
d DK when I was down there. Tyler Lockett reached out, Gena reached
(02:50):
out, Man, I'm I'm superexcited to, you know, play with
those guys that are unbelievable players.Can't wait to get in there and learn,
man, and catch them balls fromyou know, Gene, you know
he came from playing, came toplaying at all. We heard that Chris
Fowler cut from your Rose Bowl fifteenmonths ago. Man, I got to
go back to that day. Youhad over three hundred yards receiving fifteen catches.
I mean, what what allowed thatgame to play out the way it
(03:15):
did for you? I mean wasit scheme? Was it just you had
an out of body experience? Imean, what what? Why did it
play out the way it did thatday? Man? I would just say
the opportunity. You know, onse day he see me and decided to
decide to throw my way fifteen times, and I just you know, do
what I do, which is,you know, make make the most out
(03:37):
of every opportunity. You know Ican. And you know I was just
blessed, you know that night tojust get a lot of opportunities and you
know, do what I had todo. And you know I looked out
at the end of game, afterhunt of yards and it was just a
crazy out of body experience to show, Yeah, if you had the over
in that game, you're a happycamp or two. By the way,
the Ohio State Utah Rose Bowl BallJackson Smith and Jagba is with US Seahawks
(04:00):
first run draft pick at number twenty. And you know we mentioned CJ.
Stroud there and I'm a big fanof his, as I know you are
as well. CJ. Stroud oncesaid that you were the best route runner
he's ever thrown. Too. I'mcurious about what you think makes you so
unique when it comes to running routes. Man, I'm just a student of
the game. I love ball.I love the receiver position. I've been
(04:23):
a receiver since you know, Istarted playing football, which is a three
years old, and I just think, you know, my creativity, you
know it's unique. And you know, I just you know, playing basketball,
playing different sports, playing short style. That definitely helped my brother growing
up as a you know, goingHe grew up as a quarterback. So
(04:43):
to have him, you know,literally living next to me in the same
room and just taking his brain andjust knowing what the quarterback like. You
know what I'm saying. And youknow, I love this position, and
you know, I think, youknow, there's no ceiling for me.
You know where I can take it. Yeah, Jackson, you mentioned playing
basketball and baseball. Any good atthose other sports, man, I would
(05:05):
say, I'll say I was prettygood. You know, I could compete.
I competed at a high level whenI was younger, and I love
those squats to death. But youknow, football just came easiest to me
and is definitely my colleague. Well, you played for a huge school in
Dallas and high school Friday night lightsthat got you prepared for big time college
football. Then you played a bigtime college football factory. So talk about
(05:29):
how the transition from high school helpedyour college days and how you think the
transition from a big time college footballprogram will help you in the NFL.
Right, I mean playing in highschool playing against you know, big time
schools in Texas. You know,there's no stadiums there, the crowds there,
there's nothing like it, you know, playing high school football in Texas.
(05:50):
And you know, I think whatthat you know, guys apart,
you know that comes from Texas.I would say to coaching. You know,
I grew up around blessed to growup around great coaching and people who
love the game and who've been inthe game for a long time. So
I think that just set me up, you know for success. And of
course going to House State me andin that room with Coach Heartline and all
(06:12):
the great receivers that came through thereand are still there now, you know,
I mean, this was the path, you know, that was chosen
for me, and you know,I couldn't be more thankful. Well.
Jackson Smith and Jake again with usnew Seahawk wide receiver and Jackson Dick mentioned
that game with Utah. That wasJanuary first of twenty twenty two. You've
only played three games in seventeen monthssince that Rules Bowl game because of the
(06:34):
hamstring. And let me ask youabout that, man, because I know
there was some people out there.I saw your dad was lightening up Todd
Mchee on Twitter for his thoughts aboutthe way you handle the whole thing.
If you could go back and handlethe hamstring injury any different, is there
anything differently you would have done orwould you have done everything the same?
(06:56):
Um? I'm I'm thankful for whathappened, and I'm thank well. You
know, God put me in aposition to grow and learn from, you
know, the Hansering injury. Um, if I could do it over again,
I definitely wouldn't the only thing Iprobably wouldn't have played against Alito.
But um, but I'm blessed,man, I'm blessed. God did this
for a reason, and you knowI'm gonna come out stronger, a better
(07:17):
person, a better player. Soum, but yeah, I learned a
lot about my body. I learnedyou know, definitely, you know how
to take care of it. Youknow, I was never injured prior,
never missed a practice, never misseda game, so those are good.
I take it out of learning alearning experience, though, um I wouldn't
change anything. I mean, youknow, because at the end of the
day, I'm gonna be a betterplayer, right, is that? Hammy?
(07:40):
All the way back? Now?Since that Iowa game last October?
Are we ready to go? Wewe stripped and ready to go? Love
it straight up? Jackson Smith andJake but joining US Hawk's first round draft
pick wide receiver Rod of Ohio State. If I asked you, do you
think you compliment DK and Tyler,I'm sure you would say yeah. So
I'm gonna ask a different way.Why does Jackson Smith and Jigbe's skill set
(08:05):
compliment Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf.I mean, I feel like my game,
there's a lot to my game,and you know, I've always been
a guy to come in and findthe role and find you know, and
put my style in to you know, maybe something they're lacking, which those
guys can do it all. Butyou just add a weapon another weapon,
I can do it all. Imean, I think it's gonna be dangerous
(08:28):
and Gino you know back there swingingit. I mean, the potential is
crazy. The potential is crazy,and I love playing with great players.
So I'm blessed to be a Dhawkand I'm blessed to playing at stadium and
in front of those fans. Man, We're gonna light it up for sure.
There's only one problem, as Isee at Jackson again Jackson, Smith
and Jacobs with us on the radioshow. Only one problem with the draft
(08:48):
class that you were selected in.You got two Michigan guys in this class
with you? How about that?Twos in this class? Have those guys
busted your chops at all? Aboutthe Ohio State mission game? How's that
going to go over in the lockerroom? You guys all show up together,
right man? Man, I'm surethey will. I'm sure they will,
But I mean, we were gonnaWe're gonna see that practice. I
(09:11):
know those guys are great. It'sgood to have, you know, my
big ten people with me, butI hope they don't go too hard on
me. And I'm curious because thisis now you are now, I believe
if I'm not mistaken, man,the fifth Ohio state wide receiver to be
taken in the first round in thelast three years. What is going on
out there? What's in the waterout there that keeps producing these first round
(09:33):
whiteouts from Columbus. The development,the development, you got everything you need
a stay, you got the coaching, and you got the players to compete.
So I mean you mix that alltogether, you go out there every
day and compete and try to bethe best. I mean, only good
things can happen being surrounded by thosegroup of people in which I'm excited about
(09:54):
because I feel like Seattle is thesame way, and you know the ceiling
tie, you know, everybody andcompete and get better. And you know,
I'm just blessed to bless for thejourney, blessed to be down this
road to come from Texas high schoolfootball and then go to a house they
clown the biggest stage, and nowI'm a Seahawk. I mean, you
know, you know I can't askfor anything else. Jackson, What NFL
(10:16):
player do you watch and say,Yeah, I kind of play like that
guy. A lot of guys Ilike to I like to be like a
mixture of guys. You know,if I if I just say it,
make sure I would say like CooperCup, Stefan Diggs, you know I
would say I would say probably makesyou seam those too. I'll take that.
Yeah, that we'll all sign upfor that. Those guys are also
(10:37):
making about ninety million dollars together,by the way, so I don't work
out well for you as well.I got one more for you, Jackson.
It's the most important question that you'llget all freaking day long. Okay,
you're ready. This is the mostimportant question you'll get. Should we
or should we not draft you inour fantasy team in September? You should?
(10:58):
You want to win? You wantto win, all right? Yeah,
go ahead and draft me like wewere making it happen in season to
show, all right, you're gonnalight it up in your one. You're
telling people, all right, you'regonna light it up in your one.
I mean, that's the goal.That's the plan. The plan has to
win. The plan is to makethe playoffs and win. And and that's
(11:18):
all I have on my mind.And tell him this team win and I'm
sure good things will come with that. I love it. Hey, congratulations
man, all right, best ofluck, and we'll see you here at
camping about a week or so,Buddy gas Man if there, Gustie hot
you bet, Thank you man,Jackson Smith and john sounds like an awesome
guy, right, Yeah, soundslike the kind of guy you want to
spend your number twenty draft pick on. He was my favorite pick before we
(11:41):
talked to him. Now I likehim even more. What do you change
your name? Jackson to Jackson Smithand jack dump the Felts. Nobody knows
Jackson Felts, but they all knowJackson Smith. That's actually a great question.
By the end of the of hiscareer, in the next decade or
so, who will be the morefamous Jackson in Seattle, Jackson Felts or
Jackson Smith in Jigba. And shouldJackson Felts change his name? Well,
(12:05):
Jackson Smith and Jigba right now,really quickly. Yesterday I was on the
phone my parents and I gave themsome crab saying, why couldn't you put
the XO N in my name?It's a better way is smelling it.
It's so much cool, so cool, Jackson Kirkland, Jackson Smith, Jigba,
Jackson Felts or Reggie Jackson. Howtell me how is Dickson spelled?
It's not d I c ks.No, you gotta have an X in
(12:28):
there. It's much such better.I think you have an opportunity here,
young man, you really do tojust say, you know what? What
what road do you want to godown with the rest of your life?
I got to be known as aradio producer and a stupid ass shold like
this? Or do you want tobe known as Jackson Smith in Jigba for
the rest of you? Is agreat name for a garage band, though,
isn't it? It is Jackson Jigball. Well, I mean, look,
(12:52):
we've heard over and over again howmany teams where does it like sixty
five percent of the time they playthree wide receivers? Is that right?
It really is like like the Nickelpackage is your base defense? Now in
the NFL with two linebackers, thethree wide receiver set is becoming more and
more a base set offense in theNFL. And look, the one question
that I had, and I thinkwe all know the answer to it,
(13:13):
is did this signal the beginning ofthe end of the d Eskrig era?
Right? Like? I mean,obviously the guy's got two years left and
a four year deal. He wasa second rounder. But this is a
move that was made because d Eskridgecan't stay healthy. Let's face all,
if d Skridge had turned out tobe what they thought he was gonna be,
they probably don't make this election righthere, this is also Tyler Lockett
in two years. Absolutely, Imean Tyler Lockett. Yes, could be
(13:35):
released at the end of this year. Yes, he is going to be
This will be his thirty one yearold year. They could get out after
this year, but they could reallyget out after twenty twenty four and not
I'm saying that we want to throwTyler Lockett to the curb man gee.
But a thirty two year old widereceiver is you know, there's not a
lot of thirty two year old widereceivers that are gonna get you eighty five
catches and eleven hundred yards, andthat's what you need from your number two
(13:58):
wide receiver. But the is you'lleventually need three. And you're always gonna
need three, whether it's Lockett Metcalfand in Jigba or in Jigba Metcalf and
somebody else who takes Lockett spot ina couple of years from now, you
gotta have three. And I'm tellingyou, if they don't draft d ask
if d s Bridge had panned outand did what they thought he was gonna
do. I don't think they makethe selection here. They go after somebody
(14:22):
else. Now. They may goafter a wide receiver next year or in
a couple of years from now.But Tyler Lockett, to me, doesn't
look like a guy who doesn't haveat least maybe two or three good years
four years. So I think heplays the rest of his contract in Seattle
and then you see but I look, I mean, maybe you feel bad
doing this and putting expectations on akid. I think that this Jackson Smith
and Jigba guy that we just talkedto you, by the way, I
(14:45):
think he's gonna blow up in yearone. I could see a sixty five
catch eight hundred yards, six orseven touchdown type year out of him as
the number three guy. Absolutely totally. Well, if it depends on how
much you're gonna throw the ball,because if you think, I mean if
Locke, let's say Lockett has theex same year he had last year,
eighty four catches, nine touchdowns,dk metcalf. If he has the exact
(15:05):
same year that he had last year, there's another Let's see what he had,
he had ninety catches for a thousandyards. So there's there's one hundred
and seventy five catches from those twoguys. I mean, are we gonna
throw the ball five hundred times thisyear? I don't think so. I
don't think you need to. Ithink that targets that would have gone to
tight Ends, targets that would havegone to other receivers. I think we'll
(15:28):
find a way to get the guyinvolved. I can see a sixty catch
year out of him for sure.Absolutely. I mean, look, here's
the other part of this. Wetalked about Witherspoon and how we wanted to
be a Pro Bowl type player.Kind of the same thing for Smith and
Jigba. He's a top twenty pick. He's a first rounder. Dick.
You draft the first round wide receiverand you expect that guy eventually to be
(15:48):
a star. I think he's gonnaI think he's gonna be a star.
Now, you're probably right. NoahFan had fifty catches. Yes, those
are gonna might not be here nextyear. Those are gonna go to Marcy's
good one had twenty seven, WillDisley at thirty four. So you're right.
The tight ends had over a hundredcatches last year, right, So
you're gonna significantly see a drop offin tight end catches up. Yeah,
(16:11):
but are you including Goodwin in thatgroup? Goodwin I twenty seven. More
So that's that's about one hundred andthirty. So Disney and Fan had how
many targets Disney and Fan? Howmany targets combine? Fan had sixty three,
Disley had thirty. It's one hundredtargetsween those two forty two A good
one. Yeah, I mean,I think you're probably right, very doable,
very doable for him, And Ithink he'll be able to do it
right away because he's Ohio statewide receivers. Most of them come out and they're
(16:34):
pro ready, yes, because theyrun that pro style set in Columbus.
And look, I mean, Idon't know about the guy on you know,
jet sweeps and things like that.I think he's the kind of guy
that you want to just get thefootball to. One thing I was gonna
bring up when I totally forgot Goddarn't eighty five percent whatever it is if
his snaps and Columbus came in aslot. So how do they use him?
Yeah? Next year? Is hea slot guy? He is he
(16:56):
on the outside? Do they movehim around a lot in this offense.
I was gonna ask him. Wegot the rap sign so we didn't get
a chance to ask him there.But I'm looking at Geno last year,
it's five hundred and seventy two attempts. You imagine it's gonna be about the
same. I'm just trying to seewhere he gets them from. And I
think you're right. I think hegets them from good one and I think
he gets them from the tight endspot. So and maybe he gets a
(17:18):
few from DK and Tyler too,right. I mean, it wouldn't shock
me if DK, instead of havingninety catches, had eighty catches. Now,
that would just drive Hugh Millen crazy. He would go nuts if DK
Metcap didn't have almost one hundred catchesall the different season. I'm making twenty
four million bucks. And then Tylerprobably this is probably Tyler's first year to
drop off a little bit, right, I mean, at thirty one years
old, and you got a guythat you've never had next to you in
(17:41):
a third wide receiver with a tonof talent, by the way, just
totally shifting gears to a different player. And by the way, he was
great. Thanks for Jackson Smith andJake By the hokpr staff for getting him
on. The kid from Michigan,the center Jackson. What's his nickname again,
Big big Old big shagoon ol Timmy. I'm just gonna call him big
(18:02):
old Lou. Is that cool withyou, guys? I'm talking about big
Older you know? He was theOutland Trophy winner, Yeah, as the
best interior alignment in the country,and he was a fifth rounder. When
was the last time you heard ofan Outland Trophy winner lasting until the fifth
round? I'm going back look atthis list of names. Jordan Davis to
Georgia, Alex Leatherwood of Alabama,Penney Sewell, Quinn and williams at Oliver
(18:25):
cam Robinson, Joss Garnett, BrandonShurff, Aaron Donald, Luke jocol The
last time I think, I thinkthose are all first round picks. By
the way, where was Aaron Donald? Take him? By the way,
he was not a first rounder?Was he a late first rounder? He
was taken in the first round?Pick thirteam? Sorry. The last time
there was an Outland Trophy winner thatwas not a first round pick I think
(18:45):
was Barrett Jones out of Alabama andhe was a fourth rounder and Dominican Sue
Andre Smith, Joe Thomas, RobertGall Are you kidding me? How in
the world did the Outland Trophy winnerlast until the fifth round? We gotta
find out Daniel Jeremiah Wouldjor And it'sat six pm tonight. They'll give us
this great for the Seahawk Draft.Bret Bielama now the head coach at Illinois.
(19:06):
He was on with us when hewas at Arkansas talking about Alice Collins.
He was on the air with uswhen he was at Wisconsin talking about
Russell Wilson. Bret Bilma is gonnajoin the radio show and talk about the
number five pick and mister Witherspoon nexton ninety three three KJRFM.
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