Next Gen Stat: Jaxon Smith-Njigba’s receiving share soars after Seahawks fall to Bears

The Story

The Seattle Seahawks lost to the Chicago Bears 34-17 on Monday night, their worst defeat since 2024, but Jaxon Smith-Njigba remained a clear bright spot for the Seattle offence.

According to NFL Next Gen Stats, Smith-Njigba entered the game accounting for 50.2 per cent of the Seahawks’ receiving yards, the highest percentage in the NFL. That figure increased on Monday night as he caught six passes for 118 yards.

For the season, Smith-Njigba has 985 of Seattle’s 1,914 receiving yards, or 51.5 per cent, which is the highest receiving yards share in the NFL since at least 2016, according to Next Gen Stats.

With another big game on Monday, Smith-Njigba leads the NFL in receiving by 259 yards over Cincinnati’s Tee Higgins. The gap between Higgins and No. 21 on the receiving list, Las Vegas’ Tre Tucker, is smaller than the distance between Smith-Njigba and Higgins, based on the figures cited.

Smith-Njigba has also recorded his seventh 100-yard performance in eight games this season. NFL Research notes that he joined Michael Irvin (1995), Marvin Harrison Sr. (2000) and Adam Thielen (2018) as the only players in the Super Bowl era to reach that mark.

Receiver Cooper Kupp commented on how Smith-Njigba’s role affects preparation and game planning, saying, “Jaxon's a great player. He's going to command targets and he's one of, if not the best, receiver in the league right now. So, that's just going to be part of the deal.”

Kupp added, “We all have a part in it. If he's open, the ball's going to go his way. That's just going to be what it is. We have to find ways to continue to compete and know that you've got to compete without the ball as well. When the ball does come your way, you've got to make a play.”

NFL Research also ranks Smith-Njigba’s 985 receiving yards as the second-most by any player in the Super Bowl era through the first eight games of a season, behind Tyreek Hill’s 1,014 receiving yards in 2023.