Jaxon Smith-Njigba is running away with the NFL receiving yards race. The Seattle Seahawks receiver has 867 yards after Week 7, 216 more than Dallas’ CeeDee Lamb (651) in second place. No other yardage race is close to that: Bijan Robinson leads in rushing by three yards and Matthew Stafford leads in passing by 31. He added 150 yards on nine catches in the 20–3 win over Kansas City on Sunday night, his sixth 100-yard game in seven tries.
The catch count is much closer. Arizona tight end Trey McBride had 10 receptions for 111 yards in the 30–16 loss to Denver and leads the league with 59 catches, one more than Smith-Njigba (58). Lamb is third with 53, and McBride and the Cardinals visit Lamb and the Cowboys on Sunday.
NFL receiving yards leaders after Week 7
| Rank | Player | Team | G | Rec | Yards | TD | Per game | Week 7 | Rank after Week 6 | Week 8 (Cairo time) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jaxon Smith-Njigba | SEA | 7 | 58 | 867 | 8 | 123.9 | 150 | 1 | vs. Chicago, Tue 03:15 |
| 2 | CeeDee Lamb | DAL | 7 | 53 | 651 | 6 | 93.0 | 74 | 3 | vs. Arizona, Sun 20:00 |
| 3 | Chris Olave | NO | 7 | 49 | 636 | 2 | 90.9 | 56 | 2 | Bye |
| 4 | Drake London | ATL | 7 | 38 | 616 | 1 | 88.0 | 66 | 4 | at Tampa Bay, Sun 20:00 |
| 5 | Zay Flowers | BAL | 6 | 40 | 608 | 3 | 101.3 | 137 | 10 | at Buffalo, Sun 20:00 |
| 6 | Malik Nabers | NYG | 7 | 48 | 605 | 2 | 86.4 | 111 | 7 | Bye |
| 7 | Christian Watson | GB | 7 | 34 | 595 | 6 | 85.0 | 57 | 5 | vs. Carolina, Fri 02:15 |
| 8 | Tee Higgins | CIN | 6 | 33 | 571 | 2 | 95.2 | 148 | 12 | vs. Tennessee, Sun 20:00 |
| 9 | Matthew Golden | GB | 7 | 36 | 540 | 3 | 77.1 | 39 | 6 | vs. Carolina, Fri 02:15 |
| 10 | Amon-Ra St. Brown | DET | 6 | 46 | 525 | 5 | 87.5 | 153 | 19 | vs. Minnesota, Sun 20:00 |
| 11 | Tetairoa McMillan | CAR | 6 | 36 | 511 | 2 | 85.2 | 40 | 9 | at Green Bay, Fri 02:15 |
| 12 | Luther Burden III | CHI | 7 | 35 | 491 | 2 | 70.1 | 130 | 21 | at Seattle, Tue 03:15 |
Smith-Njigba is averaging 123.9 yards a game, which works out to about 2,106 over 17 games. The single-season record is 1,964, set by Calvin Johnson in 2012. With 10 games left for Seattle, Smith-Njigba needs 1,098 more yards, or 109.8 a game, to pass it. He also leads in receiving touchdowns with eight, two more than Lamb and Green Bay’s Christian Watson.
Lamb moved from third to second with 74 yards and two touchdowns in the 38–21 win at Philadelphia on Monday night. New Orleans’ Chris Olave, who was second after Week 6, had 56 yards in the 16–10 loss to Pittsburgh and is now third, 15 yards behind Lamb. Olave has been held under 60 yards in each of the last three games after topping 100 in three of the first four.
Smith-Njigba and Lamb, week by week
| Week | Smith-Njigba yards | Smith-Njigba total | Lamb yards | Lamb total | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 122 | 122 | 44 | 44 | 78 |
| 2 | 155 | 277 | 153 | 197 | 80 |
| 3 | 128 | 405 | 112 | 309 | 96 |
| 4 | 76 | 481 | 189 | 498 | -17 |
| 5 | 102 | 583 | 9 | 507 | 76 |
| 6 | 134 | 717 | 70 | 577 | 140 |
| 7 | 150 | 867 | 74 | 651 | 216 |
Lamb actually led the league after Week 4, when he had 17 catches for 189 yards. He had nine yards on two catches the following week, and Smith-Njigba has led after every week since. The gap was 140 yards after Week 6 and is now 216.
NFL receptions leaders after Week 7
| Rank | Player | Team | Pos | G | Rec | Targets | Per game | Week 7 | Week 8 (Cairo time) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Trey McBride | ARI | TE | 7 | 59 | 78 | 8.4 | 10 | at Dallas, Sun 20:00 |
| 2 | Jaxon Smith-Njigba | SEA | WR | 7 | 58 | 78 | 8.3 | 9 | vs. Chicago, Tue 03:15 |
| 3 | CeeDee Lamb | DAL | WR | 7 | 53 | 81 | 7.6 | 5 | vs. Arizona, Sun 20:00 |
| 4 | Chris Olave | NO | WR | 7 | 49 | 71 | 7.0 | 6 | Bye |
| 5 | Malik Nabers | NYG | WR | 7 | 48 | 70 | 6.9 | 7 | Bye |
| 6 | Amon-Ra St. Brown | DET | WR | 6 | 46 | 68 | 7.7 | 9 | vs. Minnesota, Sun 20:00 |
| 7 | Puka Nacua | LAR | WR | 5 | 45 | 62 | 9.0 | 8 | vs. LA Chargers, Sun 23:05 |
| 8 | Isaiah Likely | NYG | TE | 7 | 41 | 63 | 5.9 | 2 | Bye |
| 9 | Zay Flowers | BAL | WR | 6 | 40 | 53 | 6.7 | 8 | at Buffalo, Sun 20:00 |
| 10 | Drake London | ATL | WR | 7 | 38 | 57 | 5.4 | 7 | at Tampa Bay, Sun 20:00 |
McBride has caught at least seven passes in all seven of Arizona’s games. He and Smith-Njigba both have 78 targets, but Lamb has the most among the top 10 with 81. McBride and Isaiah Likely of the Giants (41 catches) are the only tight ends in the top 10.
Who has led after each week
| After week | Receiving yards leader | Receptions leader |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chris Olave (182) | Chris Olave and Amon-Ra St. Brown (10) |
| 2 | Jaxon Smith-Njigba (277) | Amon-Ra St. Brown (19) |
| 3 | Jaxon Smith-Njigba (405) | Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Chris Olave (27) |
| 4 | CeeDee Lamb (498) | CeeDee Lamb (37) |
| 5 | Jaxon Smith-Njigba (583) | Trey McBride (42) |
| 6 | Jaxon Smith-Njigba (717) | Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Trey McBride (49) |
| 7 | Jaxon Smith-Njigba (867) | Trey McBride (59) |
Five different players have held at least a share of the receptions lead after a week this season. McBride has led alone after Weeks 5 and 7 and shared it with Smith-Njigba after Week 6.
100-yard receiving games this season
Smith-Njigba’s six 100-yard games are two more than anyone else. The New York Giants’ Malik Nabers is next with four, and he has gone over 100 in each of the last four games: 112, 121, 165 and 111 yards. Nabers is sixth in yards with 605 after a slow start of 96 yards in his first three games. The Giants are on a bye in Week 8, as are New Orleans, Houston and San Francisco.
Detroit’s Amon-Ra St. Brown had the biggest receiving game of Week 7, with 153 yards on nine catches in the 20–17 win over Green Bay. Cincinnati’s Tee Higgins had 148 in the 35–13 win at Baltimore, and Baltimore’s Zay Flowers had 137 in that same game.
Smith-Njigba is the last of the top three to play in Week 8. Lamb and McBride meet in Dallas on Sunday at 20:00 Cairo time, and Seattle hosts Chicago on Monday night, which is 03:15 on Tuesday in Cairo.
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