4. What does Jaxon Smith-Njigba do next, and what kind of homecoming is it for Cooper Kupp.
Sunday’s game figures to be a significant one for both of Seattle’s top two pass-catchers. For Smith-Njigba, the league’s leading receiver by a wide margin, it is a chance to add on to what has been a phenomenal first half to his season. The third-year receiver eclipsed 1,000 yards in just nine games while going over the 100-yard mark in six of nine games. With another 100-yard game, Smiht-Njigba would pass Steve Largent for the most in in a season in team history, and if he gets to 75 yards, he would be the first player in the Super Bowl era to have at least 75 receiving yards in each of the first 10 games of a season.
“I said my rookie year, ‘just because he didn’t have the numbers everybody else thought he would have, y’all just don’t know what he has in store for y’all,'” said fellow 2023 first-round pick Devon Witherspoon. “We always expected him to be this guy, now he got a chance to show it, and everybody gets a chance to see it now, of course.”
Kupp, meanwhile, is keeping the focus on treating this just like any other game, but whether he wants to view it this way or not, it is a chance for him to show the Rams that he still has plenty of left in the tank after they elected to move on from him in a salary-cap saving move this offseason. Kupp, a Yakima native, returned to his home state this offseason, signing with Seattle after eight seasons with the Rams, a run that included a historic 2021 season in which he led the league in receiving yards, catches and touchdowns before going on to win Super Bowl MPV honors to cap off the season.
Kupp hasn’t seen the volume of targets he was used to for most of his time with the Rams, but he has still been highly productive when targeted, and he’s also provided a ton of value to the team with everything he does outside of the three hours the team takes the field on Sundays.
“He’s incredible,” Darnold said. “I feel like I talk about it a lot, but just the work that he puts in, it’s unlike anyone else that I’ve ever met. He’s been a huge fit for us as an offense with just the way that he works and just the things he can do on the field as well. He’s also been a huge catalyst for bringing these guys together and bringing the team together too. This is probably the understatement of the year, but he’s a very important piece of what we’re building here.”
