Today is a day that ends in Y, and therefore we have a fresh batch of insults for the Seattle Seahawks' new starting quarterback, Sam Darnold. Over at Sportsnaut, Matt Johnson believes the Seahawks are one of several NFL teams due for a regression this coming season - mostly thanks to the Darnold gamble not working out for them.
Meanwhile, at NFL Spin Zone Lou Scataglia has some pre-training camp power rankings featuring all 32 projected starting quarterbacks around the league. Even though Darnold just put together a sensational breakout top-10 season, he only comes in at No. 23 on this list.
"The Vikings had a near-perfect situation in 2024 for any QB to succeed in, and now on the Seattle Seahawks, the veteran QB has the total opposite. It's going to be tough for Sam Darnold to replicate the success he had last year, but I guess anything can happen."
Once again, this is a case of Minnesota's supporting cast being made out to be better than it actually was last season, while Seattle's is being unfairly maligned. Most importantly, both teams have/had elite defensive units which takes a ton of pressure off before Darnold even takes the field. The Vikings' offensive line is unquestionably better than the Seahawks, but if it was really a great unit then they wouldn't have replaced their entire starting interior rotation this offseason - something that the Seahawks probably should have done themselves.
It's fair to point out that Justin Jefferson is far superior to any receiver on Seattle's roster - but after him there's not a ton of firepower to go around in that Vikings WR room. Meanwhile, the Seahawks have more depth at this spot and if rookie tight end Elijah Arroyo is allowed to ascend the depth chart and meaningfully contribute this year you can argue that Darnold will have more weapons overall with the Seahawks than he did in 2024 with the Vikings.
The real x-factor will be how well the Seahawks can run the ball after a dismal couple of seasons in this department. The majority of the blame has to go on the offensive line for poor run blocking, but Kenneth Walker III has to be more disciplined about following his leads rather than relying on his admittedly-ridiculous athleticism to make plays.
If Seattle's run game comes back to life under new OC Klint Kubiak, it will open up a lot of opportunities for Darnold to unleash a mean deep play action attack, which should in turn open up other parts of the field to attack. However if the rushing packages remain stuck in neutral, opponents will likely get to pin their ears back and lay Darnold to waste at will.
In any case, at a bare minimum Darnold has to rank no lower than No. 15 on any respectable QB rankings list - and that's only owing to the small sample size of one great season. If Darnold picks up where he left off everyone that had him outside of their top 10 will wind up wrong.
