Heading into the season, Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba was a popular pick to make a second-year leap. And after racking up 12 catches for 117 yards against New England in Week 2, it sure looked like he was on his way to a breakout campaign.
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But aside from that career-best day, it’s been another relatively quiet year for the 2023 first-round pick.
In his other six games this season, Smith-Njigba has totaled just 202 yards receiving. He had fewer than 55 yards receiving in each of those six games, including four games with fewer than 40 yards.
For the season, Smith-Njigba has 55 receptions for 319 yards and one touchdown. That puts him on pace for 775 yards, which would be a slight uptick from his 628 yards as a rookie last season.
Those are respectable numbers, but former NFL quarterback Brock Huard would like to see more from a player of Smith-Njigba’s pedigree. The former No. 20 overall draft pick broke the Texas Class 6A career receiving yardage record in high school and then finished third in the FBS in receiving yardage at Ohio State in 2021, highlighted by a record-setting 347-yard performance in the Rose Bowl.
“There’s gotta be more, man,” Huard said during Wednesday’s Blue 88 segment on Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk. “There has just gotta be more suddenness. I just can’t believe a guy that was the most productive player in the state of Texas coming out of high school, amongst all of those athletes there, shattering the records, going to Ohio State, putting up a 300-yard day in the Rose Bowl and putting up the production – I just can’t imagine that that guy comes to this level and all of a sudden is just average. I just, I can’t fathom that.”
In particular, Huard wants to see Smith-Njigba improve his yards after the catch.
Smith-Njigba is about league-average in that area. He has averaged 4.3 yards after catch per reception this season, which is tied for 38th out of 82 receivers with at least 20 targets, according to Pro Football Focus. His 8.6 yards per reception is tied for 76th out of 82.
“I can find 10 slot receivers that will catch a little option route, that’ll catch a little shallow cross, that will catch that little in-breaking route and get tackled,” Huard said. “I can find 10 of those guys. What I need you to do is be the guy that breaks that first tackle and gets me YAC. I need YAC.
“I’m gonna watch really closely over these remaining 10 games and moving ahead with Jaxon. Like, I’ll be blunt: ‘Jaxon, I need YAC from you, and that’s it. I know you can catch the ball. … You’ve got great hands. I need more. I need more yards after catch.’ That is priority number one for JSN.”
Bump stresses patience
During an appearance on Thursday’s edition of Blue 88, former NFL receiver Michael Bumpus was asked for his perspective on Smith-Njigba’s season.
Bumpus said there are other contributing factors in the second-year pro’s lack of production. He pointed to an offensive line that has struggled with pass protection while dealing with a slew of injures at right tackle. He also pointed to a new offensive coordinator in Ryan Grubb who is still learning how best to deploy his array of pass-catching weapons.
“Grubb is figuring out his personnel as he goes along,” Bumpus said. “You’ve gotta figure out that offensive line. Can they protect? How do I get the run going? And then how do I take advantage of my receivers? … It might take some time. They’re still learning each other, and I’m excited to see what they look like two or three weeks from now.”
Smith-Njigba could see his role increase Sunday against Buffalo, with leading receiver DK Metcalf’s status in question after reportedly suffering a Grade 1 MCL sprain in this past Sunday’s win over Atlanta. Metcalf ranks third in the NFL with 568 receiving yards.
“I think this week could be the week that JSN really emerges as a big-time player if DK doesn’t get the start,” Bumpus said.
Listen to the full Blue 88 segments at this link and this link, or in the audio players within this story. Tune in to Brock and Salk weekdays from 6 to 10 a.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.
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