RENTON, Wash. – Sometimes, a shrug communicates what words never could.
Take Game 1 of the 1992 NBA Finals, when Michael Jordan made a meme – a moment that still somehow circulates on social media. After sinking his record sixth 3-pointer in the first half, Jordan shook his head at floundering Portland Trail Blazers defender Cliff Robinson. He then turned toward NBC commentator and longtime foil Magic Johnson, who was sitting courtside, and unfurled a famous shrug – as baffled as anyone by his own artistry.
That’s because Jordan – whose resume, I assume, requires no regurgitation – had converted just 27% of his 3-point tries during the previous season.
Sometimes, athletic excellence is not so easy to explain.
Which brings us to Sunday, moments after the Seahawks’ 20-17 victory over the San Francisco 49ers, when Jaxon Smith-Njigba sauntered to a lectern inside Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
“You just get 100-yard games every time now?” a reporter asked Seattle’s ascending wide receiver.
He shrugged and shook his head, a bashful butcher in a brown bucket hat.
“I don’t know,” Smith-Njigba said. “I just seized an opportunity, that’s it.”
If you were watching, you know that’s not remotely it – that Smith-Njigba’s je ne sais quoi is not so simple to explain. The 6-foot, 197-pound receiver lacks teammate DK Metcalf’s audacious athleticism, nor does he flash a 40-yard dash to dust defenders.
So, how does he do it? How did Smith-Njigba finish with seven catches, 180 receiving yards and two touchdowns in an overtime loss to the Rams on Nov. 3? How did he add 10 catches (on 11 targets) and 110 yards – including four grabs for 38 yards on the winning drive – against San Francisco on Sunday? How has he produced extended glimpses of an understated arsenal?
“This may sound bad, but his nonchalance,” Metcalf said. “He knows he’s going to get open. He knows what he can do. He knows his ability any time he lines up on a field.
“To a coach, it may be nonchalant, or to a player. But since I know him and I’m in the room with him, that’s just how he plays the game – very loose. ‘I’m going to be me out there.’ I think that’s the best way to approach it: just be yourself and let the chips fall where they may.”
Likewise, when asked how Smith-Njigba has excelled, coach Mike Macdonald said: “He’s winning different ways, which speaks to him as a player. He’s winning in certain (man-to-man defensive) situations where he’s running away from guys, and he’s winning one-on-one battles. And then in the zone stuff, I think it speaks to the design and feeling where the defenders are, (quarterback Geno Smith) knowing where to go with the ball and getting through his progressions, having time to get through the progression. There are some cool, extended-play moments where you feel like he and Geno are on the same page. That’ll get you a few sneaky catches by the end of the game, too.
“It’s kind of all the things right now, which is exciting.”
The question is whether that excitement can be expanded/sustained. After the Seahawks selected Smith-Njigba with the 20th pick in the 2023 NFL draft, his rookie results were uneven. The former Ohio State standout recorded 63 catches for 628 yards and four touchdowns last season.
He didn’t surpass seven catches or 63 yards in a game, making a modest impact alongside Metcalf and veteran Tyler Lockett. Until recently, his sophomore season had yielded more of the same, as an early peak (12 catches for 117 yards against New England on Sept. 15) was bordered by extended valleys.
With Metcalf’s contract expiring after next season, and the 32-year-old Lockett on his 10th year in the league, Smith-Njigba may soon be the Seahawks’ most enticing option. But the 22-year-old technician has never been bothered by a crowded wide-receiver room.
At Ohio State, Smith-Njigba starred alongside four wide receivers who have developed into first-round picks: the New York Jets’ Garrett Wilson (No. 10 overall in 2022), New Orleans’ Chris Olave (No. 11 in 2022), Detroit’s Jameson Williams (No. 12 in 2022) and Arizona’s Marvin Harrison Jr. (No. 4 in 2024).
Smith-Njigba (60 catches, 678 receiving yards, three touchdowns in 2024) and Harrison (33, 499, six) will reunite at Lumen Field on Sunday with an NFC West lead on the line, as Seattle (5-5) hosts Arizona (6-4).
Although Smith-Njigba was left on the draft board longer than his fellow Buckeyes, his peer review is resounding. In 2021, Wilson called Smith-Njigba – then an unproven sophomore – “the most natural athlete I’ve ever seen.”
His former quarterback, current Houston Texans stalwart C.J. Stroud, dubbed him “the best route runner I’ve ever played with in my life.”
Wilson and Olave have declared Smith-Njigba the best of the Buckeyes bunch.
Metcalf, too, had to watch only one game to know what Seattle was getting.
“That was all I needed to see,” Metcalf said of the 2022 Rose Bowl, in which Smith-Njigba had 15 catches for 347 yards and three touchdowns in a 48-45 win over Utah.
In short, Smith-Njigba can continue to shrug.
His teammates will do the talking.
Besides, some athletic feats are simply better seen than said.