When your own head coach, a defensive mastermind by trade, jokes about needing three defenders to slow you down, you know you’ve arrived. That’s exactly where Jaxon Smith-Njigba finds himself as the Seattle Seahawks gear up for Super Bowl LX against the New England Patriots.
During Opening Night festivities, Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald was tossed a lighthearted question with some serious undertones: how would he defend his own star wideout? Macdonald’s response was quick, honest, and telling: “Can I put three guys on him?”
That one-liner might’ve drawn laughs, but it also spoke volumes. It captured the essence of Smith-Njigba’s breakout 2025 season better than any stat line ever could.
Under offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, Seattle has turned JSN into a matchup nightmare. He’s been used everywhere-outside, in the slot, in motion, even out of the backfield on occasion.
Wherever he lines up, he’s a threat. He’s not just running routes; he’s reading coverages in real time, exploiting leverage, and consistently finding space where there shouldn’t be any.
This isn’t just scheming-this is JSN evolving into one of the most complete receivers in the game. His route-running is surgical, his instincts are elite, and his timing with the quarterback has become second nature. It’s why defenses have had to dedicate so much attention to him, even if it still hasn’t been enough.
Smith-Njigba’s emergence was a driving force behind a historic season for Seattle. The Seahawks went 14-3, locked up the NFC’s top seed, and blended the league’s best scoring defense with an offense that finally found its rhythm.
The postseason? Just as impressive.
Seattle dismantled San Francisco 41-6 and outlasted the Rams in a 31-27 thriller to win the NFC Championship. JSN was central to both wins, especially the latter, where he once again showed up when it mattered most.
Individually, his numbers from 2025 are eye-popping. Smith-Njigba led the league with 1,793 receiving yards and 119 receptions, setting new franchise records that once belonged to Seahawks legend Steve Largent.
He was a unanimous First-Team All-Pro, and it wasn’t even close. What’s more, he didn’t slow down in the playoffs.
Defenses threw everything at him-brackets, double teams, exotic coverages-but JSN kept finding ways to beat them.
So now, as the Patriots prepare to face Seattle on the sport’s biggest stage, they’ll have to solve a problem that even Mike Macdonald, the architect of the NFL’s top-ranked defense, admits he doesn’t have a clean answer for.
Stopping Jaxon Smith-Njigba isn’t just a challenge-it might be the defining question of Super Bowl LX.