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Seahawks Reacts Survey: Any early concerns about Jaxon Smith-Njigba?

The first receiver taken in the 2023 NFL Draft hasn’t had the greatest of starts.

By Mookie Alexander
/ new
Seattle Seahawks v Detroit Lions Photo by Nic Antaya/Getty Images

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NFL. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Seattle Seahawks fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.

We’ve reached Week 4 of the 2023 NFL regular season, which means another week of Seahawks Reacts survey questions. The confidence question is standard, and moving forward so will the final score prediction for the Seahawks’ upcoming game. This week will see Seattle face the New York Giants on a Monday night, and the Giants are a slight home favorite.

The big question of the week is all about Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Taken No. 20 overall out of Ohio State, JSN was all the rage in training camp and in preseason, only for a minor setback to occur when he injured his wrist against the Dallas Cowboys. Through three regular season games, Smith-Njigba had 9 catches for just 57 yards on 14 targets. His average depth of target is just 2.7 yards, which is not how this was supposed to go.

Here’s some footage of Geno Smith showcasing his leadership talking to JSN last Sunday against the Carolina Panthers.

Another side to this would be the fact that JSN is still recovering from that injury, and the Seahawks are so beaten up along the offensive line that it’s forced Seattle to revert to a lot of 12 and 13 personnel with multiple tight ends in the game. Absent the injuries, Smith-Njigba is not a typical first-round receiver from this year’s class because he’s not a top-2 option at the moment. Zay Flowers is pretty much the top guy for the Baltimore Ravens, while Jordan Addison is WR2 for the Minnesota Vikings. JSN is a little similar to Quentin Johnston of the Los Angeles Chargers, who has just 5 catches for 26 yards and was behind Keenan Allen and Mike Williams on the depth chart before Williams got hurt.

And lastly... it’s three games. We haven’t even seen a lot of big deep passes to DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett yet, and the target share may adjust in the weeks to come. Maybe there isn’t really reason to be alarmed at all, which is why that’s an option in this poll! Answer the three questions below!

Check back at the end of the week (Friday or Saturday) and we’ll have the results for you in a separate article.

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