Jaxon Smith-Njigba has delivered the type of season that can be difficult to duplicate.
But Bleacher Report is buying his encore before the Seattle Seahawks have even begun their Super Bowl defense.
In a Sept. 4 rundown of one reason every NFL fanbase should have hope entering the 2026 season, Bleacher Report’s Moe Moton pointed directly to Seattle’s star receiver. Moton described Smith-Njigba as “the real deal (not a fluke)” while grouping him with quarterback Sam Darnold and Mike Macdonald’s defense as reasons the reigning champions are not going away.
Smith-Njigba went from Pro Bowl breakout candidate to one of the NFL’s premier offensive players in 2025, and Seattle spent this offseason making sure he will remain at the center of its offense for years to come.
Smith-Njigba’s 2025 Breakout Set a High Bar
Repeating last year’s production would be a massive ask for any receiver.
Smith-Njigba finished the 2025 regular season with 119 catches for an NFL-leading 1,793 yards and 10 touchdowns. His reception and yardage totals both established single-season franchise records, while his 15.1 yards per catch marked a sizable jump from the 11.3 yards he averaged in 2024.
His production also brought major league-wide recognition. Smith-Njigba was named the Associated Press Offensive Player of the Year and earned unanimous first-team All-Pro honors.
The volume is even more striking given the shape of Seattle’s offense. The Seahawks attempted only 481 passes in 2025, the fourth fewest in the NFL, while Smith-Njigba accounted for 44.1% of the team’s receiving yards, via Seahawks.com.
That level of production naturally creates questions about whether a receiver can duplicate the season once defenses have an entire offseason to adjust.
Bleacher Report’s verdict pushes back on that concern before the first snap of 2026. Rather than treating Smith-Njigba’s eruption as a career year that Seattle should expect to regress, Moton presented the 24-year-old as one of the central reasons the Seahawks can remain among the NFL’s top contenders.
Darnold’s return also provides continuity, as one more offseason together gives the pair a chance to build on a connection that powered the Seahawks’ championship run.
Seahawks Made $168.6 Million Bet on JSN
Seattle reached its own conclusion on Smith-Njigba months before Bleacher Report did.
The Seahawks agreed to a four-year, $168.6 million extension with Smith-Njigba in March, including $120 million guaranteed. The $42.15 million annual average made him the highest-paid wide receiver in league history at the time of the deal.
Smith-Njigba offered a line after signing that fits neatly with the latest assessment of his breakout season.
“This proves that I’m good — for a long time,” Smith-Njigba said.
Seattle is paying for exactly that expectation.
Smith-Njigba entered the league as the No. 20 overall pick in 2023 and increased his receiving totals in each of his first three seasons, going from 628 yards as a rookie to 1,130 in 2024 before exploding for 1,793 last year.
He now enters Year 4 with considerably different expectations. Opponents know where Seattle wants to go with the football, and anything resembling his 2025 output will draw more attention than it did a year ago.
Bleacher Report doesn’t appear concerned.
For a Seahawks team trying to follow a 14-3 season and a Super Bowl title, the belief that its best offensive player is still capable of sustaining that level is a good place to start.
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