Jaxon Smith-Njigba has been at the heart of the Seattle Seahawks’ run to Super Bowl 60, earning widespread praise for a breakout campaign in just his third NFL season. Sitting just shy of 2,000 receiving yards and coming off an Offensive Player of the Year win at NFL Honors, Smith-Njigba has checked every box for a superstar season.
Yet despite the accolades and eye-popping production, Seahawks legend and three-time Pro Bowl quarterback Matt Hasselbeck believes Smith-Njigba is still flying under the radar, and he explained why.
Matt Hasselbeck Explains Why Jaxon Smith-Njigba Is Still Underrated
It’s not as if Smith-Njigba struggled early in his career. He was solid as a rookie, better as a sophomore, but then took a massive leap in his third NFL season.
Under offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, Seattle did not just feature Smith-Njigba; it let him wander. Outside, inside, in motion, briefly in the backfield, wherever the defense looked most uncomfortable.
JSN became less of a position and more of a presence, finishing the season with a league-leading 1,793 receiving yards on 119 catches and 10 touchdowns. According to PFSN’s NFL WR Impact Metric, he has a WRi score of 94.4 with an A grade, ranking second among all receivers behind Puka Nacua.
Yet despite the dominance, Hasselbeck believes Smith-Njigba still doesn’t get the credit he deserves for two simple reasons: he isn’t flashy in the mold of Tyreek Hill or Ja’Marr Chase, and he doesn’t play in a premier media market like Los Angeles or Kansas City.
“Jaxon Smith-Njigba has had a ridiculously good year,” Hasselbeck told PFSN’s Allison Koehler. “If he were more flashy and played in a different market, we would be talking about him a lot more. He is ridiculously good.”
Hasselbeck’s point holds weight, even as Smith-Njigba’s profile continues to rise. In an era where 70 receiving yards is often considered a strong outing, JSN finished below that mark just twice in the regular season.
He earned unanimous First-Team All-Pro honors and carried that dominance straight into January, where defenses stopped pretending balance existed and dedicated entire game plans to slowing him down. It didn’t, however, matter much as Smith-Njigba torched the Rams in the NFC Championship Game with 10 catches for 153 yards and a touchdown.
Through 19 games, JSN now sits at 1,965 receiving yards and needs just 35 more to become only the third receiver in NFL history to surpass 2,000 yards in a season, joining Nacua and Cooper Kupp. Finishing that milestone with a Super Bowl victory would be the perfect exclamation point on an already historic year for the Ohio State alum.
