Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald has taken over a roster that has a lot going for it, including a youth movement.
One of their most-promising young players is wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who turns 22 years old today. Here’s a look at what JSN put up in his rookie season in Seattle:
Happy 22nd birthday, Jaxon Smith-Njigba!
His rookie season stats:
• 63 catches
• 628 receiving yards
• 4 TDs#Seahawks pic.twitter.com/gABYGXJrSm— NFL Stats (@NFL_Stats) February 14, 2024
Recently Smith-Njigba has made headlines for criticzing former Seahawks offensive coordinator Shane Waldron, who’s now with the Bears. JSN seems to have been frustrated with the offense’s production under Waldron, claiming that the unit left a lot of yards on the field. While it’s rare to hear a player openly complain about a former coach like this, Smith-Njigba has it exactly right on that account. Even with a poor offensive line, Seattle’s offense had more than enough talent to finish top 10 in scoring, but wound up finishing the season in the middle of the pack.
Then again, odds are JSN’s real beef is with his targets. For much of the early part of the season he was rarely utilized beyond the line of scrimmage, which put a very low ceiling on his numbers. His breakout game didn’t come until Week 6 when he scored his first touchdown and put up 63 yards. That number also ended up being his season high, though – more damning evidence that JSN was misused by Waldron. Smith-Njigba was arguably the top wide receiver in the entire 2023 draft class and could have put up much greater numbers if he’d been given the opportunity.
To be fair, the Seahawks offense has a lot of mouths to feed, including two stars at JSN’s position. The good news is that new offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb ran a ton of three-receiver sets at Washington and Smith-Njigba can bank on his role growing significantly in 2024.
However, the x-factor may be just how much Seattle’s offensive line improves this offseason. While the Huskies had one of the best pass blocking lines in the nation last year, the Seahawks were one of the NFL’s worst teams in that department. Waldron had little choice but to use tight ends frequently as extra blockers, which limited JSN’s snaps.
Of course that’s exactly the kind of challenge that good coordinators are supposed to overcome at this level. That Waldron was unable to smoothly integrate a talent like Smith-Njigba is one of many reasons why it was the right move to go in a different direction.
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