Jaxon

Smith-Njigba

Smith-Njigba overcame a sluggish first half to extend his stranglehold on the overall WR1 in fantasy circles with a dominant second half and overtime period. While the 51 pass attempts from Sam Darnold were highly uncharacteristic of this Seattle offense, a complete inability to run the football paired with a negative script to form the perfect environment for Smith-Njigba to set a season high in targets and receptions. Smith-Njigba has now gone over 100 yards in five of six appearances to start the 2026 regular season and is in a good spot to continue that dominance when the Seahawks host the Chiefs in Week 7, where he remains a top-tier WR1 in fantasy circles.

Smith-Njigba played through an ankle injury in Week 5 and was limited in practice this week before getting a full designation on Wednesday. Despite the short week ahead of a Thursday matchup against the Broncos, he is off the injury report and good to go. Smith-Njigba is once again a top-three wide receiver option for Week 6.

Smith-Njigba gets a second-straight “limited” practice designation. The Seahawks have technically not practiced yet this week but it is notably the 24-year-old receiver gets back-to-back limited designations. With a Thursday matchup against the Broncos on the horizon for Week 6, the Seahawks are leaving the door open for Smith-Njigba to play; he battled the ankle injury in Week 5 and the short week makes this a tougher evaluation. For now, we still expect Smith-Njigba to play against the Broncos on Thursday.

With the Seahawks preparing to face the Broncos on a short week, it would be a bit more concerning if JSN were listed as a DNP. The team listing him as limited on the first day of the week is encouraging after he clearly battled through an ankle injury in Week 5’s loss to the 49ers. Smith-Njigba still topped 100 receiving yards for the fourth time this season and made several big plays despite being in visible pain. We’ll continue to update his practice status throughout the week, but as long as he’s active come Thursday, JSN should be in your fantasy lineups.

JSN appeared to be playing through a bit of an ankle injury in this one, but he looked perfectly fine when he turned what would have been a short two-yard reception upfield for a 16-yard touchdown in the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, as the Seahawks were attempting a comeback, JSN hauled in a 35-yard reception, evading multiple defenders to get the Seahawks to the 50-yard line. A few plays later, he would drop a wide-open pass that may have set the Seahawks up for a game-winning field goal opportunity, but JSN did his part to keep the Seahawks in what proved to be a sloppy game for the offense as a whole. He’s gone for 100-plus yards in four of his first five games of the season and will look for his fifth 100-yard game on Thursday night when the Seahawks visit the Broncos.

For the first time this year, Smith-Njigba was held out of the end zone. It was a quiet day fore the star wideout, but if 78 yards is your worst day (so far), well, you’ve had a pretty good season. JSN and fantasy managers will hope for a return to the end zone and a little more volume against the 49ers in Week 5.

Goodness gracious. Smith-Njigba did have a drop, but it was yet another dominant effort for the 24-year-old. His first touchdown saw him fake a fade route only to comeback to the pylon for an easy six, and then he and Sam Darnold connected for a second time on a pass over the middle in the end zone. That’s already six touchdowns in three games for the 24-year-old, and he’s reached the century mark in all three contests. On top of that, he also completed a 14-yard pass. Asking for this kind of red-zone production every week is tough, but he’s more than capable of these kind of fireworks. Obviously. JSN will be a WR1 and then some for Week 4 against the Chargers.

On the Seahawks’ second play from scrimmage, a Cardinals safety somehow failed to pick up Smith-Njigba, streaking down the right sideline, after he snuck right past CB Will Johnson. Seahawks QB Drew Lock noticed and fired a perfect pass to Smith-Njigba in stride, leading to the Seahawks’ wide receiver’s longest career gain. The rest of the day played out similarly, with Smith-Njigba routing up defenders right and left. He scored again on the Seahawks’ seventh drive, leaping past a diving cornerback to make the catch in the end zone. Lock linked up with him again for a third score in the back of the end zone, threading the ball past a linebacker in the end zone as Smith-Njigba broke left on a crosser, dusting Cardinals S Budda Baker.

Sam Darnold went down with a hip injury on the first drive of the night. It took Drew Lock a couple of drives to dial in on JSN, but it was business as usual once he did. No Seahawk saw more than three targets aside from Smith-Njigba. He finished the night with a monstrous 41.7 percent target share. His highlight of the night wa sa 45-yard catch-and-run for Seattle’s only touchdown of the game. Even if Darnold misses time, JSN’s role is so fantasy-friendly that he will remain well inside the WR1 ranks for his Week 2 date with the Cardinals.

Shaheed reportedly had “major” performances throughout spring practices, hitting it off with QB Sam Darnold. Per Fowler, the Seahawks will continue to use WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba on PPR-friendly short and intermediate routes that helped him finish as the overall WR2 in total PPR scoring. But, rather than keeping Shaheed stuck in a field-stretching role, they plan to direct more short-to-intermediate stuff to Shaheed as well. Shaheed still has to go out and score more points this season, but this is the exact type of role change he needs to elevate above a frustratingly volatile fantasy profile.