This week’s game between the Rams and Seahawks will not only feature two of the leading candidates for MVP at quarterback, but also two of the leading candidates to win Offensive Player of the Year as a wide receiver. Seattle’s Jaxon Smith-Njigba has gained 1,041 yards in nine games, 210 more yards than second place Ja’Marr Chase, and Puka Nacua is third with 775 yards despite playing in one fewer contest because of an injury.
By most accounts, Puka and JSN are the two best receivers in the NFL in 2025. Nacua’s +60.8 EPA (estimated points added, per Next Gen Stats) leads all players. Smith-Njigba has a better chance to win OPOY over Jonathan Taylor than Puka largely because of playing in an additional game.
The biggest question may not be “Who is the better receiver?” but “Which team has the better chance of covering an elite receiver in Week 11?”
Who will cover Puka Nacua?
Puka has lined up in a wide alignment on 123 of his 221 routes, followed by 74 routes from the slot and 23 routes from a tight alignment. For the most part, we can expect Puka to play outside and that means he may not face Devon Witherspoon or Seahawks rookie Nick Emmanwori as often as he could face Tariq Woolen and Josh Jobe.
Woolen has had an inconsistent career, to say the least, and last season he got “burned very badly” (to quote Will Ferrell in Austin Powers) when he faced the Rams for the first time:
Despite an interception, Woolen also gave up two touchdowns, including the game-winner in OT.
Woolen has played better as of late, but hasn’t faced the likes of Matthew Stafford, Puka, and Davante Adams.
Jobe is not as well known as Woolen but the former Alabama standout has had a better season. After missing Week 10’s 44-22 win over the Cardinals with injury, Jobe could return to the field this week. Jobe has held opposing QBs to a passer rating of 60.2 on 44 targets in his direction.
Jobe is a bit of an unknown, but to a degree so is Woolen. Some days Woolen can play like an All-Pro, others he is the one player opposing OCs and QBs will target because of his soft tackling and inconsistent coverage skills. As an elite athlete (like better than 99% of NFL players), Woolen is a threat to take anything to the house. But many QBs target him in the pass game and many OCs target him in the run game because of his inconsistency and lack of focus.
The nice thing about having two receivers like Nacua and Adams is that Stafford can choose when he wants to go after Woolen and when he doesn’t and he’ll always have a “WR1” to pick from.
But don’t sleep on Emmanwori.
The rookie second round pick out of South Carolina may be an even better athlete than Woolen and some are comparing him to Ravens safety/do-everything back Kyle Hamilton. The Seahawks traded up to get Emmanwori with the third pick of the second round and he should play a huge role in this huge game.
Emmanwori has played 167 snaps in the slot, 87 snaps as a linebacker, and 20 snaps as an edge player. He could go from covering Puka to covering Tyler Higbee one play after the next.
Witherspoon, the 5th overall pick in 2023, has split time between playing slot in base formation and outside when Seattle goes to 2 CBs. He hasn’t had a shutdown season and has missed more than half of the year with an injury, so perhaps at times Stafford will test Devon Witherspoon rather than going at Emmanwori or Woolen.
Who will cover Jaxon Smith-Njigba?
After adding Cooper Kupp in free agency when the Rams opted to let him go, Seattle was able to move Smith-Njigba from a primary slot weapon to an outside threat. As noted earlier, the outcome has been rather insane with JSN on track to have the most productive season by a WR since…Cooper Kupp in 2021.
Smith-Njigba has lined wide on 170 routes compared to 45 in the slot. He’s averaging 18.9 yards per catch as an outside receiver, which is basically where all of his production has come from this year. That means that the Rams will be relying on Emmanuel Forbes, like Woolen, to continue his good streak and put his worst days in the past.
Forbes is exclusively an outside cornerback (2 snaps in the slot) and he has allowed 293 yards with 2 TD and 2 INT. That’s too many yards, but Forbes was near-perfect against the 49ers, allowing one catch for 14 yards on four targets and getting a pick to finish with a passer rating allowed of 2.1. The week before he had a passer rating allowed of 36.5 against the Saints. And in the two games before that: 60.4 and 39.6.
In other words, this is the cornerback who the Commanders thought they were getting in the first round in 2023.
Forbes has not faced a QB-WR duo as good as Sam Darnold and Smith-Njigba yet this season — just as Seattle hasn’t faced a QB as good as Stafford or a receiver as good as Puka — so this is the real test.
Cobie Durant could find himself on JSN too and he’s been less effective than Forbes but not “bad”. Durant has held teams to an average of 3 catches and 35 yards in the last five games with no touchdowns surrendered.
Slot defender Quentin Lake has allowed the most yards and catches on the Rams in the last five games, plus a touchdown, so this could be an area that Darnold focuses on this week. Look for the Seahawks to try attacking the middle of the field with Smith-Njigba on crossers, Kupp on the mesh route, and using their tight ends just as much as Sean McVay plans to use his own.
Should make for an interesting day of offense.
Who has the WR-CB advantage?
So it could be Woolen, Jobe, and Witherspoon working on Puka and Adams, compared to Forbes, Durant, and Lake covering Smith-Njigba, Kupp, and recent addition Rashid Shaheed?
Tough to say who has the advantage there but both teams have top-5 run defenses, so we are about to find out.
See More:
