Seahawks QB Sam Darnold Reveals What Makes Jaxon Smith-Njigba So Great

The Seattle Seahawks‘ path to Super Bowl LX victory was multilayered and more nuanced than this, but two moves from last offseason played a significant role: trading wide receiver DK Metcalf to the Pittsburgh Steelers and signing quarterback Sam Darnold in free agency.

Metcalf’s move to Pittsburgh cleared the way for Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Seattle’s first-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, to become a true No. 1 wide receiver. He and Darnold instantly got the best out of each other.

Smith-Njigba led the NFL with 1,793 yards on a career-high 119 catches en route to winning the AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year, while Darnold proved his breakout season with the Minnesota Vikings in 2024 was anything but a fluke.

Darnold appeared on “Green Light with Chris Long” this week, and Long pressed the revived QB to identify what makes his WR1 so special.

“The way he runs routes - and I’ve used this a ton - but it looks like he’s skating out there, and he doesn’t really change levels,” Darnold said. “He just runs routes at the same level, and he just kind of glides. I think it makes it really, really hard on defenders to be able to cover him because they don’t know whether he’s about to put it down in the ground and change directions, or whether he’s gonna give them a hesi and keep going on that same line, or if he’s just gonna run by them.”

Darnold credited the Seahawks coaching staff for designing receivers on the same route stems to confuse defenses before paying Smith-Njigba another compliment.

“He’s got incredible body awareness,” Darnold said. “I think that’s one thing I have to say about him, too, is his body awareness, body control. When he goes up in the air to make a play, he knows where he is on the field. He knows when he can toe-tap, when he can stay up, and he’s also really strong.”

Long compared Smith-Njigba’s route-running to Vikings All-Pro receiver Justin Jefferson, with whom Darnold connected for 1,533 yards and 10 touchdowns in the 2024 season.

Darnold will get with Smith-Njigba what he didn’t with Jefferson: Year 2. The Seahawks made Smith-Njigba the highest-paid wide receiver in NFL history with a contract extension in March, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, while Darnold signed a three-year deal in March 2025.

Watch Darnold’s full “Green Light” appearance below.

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This story was originally published May 29, 2026 at 10:59 PM.