Despite an Offensive Player of the Year campaign and a Super Bowl title, Seattle's record-breaking wideout snubbed the top 10 in a controversial new ranking of NFL stars.
The Seattle Seahawks were able to win their second ever Super Bowl this past season, and a huge reason for them getting to that point was the record-breaking season from superstar wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
When a player puts together the kind of season JSN just had, you'd expect him to be firmly entrenched among the NFL's elite. Instead, CBS Sports' Pete Prisco placed the Seahawks star at No. 13 in his Top 100 players entering the 2026 season, a ranking that feels surprisingly low considering everything he just accomplished.
It's not as though Smith-Njigba merely had a breakout campaign. He established himself as arguably the league's most dominant offensive weapon.
The former Ohio State standout led the NFL in receiving yards with 1,793, rewrote Seattle's single-season franchise records for both receptions and receiving yards, earned first-team All-Pro honors, and took home the NFL's Offensive Player of the Year award.
With a résumé like that, it's fair to question how 12 players could reasonably be ranked ahead of him.
There is no arguing that players like Myles Garrett, Patrick Mahomes and other perennial superstars belong near the top. But once Smith-Njigba has proven he can produce at an All-Pro level and perform throughout a championship season, he has earned a legitimate argument for a place inside the top 10, if not even higher.
The respect around the league has certainly caught up with him in other ways. Seattle rewarded Smith-Njigba with a record-setting contract extension this offseason after watching him emerge as the face of its offense. His production also silenced any remaining doubts about whether he could become a true No. 1 receiver after entering the league as the 20th overall pick in 2023.
Perhaps the ranking is simply the result of the incredible amount of talent across today's NFL. Even so, very few players can claim they were the best at their position statistically while also collecting major individual awards and finishing the season with a Lombardi Trophy.
If anything, the No. 13 ranking may provide Smith-Njigba with even more motivation heading into 2026. After everything he accomplished last season, it wouldn't be surprising if he views this list as another reminder that he still has something to prove—even after producing one of the greatest seasons by a wide receiver in Seahawks history.
