Photo: FanDuel, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons²

Jaxon Smith-Njigba

Wide Receiver, Seattle Seahawks · #11.

Player facts

Team: Seattle Seahawks
Position: Wide Receiver
Number: 11
Born: Feb 14, 2002 (age 24)
Birthplace: Rockwall, TX, USA
Height: 6' 0"
Weight: 197 lbs
College: Ohio State
Experience: 4 seasons
Status: Active

Stats

Among the NFL leaders, 2026 Regular Season:

1st in receiving yards 717
1st in receptions 49
1st in receiving touchdowns 7
5th in total touchdowns 7

2026 Offense

	REC	TGTS	YDS	AVG	TD	LNG	FD	CAR	YDS	AVG	LNG	FUM	LST
Regular Season	49	65	717	14.6	7	82	36	1	16	16.0	16	0	0
Last 5 Games	41	55	595	15.4	6	82	31	1	16	16.0	16	0	0
Career	331	458	4,268	12.9	27	82	199	13	78	6.0	16	4	1

Advanced stats

2026 season through week 6. EPA per play is the points a play added to the team’s expected score; success rate is the share of plays that kept the offense on schedule; CPOE is completion percentage over what the throws’ difficulty predicted. Rank is by EPA per play.

	Plays	EPA/play	Success	CPOE	League rank
Receiving	66 targets	+0.70	68%		8th of 94

NFL data: nflverse, CC BY 4.0.

Recent games

			Receiving							Rushing					Fumbles
Date	Opponent	Result	REC	TGTS	YDS	AVG	TD	LNG	FD	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LNG	FUM	LST
Thu, Oct 15	@ DEN	L 17-14 OT	12	16	134	11.2	0	32	8	0	0	0.0	0	0	0	0
Sun, Oct 11	vs SF	L 32-29	5	8	102	20.4	1	38	3	1	16	16.0	0	16	0	0
Sun, Oct 4	vs LAC	W 30-23	5	6	76	15.2	0	28	3	0	0	0.0	0	0	0	0
Sun, Sep 27	@ WSH	L 33-31	10	14	128	12.8	2	26	9	0	0	0.0	0	0	0	0
Sun, Sep 20	@ ARI	W 31-7	9	11	155	17.2	3	82	8	0	0	0.0	0	0	0	0

Last 5 games. Click a game for its box score.

About

Jaxon Smith-Njigba ( in-JIG-bə; born February 14, 2002), also known by his initials JSN, is an American professional football wide receiver for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Ohio State Buckeyes, setting school records for receptions in a single game (15, twice) and receiving yards in a season (1,606 in 2021). Smith-Njigba was selected 20th overall by the Seahawks in the first round of the 2023 NFL draft. He became a starter in his second season, amassing 1,130 receiving yards and earning his first Pro Bowl selection. In the 2025 season, Smith-Njigba set a Seahawks franchise record with a league-leading 1,793 receiving yards on 119 receptions, earning him Offensive Player of the Year (OPOY) honors. That same season, he helped the Seahawks win Super Bowl LX.

From Wikipedia’s article on Jaxon Smith-Njigba, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.¹

Background

Early life

Smith-Njigba was born on February 14, 2002, in Nacogdoches, Texas, to firefighter Maada and high school teacher Jami Smith, and grew up in Rockwall, Texas, attending Rockwall High School. He is of half white and Sierra Leonean descent; his paternal grandparents are from Sierra Leone. He also has Nigerian heritage. After Maada and Jami divorced, Maada began putting Jaxon and his older brother Canaan through daily sports workouts as a means of bonding with and passing the time with his sons, sometimes starting at 6 a.m. Although Maada initially only sought to "tire them out" so he could put them to bed, as they grew up, he found himself surprised at their skill. Canaan is a professional baseball player who is currently a free agent.

In his early years, Smith-Njigba only went by "Jaxon Smith." He appended "Njigba" to his surname upon reaching high school to honor his grandfather, John, after he died in 2014; John had changed his name to "Smith" upon immigrating to the United States in the 1970s in order to fit in.

At Rockwall, Smith-Njigba led all high school football players in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex with 97 receptions for 1,828 yards and 20 touchdowns in his junior season. As a senior, he caught 104 passes for 2,094 yards and 35 touchdowns and was named the recipient of both the Landry Award and the Texas Gatorade Football Player of the Year award. Smith-Njigba played in the 2019 All-American Bowl and was named a high school All-American by Sports Illustrated and USA Today. Smith-Njigba finished his high school career with 5,346 career receiving yards and 82 touchdowns in 44 games played. A 5 star prospect and the #5 ranked wide receiver in the nation, Smith-Njigba received offers from many top college football programs including Notre Dame, Oklahoma and Ole Miss, before ultimately committing to Ohio State University.

College career

Smith-Njigba played in seven games as a freshman and led Ohio State's freshmen with 10 receptions for 49 yards and one touchdown.

He was named a starter at the slot receiver position for the Buckeyes going into his sophomore season. On November 6, 2021, Smith-Njigba recorded 15 receptions (single game school record) for 240 yards (the second most receiving yards in a game in school history at the time) and one touchdown in a 26–17 win against Nebraska. Later that season, he set both an Ohio State single game and FBS Bowl record for receiving yards with 347 in Ohio State's win in the 2022 Rose Bowl. In that game, he also recorded 15 receptions (tying his own record set in the aforementioned Nebraska game) and passed David Boston for the single season receiving yards record at Ohio State with 1,606.

Smith-Njigba was limited to just three games in 2022 due to a hamstring injury and his decision to not participate in the College Football Playoff. In addition, Smith-Njigba announced that he would forgo his senior year of college and enter the 2023 NFL draft.