Seattle Seahawks GM John Schneider did one important thing before Tuesday's trade deadline — [the trade for Rashid Shaheed](https://12thmanrising.com/seattle-seahawks-just-provided-klint-kubiak-ideal-weapon-choice) was the second most important thing, and retaining Riq Woolen (at least for this season) was third. Schneider's most important decision of the day was not a roster move, but a team motivation move.
If you thought [Jaxon Smith-Njigba is fired up](https://12thmanrising.com/jaxon-smith-njigba-sends-message-seattle-seahawks-trade-rashid-shaheed) for Rasheed Shaheed's addition to the Hawks' wide receiver core, then Sam Darnold has to be on cloud nine.
The trade for Shaheed is deeper than a simple roster move; it's an injection of confidence into the team as a whole, and, more specifically, it shows that Schneider and the organization in general believe in Darnold taking them deep this season.
A decisive vote of confidence in his team's quarterback was Schneider's best move on Tuesday, and all it does for Darnold is provide him with another legitimate threat down the field. All of this being said, however, the question has to be posed: how does this affect Smith-Njigba? How does it affect his record-pacing season in which he could potentially hit the 2,000-yard mark?
Does new Seahawks receiver Rashid Shaheed's addition hurt or help Jaxon Smith-Njigba?
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Smith-Njigba is on pace to reach Calvin Johnson's 1,964 single-season receiving yards record, which he achieved back in 2012. Not only that, but Smith-Njigba is averaging 118.5 yards per game, which, if he maintains this average, could actually push him past Johnson's mark and reach 2,000 yards or more. JSN's pace is already remarkable, but 2,000 yards would be outrageous.
All of that talk was before Tuesday's trade deadline, though, and now, there could be cause for concern and a change in that conversation's trajectory. Or, is there actually more reason to be excited? It all depends on how you look at things.
Acquiring Cooper Kupp in the offseason was big for Seattle, and when Kupp has been on the field, he's played well, but not amazingly. Perhaps that was one reason why Schneider took a run at Shaheed.
Nevertheless, Shaheed is similar to Smith-Njigba in receiver type. Both players are deep threats and rack up a large portion of their yards catching balls downfield. Since 2019, Shaheed has over 1,000 yards on deep passes. Given that his specialty is also Smith-Njigba's, does Shaheed's arrival stunt JSN's pursuit of history?
On the one hand, an argument could be made that Darnold now has two threats downfield, which gives Shaheed just as many chances to catch deep balls as JSN, taking away his usual number of opportunities. This _could_ hurt Smith-Njigba's record-breaking season, as his catches — and, subsequently, his yards — would obviously decrease because of Shaheed.
The other argument, however, helps JSN. If Shaheed comes in as Seattle's WR2 — which, sorry Kupp, but this is now the case — the former Saint's wideout is a decoy of sorts more than a deterrent. Shaheed could be used as safety help over the top, drawing more defenders to him, allowing JSN to continue his tear through defenses.
If Shaheed is used more in this capacity, then Smith-Njigba's chances of breaking the receiving record should still be within his grasp.
As great as Darnold has played this season, and as fun as it's been to witness him turn his career around over the last two seasons, he's still not a quarterback who can put the cape on like a Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, or the best of them all, Patrick Mahomes. Darnold has succeeded lately because of the help and talent around him, and that is more evident this season, without question.
With Shaheed, Darnold has even more help now, and hopefully, so does Smith-Njigba. He _should_ benefit from Shaheed's addition more than suffer, and that means that Megatron's record and more are still within reach.