This year, the Seattle Seahawks head coach, Mike Macdonald, has made major changes to their offense. He brought in offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak and quarterback Sam Darnold to the team. So far, it’s working. This year, they have a 3-1 win-loss record after 4 weeks. Last year, they had a similar record but lost the week 5 and 6 games. Their wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba is confident that they will have a better performance in 2025 and will have a good run in the season.

During the October 2 episode of The Rich Eisen Show, he first praised the change in the coordinator and quarterback. The WR said, “We just got better, man. A lot of reps. Credit to Coach Kubiak, really simplifying the offense and trusting us to turn the plays into life. It’s been great. Sam’s just been really on top of it and has been next level, honestly. It’s a privilege to play with him, and the more reps we get, we’re going to continue to get better.”

The wide receiver gave full credit to the coaching regime and the number of reps that they are making them do. This has improved the entire offense as a whole, where all the role players are taking their roles seriously and doing what is expected of them.

Macdonald brought in offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak to replace Ryan Grubb, aiming to emphasize a stronger run game. The offenses Kubiak previously coordinated generally featured moderate rushing tendencies. The 2021 Vikings ranked 11th in designed rush rate at 39.6%, while the 2024 Saints were 14th at 39.8%. During the six games he called plays for the Broncos in the second half of 2022, Denver ranked 20th with a 35.9% rush rate.

Seattle’s offense in 2024, during their 17-game season, totaled 6,006 yards, with 4,379 passing and 1,627 rushing, scoring 375 points. In 2025, through the first 4 games, they have 1,363 total yards, 920 passing, and 443 rushing, scoring 111 points. The passing game stays steady, rushing is down, but points per game are slightly higher early in 2025.

Over the full 2023 season, Jaxon Smith-Njigba had 63 catches on 93 targets for 628 yards, averaging 10 yards per catch with 4 touchdowns. In 2024, over 17 games, he improved to 100 catches on 137 targets for 1,130 yards, 11.3 yards per catch, and 6 TDs. In 2025, through the first 4 games, he has 26 catches on 34 targets for 402 yards, averaging 15.5 yards per catch with 1 score.

This shows his 2025 performance is on an upward curve, with bigger plays and higher yardage per catch early in the season.

The QB-WR duo has found connections on the gridiron, too. During the season opener, Darnold often passed to Smith-Njigba. When asked, the quarterback Darnold replied, “It just happened to be that way. I’m just going through my progressions, going through my reads, and 58% of the time it told me to go to Jax. That’s just how it worked out.”

Also, when they signed Sam Darnold back in the offseason, the receiver was over the moon. So, his excitement is reaping benefits for the Hawks.

Jaxon Smith-Njigba bonded well with Sam Darnold over the offseason

The offseason is the time when you put in the hard work in silence. And in 2025, the Hawks put that strategy into action. Why? Mike Macdonald learned a heartbreaking truth. They won 10 games last year, but couldn’t qualify for the playoffs. So, this year, he doesn’t want to leave anything to chance.

When Smith-Njigba heard they signed the 7-year veteran on a 3-year $100.5 million contract, he knew that Darnold was here for the long run. Moreover, there was no time to waste.

While revealing their off-season plan, Jaxon Smith-Njigba added, “Yeah, I mean, as soon as we got Sam, I honestly hit him up like, ‘Hey, what’s it going to look like in the summertime?” So, as soon as we got a little break, we made sure to keep working just to clean up some things and feel good going into camp. All the guys went out to LA and got some work in. It was a great time just to bond outside the field and also get some work in.”

Now, all those efforts are paying off. But they still cannot breathe easily. The NFC West division is one of the most competitive in the league. And if they make a mistake, it might come back to haunt them in January. That’s when it will also hurt them the most. Right now, they have a solid plan. All they have to do is execute.