The Seattle Seahawks are putting 2025 behind them and preparing to defend their Super Bowl Championship in 2026. What this season may bring is still to be written.
Last year at this time, the Seahawks had a new quarterback in Sam Darnold, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba was becoming a number one receiving threat for the first time in his NFL career. There was uncertainty about the team’s ceiling after missing the playoffs the previous season.
The Seahawks answered those questions resoundingly, winning the Super Bowl, and Smith-Njigba winning Offensive Player of the Year. Smith-Njigba proved he’s among the elites in the NFL, and Sam Darnold knows the reasons why.
JSN’s Super Power
Sam Darnold appeared on “Green Light with Chris Long” and discussed several topics, including what makes his top receiver, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, so special. Long asked Darnold what Smith-Njigba’s “super power” is as a receiver.
“The way that he runs routes, and I’ve used this a ton, but it looks like he’s skating out there. And he doesn’t really change levels, so I think he just runs routes at the same level, just kind of glides. And I think it makes it really hard on defenders to be able to cover him because they don’t know whether he’s going to put it down on the ground and change directions, or whether he’s going to give them a hesi and keep going on that same line, or if he’s going to just run by him.”
Darnold then praised Smith-Njigba’s body control.
“So, I think there’s so many different route combinations, and he’s got incredible body awareness too,” Darnold continued. “I think that’s the one thing I have to say about him too is his body awareness, body control when he goes up in the air to make a play, he knows where he is on the field, he knows when he can toe tap, when he can kind of stay up, and he’s also really strong.”
With all of the skills that Smith-Njigba has shown on the field, it’s no wonder he is viewed as the best in the world in some circles.
Best Offensive Player
Jaxon Smith-Njigba was honored as the best Offensive Player in the NFL last season, and he proved he deserved that award in every way possible.
Michael Shawn-Dugar of The Athletic, in his February 6 article, wrote about Jaxon Smith-Njigba believing he was the “best in the world” since his days at Rockwall High School in Texas. His first year as a number one wide receiver had his teammates believing the same thing, including his fellow Seahawks wide receiver Jake Bobo.
“He’s the best offensive player in the NFL,” Bobo said. “The stats show it. If you’re kind of a scheme geek and you watch how defenses play him, that shows it. He is the most important offensive player every time we go out on the field. So, for a guy like that to contribute in the way he does to a team that’s gotten to this point, he’s your guy.”
Smith-Njigba’s skillet is a matchup nightmare for opposing defenses, and those “super powers” will continue to cement Smith-Njigba on his path to being the best wide receiver in Seahawks history.
Sam Darnold Reveals Jaxon Smith-Njigba’s Super Power at WR