📰 NEWS FLASH: Crosby Said It Out Loud—Seattle’s Front Office Saw This Coming ⚡.DH

Jaxon Smith-Njigba didn’t ease into the spotlight this season. He stepped straight into it—and now even opposing stars are saying the quiet part out loud.

As the Seattle Seahawks prepare for the Super Bowl, the league’s respect for Smith-Njigba is no longer subtle. Las Vegas Raiders edge rusher Maxx Crosby, one of the NFL’s most relentless defenders, delivered a blunt assessment that felt less like praise and more like confirmation.

“JSN is unreal,” Crosby said. “He’s been going nuclear.”

That wasn’t hyperbole. Smith-Njigba’s 2025 season reads like a franchise-defining leap: 119 receptions, 1,793 yards, and 10 touchdowns across 17 games. In the playoffs, the production didn’t dip—it sharpened.

Thirteen catches, 172 yards, and two scores in two games, capped by a dominant NFC Championship performance against the Rams where he posted 10 receptions for 153 yards and a touchdown.

Crosby’s point went deeper than the box score.

He explicitly tied Smith-Njigba’s rise to Seattle’s controversial offseason decisions—moving on from DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett. At the time, those moves were debated, questioned, and second-guessed. Crosby reframed them as foresight.

“They knew how good he was,” Crosby said. “By letting DK go and Tyler Lockett go… you’ve got to give them credit.”

That’s a striking admission from a rival defender. It suggests Seattle didn’t stumble into a No. 1 receiver—they cleared the runway for one they already believed in.

Smith-Njigba has embraced that responsibility without theatrics. After the NFC title win, his comments weren’t about stats or validation. They were about obligation.

“I told my team, ‘Whatever you ask for me, I’m going to get it done,’” he said. “That’s what you saw today—grit, determination, passion.”

There’s a throughline here: trust. The front office trusted the player. The quarterback trusted the route. The player trusted the moment. That trust has become Seattle’s offensive identity.

And Smith-Njigba isn’t alone in the spotlight. Quarterback Sam Darnold—once labeled a bust—has earned rare public praise from Joe Montana. The Hall of Famer highlighted Darnold’s resilience, noting his 28 wins over the last two stops before Seattle and calling him a “good guy, good player.”

Put those endorsements together and a picture forms: Seattle isn’t riding a hot streak; it’s riding belief—inside and outside the building.

For Smith-Njigba, the timing is precise. The Super Bowl is the ultimate amplifier. Every route is magnified. Every matchup is scrutinized. And when a defender like Crosby says a receiver is “going nuclear,” it’s not flattery—it’s film talk.

The Seahawks bet big when they changed their receiver room. They didn’t replace stars; they elevated one. Smith-Njigba answered by becoming the engine of the offense at the exact moment pressure peaked.

Now, with one game left, the conversation has shifted from can he handle it? to how do you stop it?

Crosby’s blunt take didn’t reveal a secret. It confirmed what Seattle already knew—and what the rest of the league is learning a little late.