Inside the numbers of Seahawks WR JSN’s Year 2 leap

Not much has gone right for the Seattle Seahawks on offense, but the emergence of Jaxon Smith-Njigba was a bright spot from the first half of the season.

The other change Huard expects Seattle Seahawks to make coming out of bye

After an underwhelming rookie season, Smith-Njigba has taken a clear step forward in his sophomore year while surpassing veteran Tyler Lockett as the No. 2 receiver on the depth chart.

Smith-Njigba is tied for 12th in the league with 50 receptions and 16th with 568 receiving yards through Seattle’s first nine games. The Ohio State product needs just 14 catches and 61 yards to surpass his season totals from a year ago.

He’s also coming off the best game of his career after hauling in seven receptions for a career-high 180 yards in Week 9 against the Los Angeles Rams. It was his first career two-touchdown game.

The numbers behind JSN's 180-yard day. 📊@NextGenStats | @awscloud pic.twitter.com/FSmKHSubZ1

— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) November 11, 2024

A big reason for the Smith-Njigba’s ascending numbers is the work he’s done out of the slot. The second-year pro leads the league in receptions (43), targets (64) and receiving yards (514) out of the slot this season, per Pro Football Focus.

Offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb is taking advantage of Smith-Njigba’s abilities as a slot receiver. He leads all receivers while lining up in the slot 86.4% of the time on passing plays, which is up considerably from 69% last season.

The overall year-to-year numbers have improved just about everywhere else for Smith-Njigiba, too.

After posting a season high of 61 receiving yards twice last season, he has already hit that mark three times in 2024, including two games with at least 100 yards. His yards per reception average is 11.4 yards, up from 10 last year. His average depth on targets is way up to 10.2 yards from 6.4. He has over twice as many contested catches (seven) as he did all of last season (three). And his drop rate is down to 3.8% from 11.3%.

Smith-Njgiba was the first wide receiver taken in the 2023 NFL Draft at No. 20 overall, but was outperformed by several receivers who were drafted after him and finished 10th among rookies in receiving. In 2024, he ranks third among 2023 draftees in receiving yards, trailing only Baltimore’s Zay Flowers and Green Bay’s Jayden Reed.

More on Seattle Seahawks

• Seattle Seahawks are in a rebuild, whether they call it that or not
• Lefko: Seahawks at crossroads as a franchise, with Geno at the center
• 3 takes on 4 big questions about the Seahawks at midway point
• What Seahawks cutting Tyrel Dodson says about their LB situation
• Seattle Seahawks add a nose tackle, place safety on injured reserve

Follow @ZacHereth