REIGNING OPOY JSN WANTS TO BE 'UPGRADED VERSION' IN '26REIGNING OPOY JAXON SMITH-NJIGBA WANTS TO BE 'AN UPGRADED VERSION' OF HIMSELF IN 2026

Here's a countdown of the 10 best highlight plays from Jaxon Smith-Njigba during the 2025 NFL season. The Seattle Seahawks wide receiver won the NFL's Offensive Player of the Year award in this campaign.

Jaxon Smith-Njigba authored an award-winning 2025 season, earning the Offensive Player of the Year award en route to leading the Seattle Seahawks to a Super Bowl championship, which landed him the richest contract ever for a receiver.

For the All-Pro, that’s all in the past. JSN is focusing on creating a new future.

“We want to create a new story with this upcoming season,” Smith-Njigba said, via the Associated Press. “And because it’s different, we do have different guys, we got different people in the building, so it’s going to be a unique story and a unique challenge -- different from last year. So, we’re excited to take it on.”

The Seahawks lost several key players from their Lombardi-lifting squad, including Kenneth Walker III, Boye Mafe, Riq Woolen and others. The club also watched Klint Kubiak become head coach in Las Vegas.

With a different cast in 2026, JSN wants to be a new version of himself as well.

“I want y’all to see different levels, almost a different player out there, and just kind of an upgraded version,” Smith-Njigba said. “I always say I can get better in all areas.”

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As they say, if you’re not improving, you’re getting worse.

JSN proved last season that he’s one of the elite receivers in the NFL. His sublime route-running ability enables him to get open with ease, allowing easy targets for Sam Darnold. Smith-Njigba led the NFL with 1,793 yards last season, the eighth-most all-time.

Improving would put JSN in a spot to threaten Calvin Johnson’s all-time single-season receiving record.

The big question on offense entering training camp is how the unit will look different under first-time play caller Brian Fleury. Thus far, Smith-Njigba likes what he’s seen.

“I love new stuff and new perspectives,” Smith-Njigba said. “As a player, it’s your chance to grow. And for me, I feel like whatever the coach asks, I can do it. And so it’s kind of cool just having a different mindset, a different coach.”

We won’t know how Fleury’s offense operates until we see it in action. The question from a JSN perspective is whether the new OC will be as creative as Kubiak was at moving the wideout around the field to create mismatch issues for defenses.

The mindset in Seattle has been the same in 2026: Focus on the task ahead.

“The Super Bowl was great. You know, love to have it, but at the end of the day, we got to brush that off to the side,” Smith-Njigba said.