C.J. Stroud Needs No Reminding How Great Jaxon Smith-Njigba Has Become

“Honestly, for us, we didn't even really know it was that crazy, it was like a day of practice for us," Stroud recalled. "Me and him have a connection that I think is just natural. We just took off that day, but [there were] other days we did really good, too. But that day was special, playing back home and him having probably the most legendary receiver performance in college was pretty dope.

"But honestly, it seemed like we were at practice.”

Now in his third NFL season, Smith-Njigba, the 20th overall player selected in the 2023 draft, has lived up to all that promise. In Seattle's 27-19 win, he was Seattle's primary offensive protagonist.

At the end of the first quarter, Smith-Njigba caught an absolute smoker of a pass from Sam Darnold for an 11-yard touchdown — Smith-Njigba's fourth on the season.

Smith-Ngiba's post-touchdown celebration, in which he went full Shaq-Fu on the goalposts with a vicious dunk, left the goalpost at a weird angle, and the Texans' defense similarly reeling.

Smith-Njigba was already a great route technician at Ohio State, and he's developed that to an even higher level in the NFL.

The only bad things that happened to Smith-Njigba in this game weren't his fault. He was caught in the crossfire on a Derek Stingley II interception with 8:33 left in the game...

...and as far as we can deduce, he was the open receiver on the ill-advised decision to let receiver Cooper Kupp throw the football with 7:10 left in the first half. That was an easy pick for Texans ballhawk Calen Bullock.

Other than that, it was business as usual. Smith-Njigba went over 100 yards on the night for the fifth time this season, and his line (eight catches on 12 targets for 123 yards and a touchdown) seems like the kind of thing you can peg as automatic from week to week from now on.

Stroud kept trying to keep his team in the game, which is how he came to throw 49 passes on the night, completing 23 or 229 yards, one touchdown, one interception, and a passer rating of 59.0. Not exactly spectacular, but it's a bit different when you don't have that obvious No. 1 receiver anymore.

Darnold, the new beneficiary of Smith-Njigba's smooth, reliable efficiency, is similarly grateful. He spoke postgame about his trust in Smith-Njigba on the touchdown pass with the microscopic window, saying that they work on that play all the time in practice, and how things become second nature on the field.

Jaxon Smith-Njigba has become that rare type of receiver who can make the extraordinary seem like second nature. It was that way in college, and it's even more so now. His quarterbacks then and now know that all too well.