Perhaps the Seattle Seahawks have made a splash with “death zone football,” but the real star is record-setting receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba. And he is a legitimate threat to break Calvin Johnson’s bonkers record, according to a post on X by Jordan Schultz.
“#Seahawks WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba is on pace for 1,989 receiving yards this season — which would break Calvin Johnson’s all-time NFL record of 1,964 yards for a single season.”
Having pointed that out, let’s remember what “on pace” really means. It simply means that if a player produces at his current pace, he will get to a certain level through 17 games. However, he has to play in all 17 games. And he has to continue at a pace that looks unsustainable because of the historical nature of it. Smith-Njigba has 819 yards receiving, while Ja'Marr Chase is second with 629.
Seahawks WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba is a tough cover
Fans see it. Coaches do, too. And his teammates have been impressed as well, according to seattletimes.com. Included in the latter mix is Cooper Kupp, who made his own run at Johnson’s record in 2021 with 1,947 yards. Kupp stands second on the all-time single-season list.
“He’s done a really good job,” Kupp said. “You’ve seen his ability to kind of move around in the offense. He’s done a great job being able to make guys pay across the field, wherever it is. He’s going to come alive in all three phases of the pass game. That’s been really cool to see.
“There’s nothing routine about what he’s been able to do, productivity-wise. That’s very difficult. It takes a lot of work to be able to do that.”
Smith-Njigba has five 100-yard receiving games this season.
“A pretty good start,” he said. “Like I said, my motive has always been to win games, get into the playoffs, get a ring, helping this team win. Anything that I can do, I’m going to do.”
And he’s got a quarterback who knows how to find the star receiver. Last year with the Vikings, Sam Darnold helped Justin Jefferson rack up 1,533 receiving yards on 103 catches.
“They’re both obviously really, really good players; great players, if you will,” Darnold said. “They’re really different, but at the end of the day, they both know how to get open, and I think that’s the only thing that matters.
“They run routes in different ways, but they just understand coverage. They understand the (defensive back) that they’re going against. And that’s habits. That’s both of their film-study habits that they have every single week.”
