When the Seattle Seahawks enter Sunday’s NFC Championship Game at Lumen Field in Seattle against the Los Angeles Rams, Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald knows that wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba will be ready to go.
Macdonald cannot help but brag a lot, in a good way, about what Smith-Njigba brings to the Seattle offense game in and game out.
Seattle HC Mike Macdonald Praises WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba
In a recent interview with Fox Sports, Macdonald was asked point-blank about what makes Smith-Njigba so special as part of the Seahawks’ offense. Smith-Njigba is always working hard to get open downfield for Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold to connect with him.
“I think he can do things at all three levels,” Macdonald said. “There’s a lot of great receivers in this league who don’t have as diverse of a skill set as he does. Anywhere from an intermediate route tree, catch-and-run stuff at the line of scrimmage, and then we’ve seen his ability to track the ball at the third level and keep his body position, all that kind of stuff.”
“There’s just not that many people that can do that,” he added.
“You couple that with his work ethic and his competitiveness,” Macdonald continued. “His relationship with Sam. Our offensive coaches have done a good job of getting him some good looks as well, so I think it’s kind of a culmination of all those things.”
Smith-Njigba was a first-round draft choice (No. 20 overall) out of Ohio State by Seattle in the 2023 NFL Draft. In the 2025 NFL season’s regular season, Smith-Njigba had 119 catches for 1,793 yards and 10 touchdown catches. He averaged 15.1 yards per reception for the Seahawks in the regular season, too.
According to the PFSN NFL WR Impact metrics, measured throughout the regular season, Smith-Njigba had an impact score of 94.4 and graded out with an A. Only Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua, who will take the field when Smith-Njigba is on the sidelines, had higher metrics, with an impact score of 98.2 and a grade of A+.
Career-wise, Smith-Njigba has 282 receptions for 3,551 receiving yards and 20 touchdown receptions. He’s averaging 12.6 yards per catch in his career, and his longest career reception was a 63-yarder this season.
Macdonald and Darnold probably hope Smith-Njigba can step up against the Rams’ secondary on Sunday and get the Seahawks into the Super Bowl. Macdonald believes in his young wide receiver, so Seattle fans will have to watch and see what happens.
