Seattle Seahawks OTA Takeaways: Jaxon-Smith-Njigba Puts on Touchdown Clinic

Further accelerating the hype train, Jaxon Smith-Njigba provided a glimpse of what he may be able to do starring in Ryan Grubb's offense at the Seahawks second open OTA practice.

Jaxon Smith-Njigba awaits the snap during a drill at Seahawks OTAs at the VMAC. / Corbin Smith/All Seahawks

RENTON, Wash. - Returning to the field for their fifth OTA and the second session open to media, Jaxon Smith-Njigba stole the show snagging touchdowns in bulk for the Seattle Seahawks in a red zone-oriented practice.

What went down at the VMAC on Thursday? Here are five key takeaways from the latest open practice with thoughts from coach Mike Macdonald:

1. Building on a strong offseason, Smith-Njigba lit it up during a situation-heavy session.

Due to the restrictions placed on defensive backs during non-contact OTA practices, the rules have been skewed towards the offense in spring NFL practices. Most notably, defenders can't contest the football, making for a lot of easy receptions for opposing receivers, tight ends, and running backs, so big days need to be taken with a grain of salt this time of year.

Still, coming off a stellar second half of his rookie year, the excitement surrounding Smith-Njigba's potential in coordinator Ryan Grubb's offense will only skyrocket after Thursday's session. With DK Metcalf not in attendance, Geno Smith looked for him early and often during extensive red zone situational team drills, linking up with him for a whopping five touchdowns on the day.

Most impressively, three of those scores came against star cornerback Devon Witherspoon, who played as tight of coverage as he could within the confines of the rules. With both players being the ultimate of competitors, the savvy receiver won most of the battles on Thursday, including holding on to a 100 mile per hour fastball from Smith on a dig route in the end zone with his aggressive teammate right in his hip pocket.

Watching the two former first-round picks duel as fiercely as they can this time of year, Macdonald loves being able to see iron sharpen iron with Smith-Njigba and Witherspoon going against one another.

"Shoot, it's great," Macdonald smiled. "JSN is a great player and expecting big things out of him, he's had a great offseason, works his tail off, his practice habits are awesome, moving ability is pretty elite, so I think we have a really cool plan for him. For him and Spoon, a lot of times they end up going against each other. It's tough right now because you can't contest the ball, but you're trying to be competitive in these red zone periods. There's a delicate balance, but I thought we handled it great today staying off the ground, still making some really great plays, and executing at a high level."

2. Making progress by day, Sam Howell enjoyed a strong afternoon with his own red zone success.

With only a handful of practices under his belt, Howell still has a ways to go mastering Grubb's scheme after playing for Eric Bieniemy in Washington a year ago. But after an up-and-down first open OTA practice, the third-year quarterback turned in a strong day of his own in the red zone period commanding the second-team offense while throwing five touchdown passes.

Among his most notable throws of the day, Howell fired a dart between two oncoming defenders to undrafted rookie tight end Jack Westover, who corralled the pass before it hit the turf for six points. He followed up a few plays later with another bullet to tight end Tyler Mabry on a quick curl for another score. Showing soft touch when he needed to, he also lofted a perfect goal line fade to veteran receiver Laviska Shenault, laying the ball right in his hands along the sideline for a touchdown.

Paralleling what he's seen from the Seahawks on the practice field as a whole, Macdonald has seen Howell improve every day on the field as he becomes more comfortable orchestrating Grubb's offense and develops chemistry with his new receivers.

"I think Sam has improved every time we've come out here and it's really exciting," Macdonald commented. "Throwing the ball really well today, he made some really good decisions in situational work. That was exciting to see with only going over it for one day, so football intelligence is high, obviously his ability is what it needs to be. He's right there and I think he mirrors where we're at as a team right now, so we're excited about Sam."

3. For a second straight week, the same offensive line took first-team reps in a technique-driven session.

Without pads on, offensive linemen aren't able to show what they can do as blockers in the trenches, which makes the evaluation process tricky in the offseason. Looking to take full advantage of mental reps by hammering home technique and assignments, line coach Scott Huff opened practice doing walkthroughs on run fits with the first-team line as well as Smith and Ken Walker III in the backfield.

Compared to prior seasons, it was a significant change-up with such an emphasis on the technical aspect of line play as Huff pulled aside everyone from veterans like Charles Cross to rookies like Christian Haynes offering instruction between reps. As for the groups that rotated in during team drills, the Seahawks didn't make any changes rotation wise, including keeping McClendon Curtis with the first-team offense at right guard and Haynes staying with the second team.

At this stage, as Macdonald noted, Seattle is early in the process of finding the best starting five. For now, with his ability to play multiple positions benefiting him, Curtis has settled in at right guard next to veteran George Fant in place of an injured Anthony Bradford, who remains out with an ankle sprain.

"He knows multiple spots, so if you know what to do, it's easy to move you around," Macdonald said of Curtis. "I think the whole offensive line is one big piece, right? You're always trying to find the best five and the backup plan in case someone can't go, making sure you've got enough depth so you're not looking at the middle of the season with no options. But he's doing a great job, he's had a great offseason."

With the offensive line not being at full strength minus Bradford and right tackle Abraham Lucas, who Macdonald said last week likely won't be back until training camp after offseason knee surgery, Huff will likely mix and match groups as OTAs progress and clear rotations won't become known until August when the group hopefully is much healthier.

4. Emerging as the leader of Seattle's revamped secondary, Julian Love's "poise" and "versatility" were on full display.

Upon his arrival as a free agent signing last offseason, Julian Love joined Seattle's secondary as one of the younger safeties on the roster and initially settled into a complementary role. But following the release of Quandre Diggs and Jamal Adams in March, the Pro Bowl defender been thrust into a leadership position as one of the seasoned veterans for Macdonald's defense, carrying immense responsibilities on the back end in a complicated scheme.

But thus far, Love hasn't had any issues adapting to a new defense or a new role, which still has yet to be fully defined as the Seahawks continue the installation process. Barking out calls to his teammates at linebacker as well as cornerback and safety, he's embraced the opportunity to speak up and become a more verbal leader in OTAs, and he flashed his excellent ball skills as a former cornerback with a beautiful interception high-pointing a throw from Smith in traffic in the end zone.

"On the field, he has elite poise and that's something that we're chasing," Macdonald explained. "If something doesn't go our way, let's keep our poise and let's play the next play. The game is slow to him, so to be able to communicate at a high level I think shows what it should feel like when he's out there. We have several guys that are like that, but J Love in particular is a guy that we'll be able to move around and change to different spots. He'll be a guy we can move around and utilize in a pretty sweet way."

As Macdonald indicated, the Seahawks will be looking for all of their safeties to offer the interchangeability to play multiple positions, including Love. As he's showing on the practice field and demonstrated last year on the way to his first Pro Bowl, however, he should thrive in such a system, as he has logged over 500 snaps in his career at strong safety, free safety, and the slot as well as over 200 snaps at outside cornerback and has the high football IQ his new coach covets.

5. With Jerome Baker and Tyrel Dodson sidelined, linebacker remains a major question mark midway through OTAs.

If there's a position that stands out as a potential concern midway through OTAs, Macdonald probably wishes he had a healthier linebacker group to work with. In the aftermath of the departure of Bobby Wagner and Jordyn Brooks, Jerome Baker and Tyrel Dodson signed one year deals with the Seahawks in March, but neither has practiced yet this spring and per Macdonald, Baker likely won't be ready to return until training camp coming off wrist surgery.

As a result, Seattle rolled out fourth-year defender Jon Rhattigan and former Montana standout Patrick O'Connell with the first-team defense on Thursday. Between those two players, they have combined to play 19 regular season snaps on defense, with all of those coming from Rhattigan in garbage time in a blowout loss to Baltimore last season.

Behind them, the Seahawks had a pair of rookies in fourth-round pick Tyrice Knight and undrafted free agent Easton Gibbs with the second-team defense at linebacker, painting an even more dreadful picture from an experience standpoint. Since it's only May, Macdonald didn't sound overly alarmed by the situation on Thursday, but acknowledged in the case of Baker that not having him on the field right now creates some challenges installing a new defense where reps are at a premium.

"I wouldn't call it a concern, but anytime someone isn't getting all the reps, you've gotta find different ways to get them the reps," Macdonald said. "So it's mental stuff, it's walkthroughs. We're trying to be creative in the building to make sure he gets all the things he needs to see, so he'll be up to speed and he'll be ready to roll."