It’s not every day you see one of the best wide receivers of all time link up with arguably the second-best WR in college football for a private session. The college football world has lost its mind after seeing Jaxon Smith-Njigba (JSN) putting in major work with Miami’s star sophomore, Malachi Toney. The Hurricanes fans are slightly freaking out, thinking he’s trying to recruit Toney for Ryan Day’s Buckeyes.

On May 5th, Smith-Njigba hosted his inaugural “One of One Under the Lights” camp in Miami. The Super-Bowl-winning WR personally mentored a handpicked group of elite South Florida receivers, and one of them was none other than Toney. The two were recently spotted “getting in the lab” at JSN’s camp.

This was never going to look like a normal workout. Toney once called Ohio State his second home after visiting Columbus, so the moment he was seen learning beside JSN, old Buckeye talk came back again. Toney was basically JSN’s shadow the whole time, soaking up tips on how to run those crisp routes that made JSN the NFL’s Offensive Player of the Year. Because their playing styles are so similar, people are calling Toney the “mini-JSN,” which only makes the Ohio State rumors feel real.

That is why this clip caught so much attention. Fans were not just watching two receivers train. They were watching an Ohio State legend spend extra time with a Miami playmaker who already had Buckeye ties in his past.

It’s quite possible that JSN potentially convinced him to join the Buckeyes. They spent significant time with each other, laughing and being playful, and Miami’s comment sections didn’t like it one bit. Since there’s no spring portal this year, Hurricanes fans are feeling a bit of relief about this. So they reckon this “overtime” work seems more like big-brother mentorship than an actual college flip.

As for Toney, he’s arguably the biggest sports celebrity outside Lionel Messi in Miami right now. The sophomore wideout grew up calling Ohio State his “second home.” He even had a couple of visits to Columbus in 2023.

Ohio State was clearly in the picture before Miami won him over, which is why this fresh JSN link-up has people talking again. Then again, his mom, Shatravia “Toni” Toney, explicitly shut down transfer portal rumors to Ohio State right after the Hurricanes’ loss in the national championship game, saying, “Don’t get it twisted, we’re home.”

The Buckeyes would have paid premium dollars to get their hands on Toney. Ohio State wouldn’t have to worry about the WR2 problem they are facing this offseason. He’s coming off a freshman season where he reclassified, played at only 17 years old, and still managed to rack up over 1,200 yards and 109 catches.

As much as the Buckeyes want to see him in Scarlet and Gray, Toney seems locked in with the ‘Canes for the 2026 season. However, the idea of JSN flipping Toney to Ohio State makes for a wild headline. As a matter of fact, he’s already switching his jersey to number 1 and has a chance at winning the Heisman, or at least the Biletnikoff Award.

Then again, in the era of NIL and the transfer portal, nothing is ever 100% set in stone. If not this season, then next offseason. But I’m pretty sure that JSN at least gave Toney some advice to think about joining WRU, jokingly or not.

How much would Toney be worth if he switched to ‘The U’ after his sophomore season?

If Malachi Toney decides to leave the ‘U’ and flip to Ohio State for the 2027–2028 season, we’re talking about a record-shattering payday. Right now, Toney is already projected to be worth between $2.8M and $3.5M annually after his insane, record-breaking freshman year at Miami. Since they got Darian Mensah out of Duke after going back and forth in the courts, it’s only fair to give the benefit of the doubt and assume Toney’s stock and production are only going to skyrocket.

We have seen, especially this offseason, where the top WRs in the country are getting paid QB money or even more. Texas is paying $3.1 million for Cam Coleman to play for them. The market has been rewarding NFL-caliber WRs these days.

For comparison, Jeremiah Smith is currently valued at $4.2M, and rumors suggest he was offered over $10M just to think about transferring. If Toney puts up slightly better numbers than his freshman season, the Buckeyes would have to offer a package starting at $5M+ per year just to get him in the door, and might have to throw in additional perks like yacht access and luxury suites. Unfortunately, that’s what it has come to.