2 JSN numbers Huard finds 'mind-boggling'

Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba just keeps torching defenses.

What They Said: Seattle Seahawks react to JSN’s franchise record

Seattle’s third-year wideout continued his remarkable season in Sunday’s win over the Titans, hauling in eight passes for a season-high 167 yards and two TDs on his way to breaking the franchise’s single-season receiving record. Smith-Njigba brought his total up to 1,313 yards on the season, passing DK Metcalf’s previous franchise best of 1,303 yards.

Smith-Njigba is poised to create quite a bit of separation between himself and Metcalf in the record book with still six more games left to build on his career year.

Now the Ohio State product has another record that appears to be reachable in his sights: Calvin Johnson’s single-season NFL record of 1,964 yards. Smith-Njigba needs to average 108.5 yards over his final six games to tie Johnson. He’s currently averaging 119.5 yards per game.

A deeper dive in to Smith-Njigba’s stats further illustrate the dominant season he’s having. On Monday, former NFL quarterback Brock Huard shared some numbers on Jaxon Smith-Njigba that he called “mind boggling” during his Blue 88 segment on Brock and Salk.

Stretching the defense

Explosive plays in the passing game have been a hallmark of Seattle’s offense this year. Smith-Njigba is the biggest reason why.

The 2023 first-round pick leads the NFL with 21 catches of 20 yards or more, which is four more than the second-place receiver, George Pickens of the Dallas Cowboys. JSN’s 730 receiving yards on catches of at least 20 yards would be 16th in the NFL by itself. Smith-Njigba also leads the league with eight catches of 40 yards or more, which is four more than Pickens and Detroit’s Jameson Williams.

According to NFL Gen Stats, Smith-Njigba’s 13 catches on passes that traveled at least 20 yards beyond the line of scrimmage through the air are tops in the NFL. He has a total of 542 receiving yards on those catches, which by itself would be 35th in the league.

Smith-Njigba was viewed as more of a slot receiver who wouldn’t be a true No. 1 receiver on the outside coming out of college due to his lack of size and top-end speed. But his numbers on explosive plays have shown those expectations were off, according to Huard.

“Yeah, you can (be a No. 1 receiver). Steve Smith showed that, other short guys have shown it, especially when you’ve got the body control, the timing, the instincts, the anticipation, the hand-eye coordination, the high point – all that (Smith-Njigba’s) got,” Huard said. “That’s why he’s leading the league in that stat.”

Mr. Efficiency

With Smith-Njigba passing Metcalf in Seattle’s record books, Huard took a side-by-side look at the two receivers. One major difference he pointed to was Smith-Njigba’s much higher reception rate on targets.

When Metcalf had his 1,303-yard season in 2020, he caught a career-best 64.3% of targets (83 of 129) that went his way. Smith-Njigba has caught 74.8% of his targets (80 of 107) this year.

That sort of efficiency from Smith-Njigba has come “even though the other team tries to protect against it, even though the other team will try to focus on where he’s at,” Huard said.

“(Offensive coordinator) Klint (Kubiak) is moving him around enough. He catches it short, he catches it mid-range, he catches contested (balls) and right now is sitting at 75% completion rate. Eighty of 107 is a remarkable, remarkable number.”

Listen to Brock and Salk weekdays from 6-10 a.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.

2 JSN numbers Huard finds ‘mind-boggling’

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