Pete Carroll wants Jaxon Smith-Njigba to have larger role

Seahawks HC says JSN and the TEs are not getting enough love from Geno and Shane: Seaside Joe 1727

This past offseason, I wrote that I ‘had a feeling’ that rookie wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba could not only be good immediately, but special. After recapping his origin story in a four-part series, I was convinced that Smith-Njigba would continue the generational dominance he had at a Texas high school and then during his single record-breaking season at Ohio State. So far in the NFL, we’ve seen flashes of what Smith-Njigba could do, including during Thursday night’s loss to the 49ers. But he only got three targets from Geno Smith and through 11 games has yet to finish a contest with more than 63 yards.

It feels like Smith-Njigba should have a larger role. Now we’ve finally heard from Pete Carroll that Seattle’s head coach thinks so too.

Carroll said in his day-after meeting with the press that the Seahawks are not “choosing the best routes for the guys”, that Seattle is not “maximizing” their unique talents on offense, and “we’re not seeing stuff”. That sounds like partial blame on offensive coordinator Shane Waldron, but some left over for quarterback Geno Smith. Carroll got more specific than that though, saying that Jaxon Smith-Njigba and the Seahawks tight ends “can be used better than we’ve used them in the last couple weeks”.

Though Smith-Njigba is being targeted 5.2 times per game, which doesn’t sound that bad for a rookie in an offense that already has DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett, he’s only averaging 37 yards per game. I wouldn’t be worried about that from the perspective of JSN and what he could do in the NFL with more opportunities because he is only a rookie; look at his freshman season at Ohio State, when he was barely utilized on an offense with Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave.

As a sophomore, Smith-Njigba broke multiple school records, including the most yards in a single season and that was with Wilson and Olave still on the team.

Though it seemed like Seattle was ramping JSN up for more action following a start with only 62 yards total in his first four games, recent results haven’t been that much more dynamic: In his last five games, JSN has caught 18 passes on 25 targets for 233 yards and one touchdown. That would be a 17-game season of 792 yards if extrapolated, which isn’t at all bad for a rookie.

I just think that Carroll is saying that he believes Jaxon Smith-Njigba is ready to shoulder more responsibility and that if the Seahawks give him those opportunities, the offense will no longer be among the worst in the NFL.

And yes, I believe that’s what Seattle’s offense deserves to be called.

Since scoring 37 points in back-to-back games in Weeks 2 and 3, the Seahawks offense has failed to score 30 points in any game and failed to score at least 20 offensive points in six of nine opportunities. Even in those three games when the offense did score 20 points, twice they needed Jason Myers to carry a lot of the scoring.

That’s disappointing for a team that has spent so many resources on the offensive side of the ball since trading Russell Wilson.

Despite making the best catch of any Seahawks player this season (which fittingly came the same night that Metcalf showed why he’s not like former college teammate A.J. Brown when he failed to get both feet in-bounds for a sideline catch that could have really changed the tone of the first half), Smith-Njigba finished with two catches for 41 yards on three targets. It’s been highlighted by people outside of the organization earlier this season that Geno failed to see/target the rookie receiver at times he could have clearly made a difference…including when the Seahawks lost to the Bengals by four points with one of the worst red zone performances in history.

So without Pete saying “Geno Smith”, he’s saying Geno Smith. Not to let it all go on the quarterback though, Pete appears to be giving Waldron equal blame and that goes hand-in-hand with mentioning that the tight ends are not nearly as impactful as we expected at the start of the season.

On Thursday, Noah Fant caught two passes for 25 yards, Will Dissly caught one for 21, and Colby Parkinson caught one for nine. Those were their only targets of the night. In 2022, the tight end trio combined to be one of the most effective groups in the NFL. This season, those same three players still catch a high percentage of targets, but have scored ZERO touchdowns (there are only six games left) and I don’t think any defense really sees them as threats.

This is an issue for Fant and Parkinson especially because they are going to be 2024 free agents, while Dissly is all but certain to be a cap casualty. It’s one thing to say, “Well, maybe that will make them more affordable” but why is Noah Fant going to want to play for a team that made him more affordable to begin with?

So it seems like JSN and the tight ends are going to be featured more on offense according to Pete, but there is no give without any take.

Metcalf is having one of the worst seasons of his career, catching only 53.8% of his team-leading 80 targets and scoring three times in 10 games. As I’ve said for a long time, I think a lot of people only see DK Metcalf for his combine results and not for what he’s actually done on an NFL field. What does it say about a wide receiver when his most memorable play is a tackle?

Though he’s making $24 million per season, Metcalf’s 53.8% catch rate ranks 178th out of 197 qualified receivers. His 8.5 yards per target ranks 45th. His 50% success rate ranks 87th. Last season, his 7.4 yards per target was 72nd and his 49.6% success rate was 90th.

I’m okay with fans citing Metcalf as a good wide receiver. I hit the brakes when he’s called “great” and especially not “elite” and no, I’m not going to say that it’s Shane Waldron’s fault for his drops, his lack of sideline awareness or acrobatic catches that you expect top-tier receivers to make, his penalties, and his shortage of dominant performances. I’ve heard it said that teams must “game plan” for Metcalf every week, but I still think that’s giving him too much credit for what he did at the combine and not what he’s done in the league. Even Marlon Humphrey said his only real gameplanning was to get in DK’s head and Metcalf finished with one catch for 50 yards against the Ravens. If I’m an opposing team, I’ll happily give up one big play per game to a guy if it means he’s shut down for every other play. Metcalf had three catches on nine targets for 32 yards against San Francisco.

It would be interesting if fans could openly lay the blame on Geno Smith, but there’s even been pushback on that.

Then there’s Lockett, Seattle’s 31-year-old veteran leader who is on pace for 889 yards and set to make $27 million in 2024. All signs point towards Smith-Njigba being the face of the future for the Seahawks passing offense and it finally sounds as though Pete is tired of having to wait for the future to begin.

Smith-Njigba returns to his home state of Texas next Thursday to face the Dallas Cowboys and from what Pete has been saying after losing three of four games, two by blowout and one to a very weak roster, the rookie will catch more than two passes. If that doesn’t happen and the Seahawks lose another game in embarrassing fashion, I would guess that Pete’s going to stop using words and start using actions.

Whether that impacts Geno, Shane, or both is unclear. What can no longer be ignored is how bad this offense has been and for far too long.