Jaxon Smith-Njigba isn’t just playing well this season, he’s absolutely cooking, putting up a ridiculous 32 catches for 481 yards and six touchdowns through just four games! Our star receiver is proving he’s a straight-up problem for any defense, no matter who’s throwing him the ball. The San Francisco 49ers have a massive challenge ahead of them this week trying to mitigate his impact, even though they’re one of the league’s best at limiting explosive plays.
“Not Always The Best Thing”: Why The Niners Won’t Shadow JSN
Remember back in the day when teams would stick their best corner on an elite receiver all game? Like when Marvin Harrison or Reggie Wayne just camped out on one side of the field? Well, according to 49ers defensive coordinator Raheem Morris, those days are pretty much over, especially when it comes to JSN. Morris said on Thursday, “Back in the day when you shadowed somebody, you moved, the other people didn’t move… But as you see in today’s game, there’s a bunch of different things that happen, moving parts.” Even though their corner Deommodore Lenoir has asked for the assignment, San Francisco has opted not to shadow elite outside receivers, and it sounds like that won’t change this Sunday. Morris confirmed Lenoir “will be matched up with [Smith-Njigba] a bunch… but we won’t do necessarily the shadow thing where you follow him inside, you follow him outside.” Sounds like they’re trying to play it cool, but you know what that really means.
Our Hawks’ Genius Scheme Is Breaking Defenses
The biggest reason the Niners can’t just slap one guy on Jaxon? Our Hawks are too smart! One of JSN’s biggest assets is how he wins no matter where he lines up on the field. Our offensive coordinator, Brian Fleury, does an incredible job drawing targets for him by aligning him all over the place. Morris himself admitted, “receivers are all over the place. As you see our guys moving around all over the place, there’s not just a stationary X anymore, a stationary Z. It just doesn’t work that way.” He even name-dropped guys like Patrick Surtain and Jalen Ramsey as corners who face this dilemma. Modern quarterbacks are “too smart” to give away defensive tells before the snap, forcing defenses to adapt on the fly. Good luck with that when JSN is bouncing from the slot to the outside to the backfield all game!
So, the 49ers think they can outsmart Jaxon by not shadowing him? Good luck with that! Our guy is a force, tearing up defenses with 32 catches for 481 yards and six touchdowns already. This Sunday, we’re going to see if their “modern game” strategy can actually slow down a receiver who’s clearly built different. You know JSN is ready to show ’em what’s up.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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