Jaxon Smith-Njigba isn’t just having a good start to the season, he’s absolutely blowing up, already accounting for a ridiculous 42% of Seattle’s entire offense through just two games! This dude is proving his Offensive Player of the Year campaign from last season was no fluke.
JSN Is Just Different, And The Emerald City Is Hyped
We’re talking about a guy who earned Offensive Player of the Year in just his second NFL season, right? And now he’s doing it again, looking even more dominant. Last year, he accounted for 44% of Seattle’s receiving offense, and this year, he’s basically the whole dang engine of our offense. Can he keep this up? You gotta wonder, but man, watching him ball out like this for the Emerald City is something else. He’s making a serious case for back-to-back hardware already.
The Walker Situation: Our Former MVP Is Cooking (But There’s A Catch)
Okay, so let’s talk about Kenneth Walker III for a sec. Yeah, he was our Super Bowl MVP last season, and yeah, it stings seeing him tear it up for the Kansas City Chiefs after they signed him to that three-year, $45 million deal in free agency. The dude’s the only running back with back-to-back 100-yard performances through the first two games. He’s leading the whole league with 290 rushing yards, snagged a touchdown, and is averaging an insane 6.2 yards per carry. Plus, he’s got nine receptions for 79 yards and another score. He’s definitely added more explosiveness to that Chiefs offense, with nine rushes of at least 10 yards already, compared to only 44 all of 2025.
But here’s the thing the talking heads might gloss over: Walker’s also benefiting BIG from playing with Patrick Mahomes. With Mahomes back from that season-ending knee injury, defenses are stressing about the pass game, giving Walker way more light boxes, six or fewer defenders at the line of scrimmage, on 36.2% of his runs this year. With us last season, it was only 26.7%, according to Next Gen Stats. It ain’t just all him, you know? Plus, remember all the concerns about his durability and nagging injuries? That’s why we had him in a job share with Zach Charbonnet here in Seattle. The Chiefs are already running him into the ground with a league-high 56 touches! He had 257 touches with us all of last season because we were smart about limiting him so he’d be effective in the postseason. This season, he’s on pace for 391 touches, which would be a career high. KC better get smart and use talented rookie Emmett Johnson to spell him, or that $45 million is gonna be collecting dust on the bench.
As we head into Week 3, the early award races are already heating up. Jaxon Smith-Njigba is making a ridiculously strong case for Offensive Player of the Year. Meanwhile, Dallas Turner from Minnesota is dominating on defense, tied for third in sacks with three, leading the league with 20 quarterback pressures and 11 quarterback hits. These early trends are wild, and the 12s are absolutely buzzing watching JSN lead the charge. What a start to the season!
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Fox Sports.
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