Seattle Seahawks star Jaxon Smith-Njigba is establishing himself as one of the NFL’s top receivers this 2025 NFL season. Smith-Njigba has recorded over 100 receiving yards in five of his seven games for Seattle.
The latest standout performance from Smith-Njigba came on October 20 against the Houston Texans, in which he recorded 123 receiving yards and one touchdown.
Amid this impressive run from the 23-year-old this season, former NFL player Darius Butler praised the Ohio State product during an October 21 appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show.”
“He’s been the best receiver in football this season,” Butler said. “His connection with Sam Darnold—there were questions about whether Darnold was kind of a one-hit wonder in Minnesota—would it work in Seattle? Moving on from Geno [Smith], he’s been tremendous in this Klint Kubiak offense.
“[Darnold] came into this game leading the league in play-action passes, and the numbers with him throwing specifically to JSN are unbelievable. He broke the game open, and they jumped out to a 14-0 lead against the Houston Texans… You know, [No.] 11 is special. He’s been special. And that offense, just Sam Darnold, how he’s operating that offense in general. I only expect him to continue to get better.”
Is Jaxon Smith-Njigba the Best WR in the NFL Right Now?
While Smith-Njigba is garnering attention from the mainstream NFL media for his production this season, the wideout being considered among the best at his position isn’t a surprise to his Seahawks teammates, who feel that Seattle have an exceptional talent on their hands.
“It’s not an easy thing to do what he’s been doing knowing that we come into games with opportunities for him to get the ball at all three levels, and defenses know that he’s going to be a target,” Cooper Kupp said in an ESPN article published on October 12.
“To consistently win over and over again when a defense, you know, is planning on trying to take him out of a game, it speaks volumes. It just shows the ability in the route running and being able to understand the offense well enough to be able to move around and be in different spots. He’s doing a really good job. He’s a really good football player.”
Seahawks Have New No. 1 Receiver
The 20th overall pick in 2023, Smith-Njigba had a strong rookie season, totaling 628 yards and four touchdowns. He led the Seahawks in receiving last year while DK Metcalf missed two games and stepped into the role of clear WR1 this past offseason after Metcalf was traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
With Metcalf gone, the Seahawks signed Cooper Kupp as WR2 and briefly tried out speedster Marquez Valdes-Scantling. That left Smith-Njigba with a bigger role as a deep threat, moving beyond the slot where he had spent most of his first two seasons.
At this pace, Smith-Njigba looks set to surpass Metcalf’s single-season franchise record of 1,303 receiving yards before December even arrives. He’s also on track to top his club record of 100 catches from last season, a mark he currently shares with Tyler Lockett.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Ex-NFL Star Doesn’t Hold Back on Seahawks’ Jaxon Smith-Njigba appeared first on Heavy Sports.