Jaxon Smith-Njigba is a hit

The Seahawks have a piece they really needed

Same as it was in college, Jaxon Smith-Njigba saved his best for the second half of his second season and at this rate the Seattle Seahawks are on track towards JSN being a certain type of player that the team has been lacking recently:

Players who even rival fans have to admit is better at football than most players on their favorite team.

That’s as accurate of a test of greatness as any other and the reason why Seahawks fans usually smiled and shook their heads every time Larry Fitzgerald scored another touchdown against Seattle. “Hey, what can you do? That guy is really good at football.”

In the four games prior to DK Metcalf’s knee injury, JSN was averaging a concerning 4.2 yards per target, as 34 targets produced just 144 yards. But after Ryan Grubb and Geno Smith were left with no other choice other than to build a game plan for JSN, the quality of those targets went up and JSN delivered at clutch moments.

• 23 catches for 369 yards (120 yards per game)

• 74% catch rate, 11.6 yards per target

• 19.9 air yards per target in Week 9 game vs. Rams: 7 catches, 180 yards

(aDOT is Average Depth of Target)

In 94 games, Metcalf’s single-game career high is 177 yards. Smith-Njigba topped that with 180 yards in his 26th career game (both DK and JSN did it on 13 targets) and the only reason it took that long is that JSN was drafted onto a team that already had DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett. If JSN was drafted by the Vikings or Ravens, these 180-yard games could be a regular thing by now.

In the NFL, it’s not that hard to manufacture an offense that features a wide receiver as its best player. The Vikings don’t disguise the fact that they’re going to target Justin Jefferson twice as often as any other player and that it’s going to work. You can’t stop it.

“But Justin Jefferson is the best receiver in the league, this is no comparison”

Fair, it wouldn’t be right to compare JSN to Jefferson yet.

But can JSN be compared to Amon-Ra St. Brown?

St. Brown as a comparison isn’t a reach, it has always been the role that JSN was destined to fulfill. The Lions have other really talented players, including Jameson Williams and Sam LaPorta, but Amon Ra. St. Brown is still targeted twice as often as any of his teammates, just like Jefferson. That’s why Seattle needs to do too.

🚨🚨Here’s the plot twist:

• JSN is not the “eye candy” to distract teams away from DK

• DK is the eye candy to distract teams away from JSN!

Which should not really be surprising. Smith-Njigba was a better draft prospect than Metcalf and aside from freakish size and athleticism, JSN was a lot better as a prospect. JSN plays with intensity, he’s not soft, yet he also knows how to control his temper and not become a distraction. He has a chip on his shoulder because like many other successful Seahawks, he was doubted for being “too something”, which in his case was too slow.

Well, the 6’1, 196, 4.5 guy got to 180 yards before the 6’4, 228, 4.3 guy.

Your Enemy’s Enemies

Seahawks fans admire Seahawks players every year, but you also know that the 2013 Seahawks had more players that were admired by everybody that year, including fans of other teams. Players such as:

• Marshawn Lynch, Kam Chancellor, Bobby Wagner, Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas, Russell Wilson (with controversy)

Sherman is a perfect example of a player who 49ers fans hated, but they also had to admit that he was really good at playing cornerback. So much so that the 49ers signed Sherman as soon as they were able to.

In recent years, the Seahawks have had good players, and yes sometimes underrated players, but just not as many of those Pro Bowl, All-Pro, “Top-10 at their position” type players who they had in their heyday. At times, they have had zero such players.

The Good News

The Seahawks have more players who are at least in the “limbo” phase of potentially being on track to become top-10 at their position than they have had in a long, long time: Devon Witherspoon, Boye Mafe, Charles Cross, Kenneth Walker, Derick Hall, and maybe Byron Murphy for starters.

That name I left off? Tell me who he is:

In a year, the media could be talking about the Seahawks having more top-10 players than the 49ers and Rams.

But the player who is maybe getting there the fastest is JSN:

• Since Week 8, 120 yards per game is #1 in the NFL

• 544 yards in the slot is first in the NFL and 84 more yards than second place

• In the last 2 games, JSN has more 15+ yards catches (9) than any other player

• In games with over 10 targets, JSN is averaging 115 yards

High school and college, this is who JSN has always been. He set Texas high school records, he set Ohio State records, he set Rose Bowl records. It would only make sense that he’s going to break at least some franchise records for the Seahawks and as soon as he got a chance to act as the team’s number one receiver, he could have had almost 300 yards in one game if not for penalties.

Smith-Njigba is the example of what the Seahawks need their other high draft picks to become if Seattle is going to be a Super Bowl contender in the near future. Players like Cross, Mafe, Hall, Walker, Witherspoon, Woolen who have proven to have the talent, but not the consistency that could make them great. And not just great to their fans, but also fans who root against them.

Or as Walter Payton put it:

“When you're good at something, you'll tell everyone. When you're great at something, they'll tell you.”

Seaside Joe 2088