For the second time this year, Seattle sports fans are watching a local player chase an incredible record.
Record-chasing JSN could be the NFL’s first 2,000-yard receiver
This summer Cal Raleigh was racing to set a new record for home runs by a catcher. He then broke it and advanced to 60, becoming one of only seven players to do so.
This fall, Seattle Seahawks fans are watching as third-year receiver Jackson Smith-Njigba not only chases the NFL record for receiving yards in a season, which has stood for 13 years, but he also has a chance to do something we’ve never seen before: 2,000 receiving yards in a season.
Here are three numbers you need to know as JSON is chasing records.
Your first number that matters is: 1,964
Let’s get the most obvious out of the way because you’ll be hearing this on repeat for the next six weeks.
Detroit Lions receiver Calvin Johnson set the current record (1,964 yards) in 2012. He became the first player to touch 1,900 yards in a season, and since then only one player has come close – current Seahawks receiver Cooper Kupp, who had 1,947 for the Los Angeles Rams in 2021.
Interestingly, some players, including Smith-Njigba, have surpassed Johnson at this point in the season. Obviously, previous names have failed to surpass him. But can JSON do it?
Johnson currently has 1,313 yards, which is slightly more than Johnson’s 1,257 yards throughout Week 12. But Johnson did not set the record when the season was only 16 games instead of 17, but his pace improved rapidly in the second half; He added nearly 500 yards between Week 8 and Week 12 alone.
Producing at a similar pace to Jayson in 2023 was Tyreek Hill, who scored 1,324 points at the same point in the season for Miami. Perhaps it was the serious ankle injury he suffered in December, but Hill averaged less than 100 yards a carry in the final four games of the season and finished with 1,799 yards (seventh all-time).
Your second number that matters is: 109
Now we are just doing the math. To break Johnson’s record by one yard, Jason would need to average 109 yards per game (108.6) over the final six weeks. An average of 115 (687 yards over the next six games) would put him over 2,000.
Two of Seattle’s next six opponents have bottom-10 defenses against the pass this year: the 49ers, who are 26th (240 passing yards allowed per game), and the Colts, who are 28th (245 passing yards allowed per game). They rank 11th and 12th, respectively, in fantasy points allowed to receivers.
Only one of the Seahawks’ remaining opponents has a top-10 defense against the pass: the Vikings, whom they play on Sunday.
Your third number that matters is: 1
This is less about JSN chasing history and more about a strange quirk with this specific piece of history.
Only one of the top 10 players in single-season receiving yards during the Super Bowl era has made it to the Super Bowl (ironically, it’s JSN’s teammate Kupp). The Johnson Lions finished 4–12. Julio Jones’ Falcons did not make the playoffs, nor did Isaac Bruce’s 1995 Rams (although both players would eventually make the Super Bowl with those teams).
It looks like the 8-3 Seahawks are sure to make the playoffs, but how far can they get? Could Smith-Njigba, like his teammate, get the opportunity to chase history and Lombardi in the same season?
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