Seahawks WR Corps Rankings Revealed Post DK Metcalf

The Seattle Seahawks wide receiver room will look different in the 2025 season after trading Pro Bowl wide receiver DK Metcalf to the Pittsburgh Steelers. The major shake-up has left some uncertainty about what the Seahawks will bring to the table this season.

PFF, in a June 17  article titled  “2025 NFL receiving corps rankings: Eagles kick things off at No. 1,” written by Trevor Sikkema, has ranked the Seahawks wide receivers as the 20th-best unit in the NFL. Sikkema mentions the changing of the guard in the Seahawks’ receiving corps with the departure of franchise cornerstones Metcalf and Tyler Lockett and how this could allow Jaxon Smith-Njigba to break through. “Jaxon Smith-Njigba could be in for a huge 2025 season (83.5 PFF receiving grade in 2024),” Sikkema said.

Replacing Metcalf & Lockett

A franchise rarely moves on from two of their best receivers in one offseason, but the Seahawks are in that position now. The two receivers tasked with replacing them, though, have shown the pedigree to be successful in the NFL. 

Smith-Njigba is in his third season, coming off a Pro Bowl year and one in which he has emerged as a reliable receiver. In 2024, Smith-Njigba produced his first 100 reception and 1,000-yard receiving season of his career. In 2025, Smith-Njigba will be looked upon to become Seattle’s number-one receiver.

The Seahawks are using this time in the offseason to build chemistry, and Smith-Njigba knows it’s a process, as he told the Seahawks website in an May 30 article titled “Seahawks Enjoy ‘Great First Week’ Of OTAs” written by John Boyle. “We’re making progress, but we know there’s still a lot of work to do. It being the first week, we feel good, there’s good energy around here,”Smith-Njigba said. “So now it’s just taking what we did this week and seeing how we can get better.”

Cooper Kupp is making the in-division jump from the Los Angeles Rams to the Seahawks and looking to regain his Super Bowl MVP form once again. Kupp has had three injury-plagued seasons since 2021, when he won the wide receiver triple crown on his way to winning Offensive Player of the Year. Kupp will be the veteran in a young Seahawks receiving corps and may be the key to stabilizing the passing game this upcoming season if he can remain healthy.

Sam Darnold at the Helm

In addition to losing Metcalf and Locket, the Seahawks also are without starting quarterback Geno Smith after trading him to the Las Vegas Raiders this offseason. Sam Darnold will now lead the Seahawks after signing a three-year $100 million deal. Darnold helped to revive his career last season with the Minnesota Vikings. Still, two lackluster performances to end the season once again raised eyebrows about how Darnold will perform going forward. 

With a new group of receivers, Darnold is looking to establish the same chemistry he had on the Vikings with Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison. Kupp feels confident in Darnold as he told Mike Silver in his  June 19 profile of Darnold titled “After signing big deal with Seahawks, Sam Darnold knows he needs to prove himself again” for The Athletic, “I think without a doubt, he’s got his best football ahead of him,” Kupp said. “I love his competitiveness. He’s not OK with things being just OK.”

Darnold knows that he must prove he is not just a one-year wonder and will not revert to the Darnold who struggled with the New York Jets.

The Seahawks are facing a season of uncertainty with both a new quarterback and two different receivers at the top of the depth chart. Expectations for them are modest right now, but Smith-Njigba, Kupp, and Darnold have shown in the recent past that they have the talent to be successful in the NFL.