Smith-Njigba led the NFL in receiving yards with 1,793 — more than he had in his first two seasons combined — on 119 catches with 10 touchdowns. Arguably the most impressive thing about his third NFL season was his consistency: Smith-Njigba racked up 72 or more receiving yards in 15 of his 17 games.
Not surprisingly, Smith-Njigba was named one of three consensus All-Pro selections for the 2025 NFL season.
When the Seahawks signed DK Metcalf and signed Cooper Kupp last offseason, there was a question of whether Smith-Njigba would be ready to take over the No. 1 receiver spot — especially with a new quarterback in Sam Darnold. Those concerns turned out to be unwarranted as Darnold and Smith-Njigba formed one of the best passing combinations in the NFL last season.
In Week 1, Smith-Njigba caught nine passes for 124 yards. He averaged 119.4 yards over his first 11 games of the season and helped the Seahawks to their best record (14-3) in franchise history and helped the team earn its fourth Super Bowl appearance in franchise history.
Smith-Njigba also became the first player to lead the NFL in receiving yards while playing for the No. 1 team in his conference since Hall of Famer Jerry Rice in 1994, winning Super Bowl XXIX with the 49ers that season.
Part of the reason for JSN’s increased production was in the way the Seahawks used him. According to Next Gen Stats, Smith-Njigba led the NFL in deep receiving yards during the 2025 season with 542, which was 88 more than the next player (CeeDee Lamb, 454). Smith-Njigba also led the league in deep receptions with 13, a stark contrast to his deep production in his first two seasons in the NFL. In the 2023 and 2024 seasons combined, he had just 11 deep receptions for 325 yards on 25 targets.
It was the seventh straight season the Offensive Player of the Year award was given to a non-quarterback, snapping a two-year streak by running back Saquon Barkley took home the award in 2024 and McCaffrey won it in 2023. The last QB to win the award was Patrick Mahomes in 2018 when he also won MVP honors.