Jaxon Smith-Njigba Breaks Loose for 45-Yard TD With Drew Lock Under Center
JSN turned a fourth-and-1 checkdown into a 45-yard score and now sits at 7 catches, 111 yards in the opener — even without Sam Darnold.
WR2 upside is real even with a backup QB throwing him the ball.
- 45-yard TD ties opener 10-10 in Q4
- 7 catches, 111 yards, 1 TD on the day
- Caught pass from backup Drew Lock, not Darnold
- 119 rec, 1793 yds, 10 TD in 2025 (actual)
- Our WR8 overall, #2 at position
The best fantasy news of Seattle's season opener came in a single play: Jaxon Smith-Njigba caught a short pass on a fourth-and-1 fake, then outran the entire New England secondary for a 45-yard touchdown that knotted the game at 10-10 early in the fourth quarter. By the time he crossed the goal line, the fourth-year receiver was sitting at seven catches for 111 yards and a score.
What makes it stand out isn't the yardage — it's who threw it. That ball came off the hand of Drew Lock, in for the injured Sam Darnold. Lock managed just 15 passing yards across five appearances in 2025 (actual), so managers who spent premium draft capital on JSN can exhale a little: the target volume and the big-play juice survived the quarterback downgrade.
The scoring drive was gift-wrapped by the New England defense giving Seattle the ball, but Lock still had to sell the run fake and hit a wide-open Smith-Njigba on the left side. From there it was all JSN, who did the rest with pure speed.
Why the QB Change Matters Less Than You'd Think
Smith-Njigba is coming off a monster 2025 line — 119 receptions, 1,793 yards and 10 touchdowns for 360 PPR points (actual), good for our WR8 overall and #2 at the position. That kind of usage tends to travel regardless of who's under center, because he's the clear alpha in this passing game. One 45-yard house call won't rewrite the season, but it confirms he's still the first read.
The flip side of the play is Drake Maye, who threw his first interception of the year on a jump ball snagged by Romeo Doubs before the Seattle touchdown. Maye finished 2025 with 4,394 passing yards, 31 TDs and just eight picks (actual) en route to 354 PPR points and our QB3 ranking, so a single early INT is noise, not a trend. Doubs, our WR35, remains a low-priority flier.
For fantasy purposes, hold Smith-Njigba with confidence. A backup quarterback is never ideal, but the target share and the ability to turn a checkdown into six is exactly why he was a top-10 overall pick. Keep an eye on Darnold's timeline, but this is a fire-him-up-every-week WR2 with WR1 ceiling either way.
