Jaxon Smith-Njigba leads the NFL with nine catches of 20 or more yards

Jaxon Smith-Njigba leads the NFL in receiving plays of 20 or more yards after five weeks of the 2026 regular season. The Seattle Seahawks wide receiver has nine, one more than a three-way tie among Christian Watson, Chris Olave and Drake London.

Smith-Njigba also leads the league with 583 receiving yards and seven receiving touchdowns. The big-play board is a different cut of the same five-week sample: catches that gain 20 or more yards, not first downs or scores alone. Olave still leads in receiving first downs (29), and Smith-Njigba’s touchdown total is a separate board — this one is about chunk catches.

Most catches of 20 or more yards after Week 5

Rank	Player	Team	Pos	Catches of 20+	Rec	Yds	Yds/rec	Long	TD	G
1	Jaxon Smith-Njigba	SEA	WR	9	37	583	15.8	82	7	5
2	Christian Watson	GB	WR	8	26	474	18.2	81	6	5
3	Chris Olave	NO	WR	8	39	537	13.8	47	1	5
4	Drake London	ATL	WR	8	27	488	18.1	68	0	5
5	Mike Evans	SF	WR	7	24	326	13.6	28	3	5
6	Davante Adams	LAR	WR	7	27	441	16.3	64	4	5
7	CeeDee Lamb	DAL	WR	7	39	507	13.0	49	4	5
8	Rome Odunze	CHI	WR	7	17	273	16.1	47	0	5
9	Tetairoa McMillan	CAR	WR	7	26	385	14.8	32	2	4
10	Tee Higgins	CIN	WR	6	27	423	15.7	29	1	5
11	Dalton Kincaid	BUF	TE	6	16	277	17.3	40	1	5
12	Zay Flowers	BAL	WR	6	26	405	15.6	54	2	4
13	Garrett Wilson	NYJ	WR	6	31	374	12.1	32	3	5
14	Keon Coleman	BUF	WR	6	15	224	14.9	37	2	5
15	Matthew Golden	GB	WR	6	24	397	16.5	50	2	5

Watson, Olave and London sit at eight apiece. Mike Evans, Davante Adams, CeeDee Lamb, Rome Odunze and Tetairoa McMillan form a group of five at seven. Buffalo tight end Dalton Kincaid has six on only 16 catches, the highest total among tight ends.

Smith-Njigba’s season-long is an 82-yard touchdown at Arizona in Week 2, when he finished with nine catches for 155 yards and three scores. He has had a reception of at least 26 yards in every game, including a 38-yarder in a 102-yard night against San Francisco in Week 5.

Jaxon Smith-Njigba game by game

Week	Opponent	Rec-yds	Long	Targets
1	New England	8-122 (1 TD)	45	11
2	at Arizona	9-155 (3 TD)	82	11
3	at Washington	10-128 (2 TD)	26	14
4	LA Chargers	5-76	28	6
5	San Francisco	5-102 (1 TD)	38	8

Week 4 against the Chargers was his quietest night (5-76), but the long still reached 28. Everything else on the log includes at least 100 yards or multiple touchdowns.

Big-play rate (minimum 20 receptions)

Rank	Player	Team	Pos	Catches of 20+	Rec	Rate	Long	Yds
1	Christian Watson	GB	WR	8	26	30.8%	81	474
2	Drake London	ATL	WR	8	27	29.6%	68	488
3	Mike Evans	SF	WR	7	24	29.2%	28	326
4	Tetairoa McMillan	CAR	WR	7	26	26.9%	32	385
5	Davante Adams	LAR	WR	7	27	25.9%	64	441
6	Matthew Golden	GB	WR	6	24	25.0%	50	397
7	Jaxon Smith-Njigba	SEA	WR	9	37	24.3%	82	583
8	Zay Flowers	BAL	WR	6	26	23.1%	54	405
9	Parker Washington	JAX	WR	5	22	22.7%	51	352
10	Tee Higgins	CIN	WR	6	27	22.2%	29	423
11	Luther Burden III	CHI	WR	5	23	21.7%	25	266
12	Brock Bowers	LV	TE	5	24	20.8%	27	312

Among the 39 players with at least 20 catches, Watson leads in big-play rate at 30.8% (8 of 26). London is next at 29.6%. Smith-Njigba’s nine come on 37 catches (24.3%), so he wins the counting board while Watson and London win the efficiency cut.

Longest receptions among the big-play leaders

Rank	Player	Team	Pos	Long	Catches of 20+	Yds	TD
1	Jaxon Smith-Njigba	SEA	WR	82	9	583	7
2	Christian Watson	GB	WR	81	8	474	6
3	Drake London	ATL	WR	68	8	488	0
4	Davante Adams	LAR	WR	64	7	441	4
5	Zay Flowers	BAL	WR	54	6	405	2
6	George Pickens	DAL	WR	53	5	355	1
7	Parker Washington	JAX	WR	51	5	352	4
8	Matthew Golden	GB	WR	50	6	397	2
9	CeeDee Lamb	DAL	WR	49	7	507	4
10	Chris Olave	NO	WR	47	8	537	1

Smith-Njigba’s 82-yarder and Watson’s 81-yarder sit atop the long list. London’s 68-yard catch at Green Bay is next among the eight-catch club. Evans has seven catches of 20+ with a long of only 28 — a volume of intermediate chunk plays rather than one home run.

Tight ends with at least four catches of 20+

Player	Team	Catches of 20+	Rec	Yds	Long	TD
Dalton Kincaid	BUF	6	16	277	40	1
Juwan Johnson	NO	5	25	248	27	3
Brock Bowers	LV	5	24	312	27	3
George Kittle	SF	4	21	268	56	4
Sam LaPorta	DET	4	27	316	38	3

Kincaid’s six on 16 catches (37.5%) is the standout. Juwan Johnson and Brock Bowers have five each. George Kittle and Sam LaPorta sit at four.

Smith-Njigba and the Seahawks visit Denver on Thursday night at 8:15 p.m. ET (Friday 3:15 a.m. Cairo). Watson and Green Bay host Dallas on Sunday night at 8:20 p.m. ET (Monday 3:20 a.m. Cairo). Olave and New Orleans visit the Giants at 1 p.m. ET (8 p.m. Cairo). London and Atlanta host Chicago in the early window.

Receiving big plays are catches of 20 or more yards. Totals cover every regular-season game through Monday night of Week 5 and do not include Thursday night’s Seahawks-Broncos game.