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Jaxon Smith-Njigba had another memorable night as the Seattle Seahawks dominated the Kansas City Chiefs 20-3 in a Week 7 encounter. Smith-Njigba caught nine passes for 150 yards and one touchdown to continue his scorching start to the season for the reigning Super Bowl champions.
After the game, the wide receiver’s brother, Canaan Smith-Njigba, made the case for the Seahawks star to be considered in the MVP debate.
The elder Smith-Njigba argued that the MVP Award was meant for the league’s best player, not the best quarterback, as it has become in recent years.
“MVP means MOST VALUABLE PLAYER, not “best quarterback.” Who brings the most value to their team? That’s the conversation. J.S.N.,” Canaan Smith-Njigba wrote.
Smith-Njigba has amassed 867 receiving yards and 8 touchdowns on 58 receptions for the Seahawks this season, earning the league’s best PFN Wide Receiver Impact score of 100.0.
The 2026 MVP race is dominated by quarterbacks, led by Buffalo Bills star Josh Allen and San Francisco 49ers standout Brock Purdy, with Smith-Njigba on the periphery of the conversation.
Smith-Njigba leads the league in receiving yards and touchdowns, with the next-best receiver amassing 636 yards (Chris Olave). The Seahawks standout has managed six games of 100-plus yards this season, and he joined an elite list that includes Adam Thielen, Michael Irvin, and Marvin Harrison Sr. as the only receivers in the Super Bowl era with at least 100 receiving yards in six of their team’s first seven games of a season.
Smith-Njigba’s 867 receiving yards are also the third-most by any receiver in the Super Bowl era in the first seven games of a season. He is on pace to break Calvin Johnson’s long-standing NFL record for receiving yards in a season (1,964 yards), set in 2012 during a 16-game campaign.
The former Ohio State Buckeyes star is averaging 123.9 yards per game this season, compared to Johnson’s 122.8 yards per game in 2012, and could be set for the league’s first 2,000-yard receiving season.
During his postgame press conference, Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald lavished praise on Smith-Njigba’s stunning production.
“He’s tremendous,” Macdonald said. “I don’t know how else to describe him. I’d love to brag on him more, but he’s tremendous… You’d be crazy not to try to make him the primary on as many concepts as you can. Maybe sometimes he’s on the backside of a concept and we can get to him.”
Last season, Smith-Njigba was the league’s receiving yards leader and won the NFL Offensive Player of the Year after registering 1,793 yards and 10 touchdowns on 119 receptions for the Super Bowl champions.
Since being selected No. 20 overall in the 2023 NFL Draft by the Seahawks, the wide receiver has earned two Pro Bowl nods and a First-team All-Pro selection last year.