Seattle Seahawks fans had a front row seat all throughout the season watching Jaxon Smith-Njigba's third-season rise take over not only the franchise, but the NFL along the way. Aside from the hype and potential that DK Metcalf brought with him seven years ago, it's been a long time since the Seahawks have had potential greatness at the wide receiver position.
Smith-Njigba is answering the call in this Seahawks era, and he looks like the man to carry it for years to come. He entered the season as an unexpected player to blow the doors open, but he did it from the Seahawks' opening snap and carried on through to game 18.
While he didn’t reach Calvin Johnson's single-season wide receiving yards record, JSN did break Seahawks franchise records in the process, and now, a past legend who once donned a Seahawks jersey is chiming in, hailing Smith-Njigba's skillset as top-notch. This past legend also played the same position JSN plays.
Seattle Seahawks icon Steve Largent has high praise for Jaxon Smith-Njigba
Steve Largent is the latest member of the Seahawks family to praise JSN's incredible abilities at the wide receiver position. Most of the praise has come from within the walls of JSN’s own locker room, as teammates like Sam Darnold, Cooper Kupp, and AJ Barner have publicly hailed his production and greatness this season.
Of course, a die-hard Seahawks fan would have seen this coming during last season while Metcalf was still the No. 1 wideout. Last season, the second of his NFL career, Smith-Njigba racked up 1,130 yards on 100 receptions, including six touchdowns. Those are remarkable numbers considering he was the No. 2 wideout, but still surpassed Metcalf's 992 yards, 66 receptions, and five touchdowns.
Metcalf is a great receiver; don't let this one season with the Pittsburgh Steelers fool you, because he's too good not to bounce back next season. Still, it was evident that the Seahawks brass saw fit to move on from him because of JSN's numbers and clear-cut potential. Obviously, given his production this season, it was the right decision.
Largent, once a Seahawks' great himself — he is in the Hall of Fame — sees the same stuff the Seahawks front office did. Speaking with The Athletic's Mike Dugar, Largent could only speak highly of what Smith-Njigba has accomplished and, furthermore, praised his skill set, which is not too dissimilar to his own back in the late 70's and 80s.
"I just really like the way he plays football," Largent said. "He’s not an overly big guy, but he gets open, and he catches the ball well. He does something with it once he’s got the ball. He’s an exciting player, for sure.... It’s exciting for me to see him breaking records."
A couple of those records Largent speaks of include a Seahawks single-season franchise record for wide receiver receptions, held by Tyler Lockett: 100. Smith-Njigba tied that record last season, but surpassed it this season with 119. He also broke Metcalf's single-season receiving yards record of 1,303 yards, ending the season with a league-leading 1,793.
Metcalf coincidentally broke Largent's record, and JSN then broke Metcalf's — it was bound to happen. Smith-Njigba also tied for the league lead in 20+ yard receptions, 27, mirroring Puka Nacua, who happened to be just 78 yards behind JSN's receiving numbers.
All the stats and numbers aside, Smith-Njigba deserves every word of recognition thrown his way after the remarkable season he just put together. It means something more when a legend of the past within the same organization is one of the voices leading those words of recognition, though.
JSN has proved himself, and he is well on his way to being the greatest Seahawks wideout in franchise history if he keeps this up.