Super Bowl 2026: Jaxon Smith-Njigba is everywhere all at once. Can Patriots, Christian Gonzalez slow him down?
Jaxon Smith-Njigba paints over defensive pictures. The grass is his canvas, and his route-running is his brush.
The Seattle Seahawks wide receiver doubles as an artist in that way. A master of deception, Smith-Njigba conceals his routes until it’s time to strike. He pairs releases so as not to tip his hand to what he’s running, and he frequently starts them with twitchy yet somehow smooth moves that create separation before you can say his three-letter nickname.
advertisement
“JSN” is a double-move salesman, perhaps the best in the NFL, and he’s thrived as a three-level threat in Klint Kubiak’s Seahawks offense.
The same player who rewrote the Rose Bowl record book with 347 yards receiving as an Ohio State standout in Pasadena four years ago is back in California, this time in Santa Clara, where he and the NFC champion Seahawks will play the AFC champion New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX on Sunday.
Smith-Njigba became quarterback Sam Darnold’s right-hand man, leading the NFL with 1,793 receiving yards this season while operating out of a run-first Seattle offense that complements one of the league’s most imposing defenses in recent memory.
advertisement
Out of 19 total games this season, including the playoffs, Smith-Njigba has recorded at least 70 receiving yards in 17 of them. In the other two outings, the Seahawks outscored their opponents by a combined 67-6.
The Patriots’ best bet to slow down Smith-Njigba is third-year cornerback Christian Gonzalez, a fellow 2023 first-rounder. The Oregon product has honed a craft that puts him in the upper echelon of players at his position. JSN even called him “elite” on Tuesday at Super Bowl media availability.
Gonzalez has great closing speed and underrated physicality. Plus, he has the numbers to back it up. The 6-foot-1, 205-pound corner hasn’t allowed more than 67 receiving yards in a game this season, counting the playoffs, and he’s conceded just one touchdown catch all season, per Pro Football Focus.
advertisement
“It’s going to be a fun matchup,” Smith-Njigba said. “Great player.”
When the Seahawks and Patriots met in 2024, JSN and Gonzalez didn’t match up
These teams squared off in 2024. It was Week 2. Smith-Njigba had already embarked on what would be his first 1,000-yard receiving season, and Gonzalez would ultimately earn second-team All-Pro honors.
According to PFF, all 16 of the times Smith-Njigba was targeted that day, he was covered by other defenders. Namely Patriots nickel Marcus Jones had the burden of tracking down a shifty Smith-Njigba, who lined up 80.9% of his pass snaps that game in the slot, per PFF.
advertisement
Smith-Njigba caught a season-high 12 passes for 117 yards during a 23-20 overtime win in Foxborough. He was one of two 100-yard receivers for the Seahawks in Gillette Stadium that afternoon. The other was DK Metcalf, whom Gonzalez was tasked with guarding. Gonzalez was targeted seven times in that matchup with Metcalf, yet he gave up only 27 receiving yards across four receptions, per PFF. The bulk of Metcalf’s production, including a touchdown, came against different Patriots.
This past offseason, the Seahawks traded Metcalf to the Pittsburgh Steelers and hired Kubiak as their new offensive coordinator. Smith-Njigba began his migration to the outside, where Gonzalez lines up for the lion’s share of his defensive snaps.
Because Seattle moves JSN everywhere, don’t expect to see the showdown every play
Smith-Njigba has seen his role and his route tree steadily expand over his first three seasons in the NFL under three different coordinators. His potential has now seemingly been unlocked since Kubiak took over the offense this season.
Kubiak has given Smith-Njigba plenty of opportunities on the perimeter, both at the X and Z positions. This season, per PFF, he lined up 76.8% of his pass snaps out wide, a drastic increase from the two seasons prior when he spent the majority of his time in the slot.
advertisement
Smith-Njigba has set up shop everywhere in Year 3: inside, outside and even in the backfield, from which he ran 10 routes during the regular season and five more in two playoff games, according to Next Gen Stats. His 84 receiving yards were the most recorded by wide receivers in that alignment from Weeks 1-18, per NGS. In the NFC championship, Smith-Njigba ran a pair of routes out of the backfield, one of which resulted in his 14-yard touchdown catch before halftime in a 31-27 win that saw him finish with 10 receptions for 153 yards.
Smith-Njigba started that scoring play as an outside receiver before moving pre-snap into the backfield, and against the Patriots on Sunday, that kind of pre-snap motion could temporarily remove Smith-Njigba from Gonzalez’s shadow, especially if he burrows into the backfield again.
There could be some popcorn-worthy moments between the two stars on the outside. After leading the NFL in slot receiving yards last season, Smith-Njigba was first in the league in receiving yards from a wide alignment this season. He’s the only receiver in the NGS era (2016-on) to rank first in both categories.
This time around, he was also tops among wide receivers in receptions of 20-plus air yards (13) and out-breaking route receiving yards (416), and he was a close second when it came to in-breaking route receiving yards (828), per NGS.
advertisement
Defenses know where the ball’s going when Darnold drops back to pass. Smith-Njigba piled up more than double the targets of every other Seahawks receiver during the regular season. And, yet, the versatile playmaker still consistently wins. Granted, he benefited from Kubiak’s schematic genius that reportedly landed the Shanahan tree OC a head-coaching job with the Las Vegas Raiders, but Smith-Njigba wouldn’t be as dominant without the fluidity of his savvy footwork or the strength and timing of his hands.
Now we get to see if Gonzalez and the Patriots’ defense can limit JSN. The answer to that question could play a big role in who wins Super Bowl LX.
