“Yeah, the Emerald City Route Artist, he’s special,” Julian said. “Jax, he just can do everything well. You can scheme for it all you want, but then you see the red zone touchdown for Coop. OK, you can double Jax, but then we have other weapons. I think Fleury is doing a good job of just spinning the wheel, and we’re going to continue to progress on offense, but yeah, 11’s a real deal player. And he’s so humble about it. That’s the best thing about being with him each day. He attacks his work, and you could follow us around for the whole day, and you would not know he’s as special as he is because of how humble he is.”

What makes what Smith-Njigba is doing much more impressive is his unassuming personality and attitude about all he’s accomplishing. He doesn’t boast, but still moves with a sureness about who he is.

“No, he’s not flashy,” Julian said. “He has his own swag to him, but no one in here is going to say, man that guy has a lot of ego. He’s just one of those guys. He’s a star, but he’s kind of not one of the guys. Jax is the complete opposite. He is one of the guys, whether you’re number one spot on the roster, the quarterback, whoever, or P squad guy, there is no line there. He treats everyone the same. And so yeah, I think that’s why we all really rock with him and really love him.”

He also takes pride in the way he can contribute outside of the pass game. On Monday, head coach Mike Macdonald said he was impressed with Smith-Njigba’s run blocking in Week 3.

“That’s the best game Jaxon’s had blocking in a while,” he said.

Last season, Smith-Njigba led the league in receiving yards (1,793), setting the Seahawks’ franchise record and leading him to winning the 2025 AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year award.

So far, Smith-Njigba has lived up to the lofty expectations his breakout season set, the product of building off of the reps and time spent with quarterback Sam Darnold last season.

“In each offseason, I want to get bigger, faster, stronger,” Smith-Njigba said. “I think I did that this offseason. So just allowing that to elevate my routes and for me to be better, getting out of breaks and stuff like that. I try to improve in my overall game.”