Jaxon Smith-Njigba is not just putting together another big season for Seattle. Through seven games, he’s on a track that could push him into one of the NFL’s most exclusive receiving conversations.
The Seahawks wideout has already piled up 867 receiving yards and eight touchdowns, while catching 58 passes. At 123.9 yards per game, he’s moving faster than Calvin Johnson did during his record-setting 2012 season, when Johnson averaged 122.8 yards per game on his way to 1,964 yards.
That pace matters because Smith-Njigba is already closing in on the league’s all-time single-season receiving standard. Entering Week 8, he needs 1,097 yards to tie Johnson and 1,098 to break the record.
If he keeps rolling at his current rate, he’d reach 1,982 yards by Seattle’s 16th game. With a 17th game in play, he’d be on pace to blow past 2,100 yards.
What makes the start even more striking is how much Seattle has leaned on him. The Seahawks’ run game is sitting around the middle of the league at 113.7 rushing yards per game, but Smith-Njigba has accounted for 50.2% of the 1,726 receiving yards from all Seahawks receivers.
That kind of share is rare territory. According to Josh Dubow, the only players since at least 1948 to have at least half their team’s receiving yards for a season were Ken Burrough at 50.6% for the 1975 Oilers and Harlon Hill at 51.4% for the 1956 Bears.
Smith-Njigba is doing it everywhere on the field, too. The source material describes him as handling the downfield work, the short stuff and the red-zone chances while drawing constant defensive attention. And at this pace, he would make NFL history without even needing the extra game.
The benchmark he’s chasing belongs to Johnson, whose 2012 season for the Lions broke Jerry Rice’s previous mark of 1,848 yards from 1995. Johnson became the first NFL wide receiver to average 120 yards per game in a season. Since then, the closest anyone has come was Cooper Kupp, Smith-Njigba’s current teammate, who finished with 1,947 yards for the Rams in 2021 and won Super Bowl MVP as Los Angeles took the title.
Smith-Njigba already owns a place on the all-time list after finishing eighth in 2025 with 1,793 yards. This season, he’s on pace to move even higher.
Here’s how the top of the single-season receiving leaderboard stands:
- Calvin Johnson, Lions, 2012 - 1,964
- Cooper Kupp, Rams, 2021 - 1,947
- Julio Jones, Falcons, 2015 - 1,871
- Jerry Rice, 49ers, 1995 - 1,848
- Antonio Brown, Steelers, 2015 - 1,834
- Justin Jefferson, Vikings, 2022 - 1,809
- Tyreek Hill, Dolphins, 2023 - 1,799
- Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Seahawks, 2025 - 1,793
- Isaac Bruce, Rams, 1995 - 1,781
- CeeDee Lamb, Cowboys, 2023 - 1,749
The numbers say Smith-Njigba has a real shot at the record, but the rest of the season still has to play out. Staying healthy will matter as much as the pace itself.
Even so, he’s positioned to spend the second half of the year chasing history - and another Offensive Player of the Year trophy. The source notes that only Earl Campbell and Marshall Faulk have won that award in back-to-back seasons.
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