Megatron snubbed the reigning Offensive Player of the Year, favoring Puka Nacua to break his receiving record despite JSN’s historic 1,793-yard season and Super Bowl title run.
Hall of Fame wide receiver Calvin Johnson holds the record for most receiving yards in a single season with 1,964, which is a record that has held for 14 years. But the former Detroit Lion cited one player currently in the league that he thinks could eventually beat his record.
In an interview with the Detroit Free Press, Johnson chose an NFC West receiver to break his record, and it was not Seattle Seahawks star Jaxon Smith-Njigba. He actually ended up picking Los Angeles Rams wide out Puka Nacua over the reigning Offensive Player of the Year.
"He's still got Matthew Stafford, so I think he's got a shot," Johnson said. "If he stays healthy, that dude's a killer out there."
Johnson knows a thing or two about Stafford, as he was the quarterback of the Lions when the record was set. But with all of that being said, if you're going to pick a player to break the record, why would it not be JSN?
After all, Smith-Njigba is coming off a historic 2025 season in which he led the NFL with 1,793 receiving yards, won OPOY honors, earned First-Team All-Pro recognition, and helped lead Seattle to their second Super Bowl title.
While Nacua is certainly a worthy candidate, Seahawks fans have every reason to wonder why Smith-Njigba wasn't the first name mentioned.
The numbers make a compelling case. Smith-Njigba wasn't just the NFL's receiving leader last season — he was actually on pace to surpass Johnson's record for much of the year. Entering Week 13, projections had him tracking toward more than 2,000 receiving yards before a slower finish over Seattle's final stretch of games.
Even with that late-season slowdown, Smith-Njigba still finished with the eighth-highest receiving-yard total in NFL history and shattered Seattle's franchise receiving record.
What makes his season even more impressive is that it came during his age-23 campaign and only his third NFL season. Smith-Njigba has already established himself as one of football's premier route runners and most reliable playmakers. With offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak returning and Seattle continuing to build around its young superstar, there's every reason to believe his best football is still ahead of him.
Johnson's prediction isn't necessarily a slight toward Smith-Njigba. Nacua has produced at an elite level since entering the league and has shown he can post massive yardage totals when healthy.
Still, if we're talking about the receiver who came closest to threatening the record recently, the answer resides in Seattle.
