Seattle Seahawks superstar wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba deserves to be right in the thick of the AP NFL MVP race this season following his huge performance in Week 8, but a loss to the Chicago Bears and a competitive field make the battle a heated one heading into Week 9.

NFL.com ranked Smith-Njigba No. 5 overall in their latest MVP tracker following the Week 8 slate of games around the league, highlighting his historic pace and dominance in Seattle’s offense as reason for him being the highest-ranked non-quarterback on the list.

“In prime time, the wideout put up 118 yards and a TD; the rest of Seattle's offense generated 134 total yards,” NFL.com’s Kevin Patra said. “No other Seahawks pass catcher had more than 26 receiving yards -- combined they totaled 70. This season, JSN has 51.5% of the Seahawks' receiving yards and 39.2% of the receptions. Smith-Njigba's 123.1 yards per game keeps him above Calvin Johnson’s record-setting pace (1,964) and puts him on track for 2,092.7 receiving yards over 17 games.”

Buffalo Bills superstar quarterback Josh Allen (No. 1), San Francisco 49ers QB Brock Purdy (No. 2), Cincinnati Bengals QB Joe Burrow (No. 3) and Jaxonville Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence (No. 4) came in ahead of Smith-Njigba on the list.

Smith-Njigba is doing it all this season, as he leads the league in receiving yards with 985 and receiving touchdowns with nine. The Seahawks are 4-4 on the year, which hurts his MVP chances greatly, given the fact that winning matters incredibly when splitting hairs in the race, but given all that he’s done this year and what he’s on pace to achieve if kept up, he is putting together an MVP-caliber performance thus far this year.