Jaxon Smith-Njigba’s 2025 Season Is Already One for the Ages - And It’s Not Over Yet
No matter what happens when the Seahawks take the field on Super Bowl Sunday, Jaxon Smith-Njigba has already carved out a season that belongs in the NFL history books - not just among former Ohio State greats, but among the league’s all-time elite wide receiver campaigns.
Let’s start with the numbers. Smith-Njigba led the NFL in receiving yards this season with 1,793 - a staggering total that ranks eighth in league history for a single season.
To put that in perspective, only seven players have ever posted more in a year, and just one of them - Cooper Kupp in 2021 - managed to pair that kind of production with a Super Bowl appearance in the same season. That’s rarefied air.
And Smith-Njigba didn’t slow down when the stakes got higher. In the postseason, he’s already added 13 catches for 172 yards and two touchdowns across two games.
His NFC Championship Game performance was the stuff of legends: 10 receptions, 153 yards, and a touchdown against a Rams defense that had no answers for him. He’s been the engine of Seattle’s passing attack - and that’s not hyperbole.
He’s accounted for 44.1% of the Seahawks’ receiving yards this season, the second-highest share ever by a player on a Super Bowl team. The only one higher?
Another Buckeye, Paul Warfield, back in 1971 with the Dolphins.
That kind of dominance didn’t go unnoticed. Smith-Njigba was named the AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year, becoming just the fourth former Ohio State player to take home one of the league’s major individual honors. He’s also the first Buckeye to ever earn that kind of recognition and make the Super Bowl in the same season.
On top of that, he was a unanimous first-team All-Pro selection - a distinction that places him among just eight former Ohio State players to earn All-Pro honors and reach the Super Bowl in the same year. That list includes legends like Orlando Pace, Jim Tyrer, and Warfield himself. If the Seahawks hoist the Lombardi Trophy on Sunday, Smith-Njigba will become just the sixth Buckeye to win a Super Bowl and be named an All-Pro in the same season.
Here’s the company he’d join:
- Jim Tyrer (1970, Chiefs)
- Paul Warfield (1973, Dolphins)
- Pepper Johnson (1990, Giants)
- Jim Lachey (1991, Washington)
- Orlando Pace (1999, Rams)
That’s not just a who’s who of Buckeye greats - that’s a list of players who helped define their eras.
Of course, Ohio State has long been a pipeline to NFL greatness. With nine Pro Football Hall of Famers and more first-round draft picks than any other school, the Buckeyes have produced plenty of standout NFL seasons. But even among that elite group, Smith-Njigba’s 2025 campaign stands tall.
Let’s take a quick tour through some of the all-time best seasons by former Buckeyes in the NFL:
- Lou Groza (1954): The original Buckeye NFL MVP, Groza led the league in field goal percentage and helped the Browns win the title.
- Jim Parker (1958-59): Dominant at left tackle, Parker earned back-to-back All-Pro honors and led the Colts to consecutive championships.
- Paul Warfield (1971): With nearly 1,000 yards and 11 touchdowns on just 43 catches, Warfield was an All-Pro and MVP candidate while carrying the Dolphins’ passing game to the Super Bowl.
- Randy Gradishar (1978): Though tackles weren’t officially tracked, Gradishar reportedly logged 286 of them and won Defensive Player of the Year as the heart of Denver’s “Orange Crush” defense.
- Pepper Johnson (1990): A tackling machine and All-Pro linebacker for the Giants’ Super Bowl-winning defense.
- Cris Carter (1995): With 122 catches, 1,371 yards, and a league-best 17 touchdowns, Carter was nearly unstoppable.
- Orlando Pace (1999): The anchor of “The Greatest Show on Turf,” Pace’s All-Pro season helped power the Rams to a Super Bowl title.
- Ezekiel Elliott (2016): As a rookie, Elliott led the NFL in rushing yards and scored 15 touchdowns, finishing tied for third in MVP voting.
- Michael Thomas (2019): Set the NFL single-season receptions record with 149 catches for 1,725 yards, earning Offensive Player of the Year honors.
- Nick Bosa (2022): Led the league in sacks and QB hits en route to Defensive Player of the Year, spearheading a dominant 49ers defense.
Each of those seasons is worthy of celebration, and many of those names are etched into NFL lore. But what Smith-Njigba has done this year - leading the league in receiving, carrying his team to the Super Bowl, earning Offensive Player of the Year, and doing it all in just his second season - is something we haven’t seen before from a Buckeye.
If he caps it all off with a big performance and a Super Bowl ring, the conversation about the greatest NFL season ever by an Ohio State alum might finally have a definitive answer.