​Everyone with eyes knows Sam Darnold and Jaxon Smith-Njigba formed an incredible connection with the Seattle Seahawks in 2025. Smith-Njigba led the league in receiving yards and won Offensive Player of the Year. Darnold established himself as a franchise quarterback and the Seahawks won Super Bowl 60.It feels like new data and advanced metrics are still being released that add even more context to how special the Darnold-JSN connection was in 2025. Pro Football Focus recently released a data-driven look at NFL quarterback-receiver partnerships last season. The exercise examined every quarterback-receiver target from 2006 through 2025 through the lens of PFF grading and expected points added (EPA) per play.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementDuring the 2025 season, the Darnold-JSN connection ranked 10th among QB-WR partnerships in EPA per play. If that’s lower than you expected, take the sample size into account. PFF tracked Smith-Njigba as being on the receiving end of 181 targets from Darnold. That was second-most on the list behind just Matthew Stafford and Puka Nacua (200 targets). The more targets, the more difficult it is to maintain a high EPA.The Darnold-to-Smith-Njigba connection was both explosive and efficient in 2025. Every advanced metric indicates as such. If Darnold and Smith-Njigba can recapture their 2025 success in 2026, the Seahawks will field a high-scoring offense for a second consecutive season.This article originally appeared on Seahawks Wire: Sam Darnold, Jaxon Smith-Njigba and their EPA connection in 2025