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Jaxon Smith-Njigba Injury History & Updates

Basic StatsJaxon Smith-Njigba's Basic Stats

Jaxon Smith-Njigba
ADP: N/A
Bye: 10
Experience: 1
Age: 22.6
Height: 6'0"
Weight: 197
40 Time: 4.57

Burst Score (Rank): 122.00 (54%)
Agility Score (Rank): 10.50 (99%)
Catch Radius (Rank): 10.15 (76%)

Injury PredictorJaxon Smith-Njigba's Injury Guide

Low Risk

Chance of Injury in 2024

39.9%

% chance misses at least 2 quarters

Chance of Injury per Game

3%

1- 17√1-% Inj/Season

Projected Games Missed 2024

1.20

Durability

3.00

Ability to produce despire relatively minor injuries. 5 being most durable

Injury analysis powered by Draft Sharks Injury Guide, formerly SIP Logo

Injury History

Date League Injury Details
Sep 3, 2022 Non-NFL Thigh Hamstring Strain Grade 2 JSN went down in the season opener vs. Notre Dame. He appeared in only two more games, missing 10 total.
Aug 19, 2023 NFL Hand Wrist Fracture The rookie underwent surgery on August 22 but was able to return to play in Week 1.

Basic StatsJaxon Smith-Njigba's Preseason Player Analysis

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Bottom Line

Smith-Njigba turned in an underwhelming rookie season, in terms of both usage and fantasy production.

The target competition remains tough in 2024 with WRs D.K. Metcalf and Tyler Lockett back. But this will be a brand new offense under first-time NFL OC Ryan Grubb. And Smith-Njigba is a good bet to take a step forward in his second season.

Cheaper in fantasy drafts this year than last, JSN is a nice post-hype target.

What We Learned Last Year

  • Smith-Njigba finished his rookie season with 63 catches, 628 yards, and four TDs in 17 games.
  • He ranked 61st among WRs in PPR points per game; 69th in non-PPR.
  • Smith-Njigba broke a bone in his left wrist in a preseason game on August 19. He had surgery on August 22 and was sidelined for about a week.
  • JSN was ready for the start of the season but didn’t top a 66% route rate in any of his first three games.
  • He registered a 75% route rate in Week 4 and was at 73% or higher in 12 of his final 14 games.
  • From Week 4 on, Smith-Njigba ranked 39th among WRs in PPR points and 44th in non-PPR.
  • He averaged 5.6 targets per game on a 16.7% share across those final 14 games.
    • D.K. Metcalf led the Seahawks with 7.7 targets per game over that span. Tyler Lockett ranked second with 7.2 targets per game.
  • Smith-Njigba’s 1.32 yards per route ranked 57th among 80 qualifying WRs and 11th among 14 qualifying rookies.
  • He played 68% of his snaps in the slot.
  • Smith-Njigba’s 6.4-yard average target depth ranked 77th among those 80 WRs. Only 11 of his 93 targets came 20+ yards downfield.
  • JSN’s 5.9 yards after the catch per reception ranked 10th among those 80 WRs.
  • The Seahawks made Smith-Njigba the first WR off the board with the 20th overall pick of the 2023 draft. His 2022 junior season was wiped out by a hamstring injury, but JSN racked up 95 catches for 1,606 yards and nine TDs as a sophomore, out-producing both Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave.

What to Expect in 2024

  • The Seahawks return QB Geno Smith and last year’s top six targets:
    • Smith-Njigba
    • WR D.K. Metcalf
    • WR Tyler Lockett
    • TE Noah Fant
    • RB Ken Walker
    • RB Zach Charbonnet
  • Seattle has a brand new coaching staff led by HC Mike Macdonald and OC Ryan Grubb. That can’t be bad news for Smith-Njigba after the underwhelming usage last year.
  • This will be Grubb’s first NFL coaching job.
    • He’s been coaching in various offensive roles for various schools since 2003.
    • Grubb most recently served as the University of Washington’s OC. Those Huskies teams both ranked top 13 in the nation in total yards and points per game.
    • They were especially lethal through the air, ranking first and then second in passing yards per game. Washington ranked top five in pass attempts both years.
  • Grubb said in early June that his Seahawks offense might not be as pass-heavy.
    • “So when you talk about some of the run-pass balance, you have backs like (Kenneth Walker III) and Zach (Charbonnet), you are pretty excited about your ability to run the ball. So I think for us we are trying to meld some things together with some things we’ve done in the past, whether it’s a long time ago or even just the last few years and get the guys to understand that we want to be a physically dominant team and at the same time have that same explosive, confusing element that people are used to.”
  • Grubb loved throwing deep at Washington. QB Michael Penix ranked fourth in passes of 20+ yards in 2022 and then led the country in 2023.
  • We’ll see exactly what that means for Smith-Njibga this year. It’s worth noting that he had just a 9.3-yard average target depth in that big 2021 season but earned a 99.9 Pro Football Focus receiving grade on deep targets.
  • While Metcalf is in his prime at 26, Lockett turns 32 in September and is in decline.
  • Smith-Njigba turned 22 in February. Our aging-curve data says Round 1 WRs go from 77% peak production at age-21 to 94% at age-22.

Recent Injury Bites View All Shark Bites »

Geno Smith, QB SEA

2:56pm EST 12/19/23

Geno Smith expected back for Week 16

Seahawks HC Pete Carroll said Tuesday that he expects QB Geno Smith (groin) to have a full week of practice and play vs. the Titans on Sunday. Smith appeared on track to return for Monday night's game vs. the Eagles but suffered a setback during the week. So he's not a lock to be out there this weekend. But we are projecting it to be Smith under center for the Seahawks in Nashville.

View all Geno Smith Shark Bites »

NFL Network's Ian Rapoport confirms that Seahawks QB Geno Smith (groin) is a "long shot" to play against the Eagles tonight. FOX Sports' Jay Glazer had a similar report just before the 1 pm ET games kicked off on Sunday. Smith hasn't been ruled out yet, but "he's gotta improve a lot from now until game time to be able to play," per Rapoport. It'll be QB Drew Lock under center for Seattle if Smith is out. Lock played well vs. the 49ers last week, throwing for 269 yards, two TDs, and two INTs on a 71% completion rate and 8.7 yards per attempt. But he also has three seasons of underwhelming play for the Broncos on his resume. Lock would certainly add some downside to Seattle's offense tonight.

View all Geno Smith Shark Bites »

Seahawks QB Geno Smith (groin) won't play vs. the 49ers today, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. Smith suffered what ESPN's Adam Schefter termed a two-week groin injury in Thursday's practice. We'll see if Smith can make it back for next Monday night's game vs. the Eagles. QB Drew Lock starts today for the first time since 2021. He's a significant downgrade from Smith for Seattle's pass catchers.

Update: Smith is officially INACTIVE.

View all Geno Smith Shark Bites »

Seahawks QB Geno Smith (groin) is "trending in the wrong direction" for this afternoon's game vs. the 49ers, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. The team will wait until pregame warmups before making a final decision on Smith's status, but we're now projecting QB Drew Lock to get the start, which lowered all three Seahawks WRs in the Week 14 Rankings. We'll get Seattle's inactives a little after 2:30 pm ET.

View all Geno Smith Shark Bites »

The Seahawks are not expected to decide on QB Geno Smith's status for today's game vs. the 49ers until pregame warmups, ESPN's Adam Schefter reports. Smith suffered what's considered a two-week groin injury in Thursday's practice, per Schefter. "The Seahawks sounded guarded and uncertain Saturday night after they arrived in San Francisco," Schefter writes. "As tough as Smith is, they know there's a real possibility they could be without him Sunday." NFL Network's Ian Rapoport has a similar report, saying Smith's status is "up in the air" and that QB Drew Lock is "preparing to start." We won't get Seattle's inactives until a little after 2:30 pm ET for this 4:05 kickoff. At this point, we're working under the assumption that it'll be Lock at QB today. That's bad news for the Seahawks skill-position players, particularly the WRs.

View all Geno Smith Shark Bites »

How do Injuries impact your draft strategy?

For us, it's 1/17th of the equation. Hear us out.

The Draft War Room is the only live-sync draft tool that monitors 17 crucial in-draft indicators, including injury likelihood… and adapts to show you which players to pick throughout your draft.

See how we built the 17 indicators into our Draft War Room »
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