Will Seattle Seahawks star Jaxon Smith-Njigba finish as a top 10 player in the NFL in 2026?
Smith-Njigba picked up where he left off from as last season’s AP Offensive Player of the Year and Super Bowl champion with an electric start to the current season. He is on pace to break the NFL’s single-season receiving yards record in 2026 based off of the 405 REC yards he’s recorded through three weeks of action and has led the Seahawks to a 2-1 record. JSN has established himself as the premier wide receiver in the NFL and appears to be slated to finish the season in the same light.
Yet, ESPN ranked Smith-Njigba No. 11 overall on their NFL 100 list for the season, forecasting the order of the players who will perform the best in the league.
”His (Smith-Njigba’s)
1,793 yards led the league and was eighth most all time,” ESPN’s Brady Henderson said. “…He's all skill and no drama, which is why Seattle didn't think twice about giving him a record-setting extension in March. The way he has dominated in training camp suggests that his encore to 2025 will be special as well.”
Justin Jefferson occupied the final spot in the top 10 over JSN after having a down year (by his standards) with the Minnesota Vikings in 2025. While Jefferson’s talent level rivals Smith-Njigba’s, getting the nod over the Seahawks superstar does catch the eye, though an expected bounce back year from Jefferson, and perhaps a slight reduction from the gargantuan numbers that JSN put up last season may lead them both toward like production in 2026.
Nevertheless, JSN is not on pace to slow down in the slightest, while Jefferson, who has led Minnesota to a 3-0 start to the year compared to the Seahawks’ 2-1 record, has 179 REC yards on the season, giving Smith-Njigba a noticeable edge in that department.
This article originally appeared on Seahawks Wire: Seahawks star JSN outside top 10 on ESPN’s NFL 100 list for 2026
