Who Should I Start? Keenan Allen or Jaxon Smith-Njigba

Monday, March 25, 2:51 PM

Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles said he thinks a long-term contract extension will come "down the road" for new wide receiver Keenan Allen, who is entering the final year of a four-year deal in 2024. "I try to be intentional with the order that we do extensions, so we'll review that and kind of see what our order looks like. But for what he stands for, I would love to have him long term," Poles said. The Bears might look to lock up DJ Moore first, but Chicago wants to keep their one-two punch of Moore and Allen around in the Windy City long term for USC quarterback Caleb Williams, who the Bears are expected to take first overall in the upcoming NFL draft. Despite missing the last four games in 2023 with an injury, Allen had a career-high 108 catches for 1,243 yards and seven TDs in 13 games for the Bolts. However, his numbers could come down in his first year in Chicago while sharing the load with Moore with a rookie QB likely running the offense.

Monday, January 8, 5:25 AM

Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba caught three of his five targets for 14 yards in Sunday's win over the Arizona Cardinals. The receptions were tied with tight ends Will Dissly and Colby Parkinson for the team lead but made for a quiet end to a modest debut season for the Ohio State product. Selected 20th overall in the 2023 draft, there were hopes that Smith-Njigba would replicate the first-year successes of his former college teammates Garrett Wilson and Christian Olave. As it was, Smith-Njigba proved to be firmly entrenched as the third receiver on Seattle's depth chart and was probably lucky to see the amount of work that he did. His production was also hindered by the routes designed for him, as his average depth of target of 5.8 yards was among the lowest in the league. His rookie year will conclude with 63 receptions for 628 yards and four touchdowns in 17 games.