Unexpected Fix By Seahawks' Staff Has Helped Jaxon Smith-Njigba Flourish

Superstar Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba had a strange college career. Even though he was at Ohio State for three seasons, he combined for just 15 catches and 92 receiving yards in 2020 and 2022.

It was in 2021 that Smith-Njigba had his record-breaking season, which included 95 catches for 1,606 yards and nine touchdowns. The following season, he struggled through an injured hamstring that limited him to just three games.

Seahawks director of equipment Erik Kennedy, who has been with the franchise dating all the way back to being a ball boy in 1988, per The Seattle Times, said in an interview on Seattle Sports 710AM that Smith-Njigba was wearing a size 12 shoe at Ohio State.

When he was drafted by the Seahawks, they changed him to a size 10.5. He hasn’t missed a single game in his three-year professional career.

“You’re always trying to find little edges that can help players,” Kennedy said. “Let’s just say Jaxon Smith-Njigba, you were talking him about in college [at Ohio State], he was wearing a size 12, had hamstring issues and things like that. Gets here, he’s a 10 1/2. … It’s helped him, right? He hasn’t missed time and done things like that. That helps build the trust for us with the players.”

Kennedy highlighted the team’s footscanning process, which, as general manager John Schneider made sure to note, is the first by a team in the NFL due to Kennedy’s connections at Nike. Clearly, it’s worked.

Ohio State Buckeyes wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba (11) tries to get past Michigan State Spartans cornerback Marqui Lowery (29) after a catch in the second quarter during their NCAA College football game at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio on November 20, 2021. | Kyle Robertson/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Smith-Njigba has gone on to win Offensive Player of the Year and become a First Team All-Pro — breaking nearly all of the Seahawks’ single-season records with 119 catches, 1793 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns in 2025.

“What we get into is the helmet, to protect the players, everything should be custom, right?” Kennedy added. “We’ve gotten to the point we believe everything’s custom, and John and those guys and the ownership and everybody’s afforded us the opportunity to go out and chase and do those things where wearing the top helmets, wearing custom shoulder pads that are scanned to the body, scanning the feet, like getting to the point where you’re basically scanning everything to fit the person, and then having the crew to be able to do it. There’s five of us full-time guys that do it.”

Making a difference

The Seahawks were one of the healthiest teams in the NFL in 2025, and that helped them win just their second Super Bowl in franchise history last season.

It’s the behind-the-scenes individuals who can have a profound difference on the success of an NFL franchise, or any professional sports team, and Kennedy is a prime example of that. He represents the consistency that has helped the Seahawks remain competitive almost every year for the better part of two decades.

Are people like Kennedy and his equipment team going to get all the glory for the Seahawks winning the Super Bowl? Of course not, but highlighting people like him in the building shines a light on the franchise being great as a whole — not just on the field.

Additionally, it’ll be interesting to see if more NFL teams adopt a similar scanning system to tailor their players’ gear. It’s made a difference for Smith-Njigba and likely countless other players we aren’t privy to over the years.

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