Sam Darnold And The Seattle Seahawks Are Super Bowl Bound!

Posted on January 26, 2026 by curtiseastwood

What a bold ass awesome year for these Seattle Seahawks. I mean it takes massive stones for general manager John Schneider to make the moves he did last offseason, and it takes icy conviction from head coach Mike Macdonald to get behind it all.

They started things off last offseason by trading away starting QB Geno Smith, who had some popularity amongst fans and members of the media, replacing him with Sam Darnold, who’s unfortunate outing in the playoffs last year for the Vikings left a soar taste in the mouth of many, and these two moves were met with a fair degree of lamentation, and head scratching. They also traded away star receiver DK Metcalf, and replaced him with 31 year old Cooper Kupp, who many felt was long past his prime. Even the free agent signing of DeMarcus Lawerence was met with skepticism, as was the drafting of left guard Grey Zabel in round one, and then trading up in round two for hybrid defender Nick Emmanwori.

“What are the Seattle Seahawks even going?”

“I cannot figure out what the Seattle Seahawks are even thinking.”

These were the common phrases uttered on ESPN, Fox Sports, The Ringer, and The Athletic by the cool kid likes of Mina Kimes, Nick Wright, Steven Ruiz, Bill Simmons, and Sheil Kapadia. None of these so called national stage experts were impressed with the work John Schneider was doing ten months ago, and all that has happened now is that he has earned Executive Of The Year honors, and the Seattle Seahawks are NFC champions on their way to the fourth Super Bowl appearance in their franchise history. F’ing fantastic.

It turns out the Sam Darnold is a significantly better NFL quarterback than Geno Smith is, Cooper Kupp is a more dependable receiver and better team leader than DK Metcalf is, DeMarcus Lawrence still has plenty of juice as a pass rusher and run defender, and Grey Zabel and Nick Emmanwori are every bit worth their draft statuses, and then some. It turns out that maybe perhaps John Schneider knows a thing or two more about professional football and roster construction than the cool kids in sports media and on the internet know, after all. Go figure.

For myself, I had all the confidence in the world with Schneider’s thought processing, and you are free to search through months of posts on this blog to track it on down as moves were being made. I was deeply in favor of moving off of 35 year old Geno Smith in favor of 28 year old Sam Darnold. I was fine with trading away DK, and I dug the Kupp and Lawrence signings. I was also clamoring for the drafting of Grey Zabel long before they made that selection in round one last April.

I needed the Seattle Seahawks to expel Pete Carroll holdovers, and replace them with Mike Macdonald fellas, and when I saw that Schneider was doing this, I was gleefully hand clapping at every single one of these moves. Even letting go of the hyper popular fan favorite Tyler Lockett was met with my approval.

Successful transitions need to be met with successive page turning. It is hard to transition in life without a properly cleansing, and that is what John Schneider decided this team needed most last Spring.

I have been a diehard Seattle Seahawks fan since 1983 when Chuck Knox took over the team from Jack Patera, and they made the playoffs for the first time in their young franchise history. I saw my favorite player Jim Zorn get replaced by one David Krieg at quarterback, and I saw Krieg guide the Seahawks to the AFC championship game. Ever since then, I have been obsessively hooked by this franchise, and I have seen all the patterns of what has led to successful campaigns, and what has led to unfortunate ones.

A successful head coach needs to have a strong vision for his team, he needs talent on the roster, and above else, he needs a quarterback spearheading the thing in ways that he can trust, and effectively lead in his image. Knox had that with Krieg, Mike Holmgren had that with Matthew Hasslebeck, Pete Carroll had that with Russell Wilson and then Geno Smith, and it appears as though Mike Macdonald has that with Sam Darnold, and he does not care about what your narratives have been about Slinging Sammy D. This is as meaningful for the way this franchise is set up for success as anything else it has going forward, period, and this is a big reason why I had faith in them this year to do something very special.

In fact, about two weeks ago, I wrote and published a piece on this blog that outlined my belief in the Seattle Seahawks having the stuff to be a Super Bowl winning team this year. It wasn’t a prediction that they would be, but a detailed reasoning as to why this could be a very special year for them, at least in my mind.

I posted this days before they hosted the San Francisco 49ers in the divisional round, and I wasn’t nervous in the slightest about it being some sort of jinx on the team. I watched what Seattle did to San Francisco in week eighteen in Santa Clara, and I watched what the 49ers did to Philly on the road during wildcard weekend. Seattle felt like a significantly better team than San Francisco, and it played out that way last weekend. I had a feeling like they were going thrash the 49ers, and they did.

Now, the Los Angeles Rams, however, felt like a team that would properly test Seattle, and it would be a game that would likely come down to the wire. I wasn’t nearly as confident about this matchup for the Seahawks in days leading up to this game. The Rams pulled out a very tough win in the bitter cold of Chicago, and felt like a solid veteran club that was coming into Lumen Field fueled with tons of mojo.

For Seattle to win this game, I felt like they would have to really get on top of Matthew Stafford, get him off his game, and that Seattle would have to have a day running the football, and Sam Darnold would have to play a clean game in a very game managerial role at quarterback much like he had against San Francisco. I had confidence that they could do this, but I also had concerns about what would happen if they were forced to play another shootout like they had to play against this team a month ago at home.

Essentially, I felt like the Seahawks would have to beat these Rams in a very 2019 San Francisco 49er Jimmy Garoppolo sorta way of playing lights out defense, running the ball, and basically not fucking up at quarterback the few times they had to pass on critical downs. This was the game I was envisioning from them when I told a friend on Friday that I thought the Hawks could win this 24-20. Well, I got the point differential of this game correct, but the outcome of getting to it was anything but what I had expected.

Lo and behold, it turns out that on the day of the biggest game that Sam Darnold had ever played in as a professional quarterback, our Ginger Cuz played his butt off by out dueling one Matthew Stafford, perhaps the best quarterback on the planet right now, for the right to go to the Super Bowl in Santa Clara, and win the whole bloody thing on 49er turf. Un-fucking-believable.

Now, I know football is the ultimate team sport, and there were numerous big time players who stepped up for Seattle in this 31-27 victory over LA. I know Jaxon Smith Njigba showed huge, again, as did Ken Walker, and Cooper Kupp. I also know Nick Emmanwori and Devon Witherspoon came up big on defense, at times, and I know Michael Dickson had a killer night of punting, and Rashid Shaheed made yet another splashy play to affect the game. I see all of this.

But this, ladies and gentlemen, was Sam Darnold’s Game, and it simply could not have come at a better time of the whole entire year. In fact, this was the best time for it to show up.

Seattle’s defense was not affecting Stafford nearly as much as I was envisioning, nor hoping for. Additionally, the Rams defense had been playing well against Seattle’s run game in ways that I hadn’t really expected it would. While still playing through an oblique injury, the Seattle Seahawks needed Sam Darnold to beat the Rams in a shootout match, and he pulled off that exact thing that Stephen A Smith very outwardly doubted that he would be able to do this week.

Anyone who knows me well, or follows this blog along knows that I am a Sam Darnold believer. I make no bones about the fact that I feel like he is, physically, one of the most talented quarterbacks in the league, and in that, there exists upside in him to reasonably believe that he can be the franchise quarterback of the Seahawks for years to come. This is my firm belief in him.

And it feels like for a couple months now, I have been very actively pushing back on a bunch of lazy narratives around him in big games, and against the Rams, specifically. Well, ever since his one bad outing against the Rams on November 16th, all Sammy has done is to lead the Seattle Seahawks to win every single game the entire rest of the way to the motherf’ing Super Bowl. That is it. That it all.

You cannot say Sam Darnold can’t win big games now. You can’t. He’s been in big games all throughout the second half of the regular season, including that very wild TNF game rematch against the Rams where he threw two picks only to then lead Seattle to as dramatic of an overtime win with his arm as you will bare witness towards.

You also can’t say Sammy D can’t win playoff games. He helped take out the 49ers last week, and he took down the all world Rams last night with big time throw after big time throw, besting a Hall Of Fame level quarterback.

After last night’s outcome in this NFC championship game, not only do the narratives of Darnold need to change, but so do the broader narratives centering around the famed 2018 quarterback draft class that features Darnold along with Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, and Baker Mayfield. Sam Darnold is the first quarterback of that uniquely QB heavy class to make the Super Bowl. In two week’s time, he will have the chance to be the first of this group to win it.

There is, of course, no guarantee that he, and the Seahawks will win the thing in a couple weeks. Personally, I think the New England Patriots are anything but a pushover, but if Darnold plays anything close against them as he did against the team last night that everyone thought was his kryptonite (another dumb fucking narrative), I’m going to say that I like Seattle’s chances quite a bit in two week’s time.

What a bunch of shit that has been thrown at Darnold this year, too. Honestly, Stephen A Smith, Skip Bayless, and a whole slew of other big media blowhards can all give each other belt to ass beatings for how dumb they look after this game with their lazy season long Sam Darnold takes.

Here are Sam Darnold’s stats after this game, and you can read them and weep. He was 25 of 35 pass attempts for a completion percentage of 70 percent. He threw 346 yards for 3 TDs, 0 INTs, and he had a QB rating of 127.8.

The LA Ram defenders were highly unsuccessful at forcing Sam Darnold into seeing any ghosts. In fact, some of them might be having Darnold nightmares for the next few days and weeks.

That is top shelf stuff in this league for any QB in a championship game. You can have whatever views you want to have about him moving forward, but the narrations that he can’t shine in big moments just evaporated last night. Poof!

They are all gone now.

Not only do I believe that Slingin’ Sammy D is going to be the franchise QB in Seattle for a good while now, I think that’s he’s got the stuff to become the best quarterback in franchise history, period. I think he’s young enough still to grow and get better, and I believe he is very capable of doing just that. I also think that he has physical traits that are closer to Andrew Luck than say Jared Goff, who I compared him towards earlier this year.

He’s not a limited athlete like Goff and Brock Purdy are. He’s got an arm, and he got legs, and last night against the Rams, both were on display when Seattle needed plays from him.

But I do not mean to make this whole thing about Darnold and his very big night. I really don’t.

Jaxon Smith Njigba, again, showed the national viewing audience why he should be considered the very best receiver in the game, and the Offensive Player Of The Year this year. Nick Emmanwori also showed the world why he should rightly be the Defensive Rookie Of The Year as he was almost the only Seahawk defender to consistently show out last night against Stafford and his playmakers.

I will even say that Riq Woolen, with his absurdly untimely taunting penalty in the second half that gave the Rams new life and opportunity to add a touchdown, kept his composure and played well in the next defensive series. I don’t think his play was any worse than Devon Witherspoon getting beaten for yards against Puka Nucua and Davante Adams, and then finding the grit to critically defend the red zone to deny Stafford the opportunity to steal the game late on third and fourth downs.

Seattle’s defenders were going to be put to the test in this one. It was literally a game of best offense against best defense, and I underestimated how much they were going to be tested again in this one. My perception was that they would hold LA down in points, but the reality was that Puka and Stafford were going to make it an absolute heavy weight dog fight.

The truth of this game is that Seattle faced a true heavy hitter of an NFL franchise in the Los Angeles Rams that came into Lumen Field confidently ready to win this game, and go to the Super Bowl. Sean McVay gave Mike Macdonald’s vaunted defense everything it could handle as a play caller. He had the best QB in the game challenging it with perhaps the best receiver duo to throw at.

It was an epic dog fight. It was a grind. Stafford and company did not wilt like Brock Purdy and co did last week. They gave Seattle everything they could handle. They gave it their best shot, and in many ways, this game felt like the famed 2013 NFC championship game fought in Seattle against the 49ers with Colin Kaepernick in his prime.

And Sam Darnold, along with JSN, in the end, out dueled the Rams’ best efforts, along with the help of yet another Rams special teams fuck up, which of course, we will gladly take. Thank you for that, Los Angeles Rams.

But maybe now we should start saying that perhaps Darnold is maybe now LA’s kryptonite… just a wee little bit.

What do you say, Stephen A? How about you, Skip? Mike Florio?

Are you men enough to change face a little on that? It would be a whole lot cooler, if you did.

Go Hawks. This team fucking rocks.

Enjoy this time in history, Seahawk fans. These hard fought moments don’t come easily, or often. You can feel deeply proud of this team again. They earned that. All of them.

Go Hawks.

Why These Seattle Seahawks Can Win A Super Bowl

Posted on January 14, 2026 by curtiseastwood

This Saturday at 5PM in Seattle, the feisty and resilient San Francisco 49ers will take field against the Seattle Seahawks in the divisional round of the playoffs. There will certainly be a massive buzz all week about this game from a national perspective. Richard Sherman, who famously played for and supports both arch rivals, will be on interviews throughout the week giving his perspective of this heated rivalry.

My guess is that there will exist, on a national level, some rooting interests in wanting to see Brock Purdy and the 49ers prevail in this game. Kyle Shanahan has perhaps done the best coaching of his career this season getting a team into the playoffs that has played without its best defenders all year, and even without Purdy, himself, for several games. Even though they have achieved this feat going against the easiest schedule of any team this season, it is easy for that fact to get lost in the feel good nature of their scrappy campaign. When you are winning games decisively with Mac Jones at quarterback, you are looking pretty damn good as a head coach, and organization.

If you simply do not have any horse in this race, I imagine it is easy to see San Francisco, and want to get behind them, perhaps. Their quarterback has a very likable, none threatening, every guy, boy next door quality that people can find easily relatable, and he has a knack for making big plays when big plays are needed. Rich Eisen, in particular, feels like a sports media giant who is very drawn them, and this quarterback, in particular.

If you just zero in on Purdy (and perhaps Christian McCaffery), everything about your midwest Christian conservative upbringing will settle into your chest, and make you want to see these guys get a ring this year. It can pull you so much so that you can easily look past that fact that Kyle Shanahan can come across as a bit of an arrogant prick as he permits players such as Jauan Jennings and Deommodore Lenoir to play the game with extra toxic underhandedness, and then will often complain about circumstances, and officiating if things do not go his way for his team, if they lose. That Brock Purdy, though, he’s just something special.

Then way up North of them, you have the Seattle Seahawks. From a distance, while you might be impressed by him because of his defensive minded prowess, you do not know their head coach very well, and not enough of his personality has been brought forth onto the national stage to feel like you are behind him greatly. You admire the Seahawk defense, and Jaxon Smith Ngijba on offense, but you are clinging onto persistent old narratives about Sam Darnold as a quarterback.

You just don’t know enough about this team to want to sign off, and neither does your editors or network producers. You have little to no history with them other than a couple Super Bowls the organization played in over a decade ago with players and a coach that are long past them now. San Francisco, Los Angeles, Buffalo, you know pretty well, though, and New England and Chicago are more storied long standing teams that reside in larger markets with greater viewerships.

The reality of this, however, is that the Seattle Seahawks do not care about how you feel about them. Their coach is a sharp, grounded, level headed sort who does not seek out bulletin material to motivate his players. Therefore, they will not get caught up in the psychological warfare games that the 49ers seem to want to play in the media and press within this rivalry.

Instead, Mike Macdonald demands that they stay the course of the focus and discipline that they possess on defense that allows for them to play fast and furious, and he encourages them to seek explosive plays, offensively, and on special teams to round out how they want to win ball games. In fact, when he answers questions about how his team can win the following game, he almost always lands on the praise “staying true to our process,” meaning that if they stay the course of doing all the things mentally and physically that they have routinely been doing, that allows them to play their brand of ball that got them to 14 wins this year, and therefore gives them their best chance to get the win whatever it ends up looking like after the final whistle is blown.

If you look at the overall nature of their defense, the impressive point differential that they have earned all season long, and the top DVOA numbers that they possess, you can easily see that Macdonald is clearly doing things right as a second year head coach, if nothing else. Even if you do not buy into them as a team to win it all this year, Vegas betters are looking at all these collective numbers, and they are buying. The raw data favors Seattle this year.

To be clear, I am not predicting that the Seattle Seahawks are going to the Super Bowl and winning it in a few weeks’ time. I am not in the market of making predictions heading into this divisional round of the playoff games. Seattle has to get past San Francisco first, and if they do so, they will have to get past another team next weekend in either the Bears or Rams.

The NFL feels very wide open, however, and I do not sense a clear outstanding favorite within this collection of remaining playoff teams. This is what happens when there is no dynasty team in this dance. Therein lies the reason why I think Seattle should be considered as good of a contender as any remaining in this dance.

In the NFC, the Rams have the best quarterback and head coach combination, I believe. Their offense is a well oiled machine with arguably the best receiver duo in the dance, and defensively, they can get after a quarterback. I don’t fully trust their secondary, though, and it does feel like their defense has regressed to a point that it can be ran on, if they get drawn into the marshes of a physical game. Their special teams, as we know, has been a mess.

I will be honest and say that I don’t have much faith in the Bears or 49ers with those defenses. Could they both upset the Rams and Seahawks? Certainly. It is the NFL playoffs and anything is possible, and Chicago and San Francisco have made it to the second round of the playoffs showing all kinds of grit, and moxie. I just feel the deeper the playoffs get, the more it favors the teams with stronger defenses, and because of that, my skepticism remains with both teams.

In terms of the AFC, I think the New England Patriots, Houston Texans, and the Denver Broncos all have defenses built to win a championship, and they have offenses capable of doing enough. I know many folks don’t buy Bo Nix much, but Sean Payton does know a thing about winning a Super Bowl, and I would not underestimate Denver’s unique Mile High home field advantage in January.

In summary, there are teams at this point that I do not put much stock into, but then there are teams that I find compelling. Objectively, I find the Seattle Seahawks a highly compelling playoff team, and that is with stripping away my deep blue and green colored fandom of theirs.

Seattle’s defense is championship caliber, as is their special teams. People get down on their offense a bit, yet they remain one of the most explosive offenses in the league, and this is why Klint Kubiak is a hot name currently in the coaching hiring circuit. If you just stared at their overall point differential, that, above anything else, should give one faith that they can make it to the Super Bowl.

I say all of this noting that a month ago I stated, after the game against the Colts when Seattle came out a bit flat and unfocused, and they only narrowly won against a 44 year old grandfather who came out of retirement to QB against them, any Super Bowl hype for the Seahawks was way too premature. I congratulated them for winning their 11th win, but I also felt like they were erratic Little Brother in the NFC West to the 49ers, and Rams, and that there were things about themselves that needed sorting out. This was my honest assessment of them at that time.

Since that game against the Colts, however, it does now feel like the Seahawks have taken some significant steps forward figuring it out for themselves. They defeated the Rams on TNF in one of the most dramatic come from behind overtime wins I have ever seen. They then traveled to Carolina and took apart a Panther offense that had been playing good ball up until that game, and then they completely took apart Kyle Shanahan’s offense down in the Bay Area, and made red hot Brock Purdy look like the second coming of Max Brosmer.

Now, objectively speaking, divorcing myself of my fandom, the Seattle Seahawks legit have my attention as Super Bowl contenders, and they should have every else’s attention, as well. They are a rightful winners of the NFC West, and they sport the top playoff seed in the NFC, and they possess the best overall DVOA marks in the league matched with what is likely the best overall defense without splitting hairs with some of the defenses in the AFC. On top of this, they are coming into their home matchup against San Francisco well rested, self scouted, and ready to tumble.

Offensively, it feels like they have properly adjusted to what defenses are presenting them. The style points in the pass game has not been there like it was through the first half of the year, but their effectiveness to remain explosive has remained by way of their suddenly explosive run game.

Simply stated, they are leaning more into the run against defenses that are paying extra attention to JSN to not give up chunk plays downfield, and the result has been a highly effective run game against lighter boxes, as demonstrated against the Rams, Panthers, and 49ers (all playoff teams they played against to finish out their season). Coming out of the game in Santa Clara, specifically, it feels like Darnold is perhaps taking more comfort accepting a game manager role at quarterback knowing that Seattle can win with defense, and a supportive run game while being more judicious throwing the football. You can have whatever opinion you want to about Darnold, but I would not underestimate how important this potential shift in the Seattle offense is for this team heading into this divisional round playoff game.

For many weeks, people have been looking at the Seahawks with the incorrect lens, I believe. They have been zeroing in on Sam Darnold too intently with memories of what happened to him last year in the playoffs. What they haven’t been considering nearly enough is how dominant the Seahawk defense had been performing, how well their special teams had been, and how, despite the turnover moments of Darnold, the Seahawk offense had remained explosive either through the run game, or downfield passing when needed.

In fact, I think what is perhaps the most underrated aspect of Seattle’s offense right now is how clutch Darnold has been late in games either coming from behind, or guiding long sustained drives to secure victory. There appears to be something about his makeup where he is able to overcome a mishap (or two), and lock in late. If you have watched every Seahawk game this year, you have seen this trend of his.

Outsiders will zero in on Darnold because of that one playoff game last year against the Rams when he was sacked all game long, and Kevin O’Connell seemed allergic to calling run plays to help him out. It is unfathomable for East Coast Fan to accept the suggestion that Sam Darnold can lead Seattle to playoff wins, but, at the same time, I don’t necessarily think that East Coast Fan is the sharpest stick in the pile when looking at Seattle, overall.

Considering how Seattle has found an explosive run game late in the season, think of it this following way, East Coast Fan, or anyone else who wants to hit the laugh reaction button on Facebook at the notion Seattle is a true contender.

Now, as we head into the playoffs, how do you want your team’s defense to play Seattle’s offense considering how potent their run game has been humming? Do you want to follow what defenses have been doing to them as of late, playing more shell coverage to limit JSN, and leave yourself more vulnerable against the run? Or would you load the box with extra defenders trying to limit the run and dare Darnold to go deep with arguably the top receiver in the league to throw at?

If you choose to play coverage, you risk the explosive running back duo of Ken Walker and Zach Charbonnet to put up big numbers like they have been generating the past several games. If you load the box up against them, you risk making Darnold look like a MVP candidate in the playoffs much like he was looking during the first half of the season when defenses were loading up to stop the run while not believing in Seattle’s pass game.

My guess is that defensive coordinators are more likely going to continue paying extra attention to JSN, playing more coverage not wanting to be the one responsible of Darnold looking like an MVP in the playoffs. Personally, I think this is exactly how Mike Macdonald would have it.

Seattle has not won the way your fantasy football led minds think they should win these past few games. Macdonald probably does not give two solid squats about your fantasy team.

These Seahawks are being built to win titles with the defense leading the charge, and a ball control offense being complimentary towards it as they run the rock is probably exactly what they prefer. If their defense continues to hum, it feels clear that they’d be perfectly willing to win playoff games with 10-17-ish final scores. They will take that. It might not get Sam Darnold a Super Bowl MVP award, but it might give Leonard Big Cat Williams one.

Pete Prisco can scoff all he wants to about the Seahawks only putting up 13 points on the road against the 49ers the last time these teams met. The truth of the matter is that if Jason Myers made two field goals he would normally make, the Seahawks would have beaten the Niners 19-3, and the domination would have felt even more impressive, but the reality of that game was that Seattle only needed to beat the Niners by scoring 4 points. That’s it.

So if folks like Prisco want to scoff at the Seahawks, he is certainly free to do so. If Stephen A Smith wants to continue bringing up his doubts on Darnold, he can doubt away. Seattle’s pathway to winning the Super Bowl this year isn’t led by their QB looking like an MVP, and any style points of their offense you think they need to have to be a true contender.

Nay, it is led by their defense, their special teams, and their offense running the football, and taking whatever is there with good game management decisions from the QB. That is it, and this is the way, unless you want to load up the box and leave JSN wide open downfield with Darnold’s high level deep ball proficiency.

Last thing about why I like the Seahawks this year to perhaps shock the world by making the Super Bowl, and winning it outright. Aside from the supportive data that favors this team, there exists the largely unconsidered want-to-factor from a series of savvy, older badass vets on this roster.

Leonard Williams and Julian Love are former New York Giants rescued by John Schneider that I would expect to see hyper focused in these playoffs understanding the opportunity they possess with having this home field advantage. Ditto for former Cowboy DeMarcus Lawrence who chose Seattle, specifically believing in this defensive coaching staff, for a chance to finally get a ring. These are high level veteran defenders who have been in this league a while, and probably do not want to see this opportunity squandered, and will therefore play these games according.

Also, do not think for a second that long time Seahawk Jarran Reed doesn’t want to see his career through by earning a Super Bowl title with the team that drafted him in 2016. Shoot, I think Cooper Kupp would love nothing more than to win another title by way of earning it playing for the team he rooted for as a kid, and have the distinction of winning two Super Bowls on two different teams.

And then there is Darnold, Slingin’ Sammy D, himself, as Colin Cowherd calls him, with the keys to the offensive knowing they have home field advantage and are two games away from the Super Bowl. Don’t you think he would love nothing more in the world than to erase years of negative narratives by guiding Seattle to a Super Bowl win?

This is my hunch about Seattle as we get into the divisional round, and they host San Francisco. I think we are likely to see a more confident and dialed in Sam Darnold. I just do. I think that dramatic come from behind win against the Rams a few weeks back did something for this team, and him.

There was an easy calm to him shown through his press conference heading into the season finale against San Francisco, and I thought that carried through much of the game despite missing an opportunity to hit Zach Charbonnet for an early touchdown score. He, more than anyone else, has probably had time this past week to self scout, study tape, refine, and this Saturday is his grand opportunity to start rewriting a few narratives out there.

Can this carry on through the playoffs? I believe it can.

If Seattle’s defense plays their game, if Seattle stays impressive on special teams, and steadfast with the run, and if Darnold plays like he did on the road in Santa Clara, I think these Seahawks can most definitely win Super Bowl this year. When you peal back the layers, it does become easier to see this.

They still have to do it, though, and it is understandable that doubts will remain until postseason wins are earned. They do not possess the playoff pedigree of the 49ers, and the LA Rams, and if you place more stock into proven commodities than analytics, I get it. The been there done that factor of teams can be a compelling one in the midst of playoff madness.

I will just say in conclusion, that this Saturday, at 5PM, it will be Seattle’s grand opportunity to do the things that they need to do to secure a divisional round win, and then have that same opportunity at home for the conference championship the following week. This is their opportunity to show any doubters the significance of staying true to their process, and being a process over results oriented franchise.

I like their chances.

Go Hawks.

Why I Want The Seahawks To Think Offensively In A Trade

Posted on October 28, 2025 by curtiseastwood

Here we are, over a week after the Seattle Seahawks won a sloppy Monday Night Football against a tough Houston Texans team, and still they have yet to make any trade. I won’t lie. I am pretty surprised that they haven’t, and I might even say that I’m a little bit annoyed.

The bye week felt like the optimal time to tweak the roster a bit with an addition (or two), and have those players ready to practice before flying to DC for a Sunday Night Football match against the struggling yet formidable Washington Commanders. Guess I misread the tea leaves on what Seattle would be doing this past week.

They could still make a trade, of course. The trade deadline is exactly one week away from today. I just felt like this past week would have been more ideal in getting a newly acquired player out here and settled into practicing.

There is also the possibility that Seattle sees things differently with players they already have, and believe that they have all the pieces necessary to compete for the division title. After all, they currently rest tied for first place in the division, and will have three of their top defenders returning to their already top shelf defense. They will also have impressive rookie fullback Robbie Ouzts returning to their offense to help put a little extra mustard in their run game with possibly second year guard Christian Haynes returning from IR to practice at right guard behind the somewhat struggling Anthony Bradford.

The return of Ouzts will definitely get any diehard Seattle Seahawk fan’s excitement level up some, but the idea of Haynes mixing in with Bradford probably isn’t going to get even the most optimistic fan’s juices flowing. When thinking about trade scenarios in regards to the Seahawks, most fans will probably point to right guard with all the Tik Tok videos gone viral ripping on Bradford, and the fact that Haynes was never able to beat him out last Summer during training camp, in the first place.

The problem is, however, that bad interior offensive line play is a league wide epidemic. The 49ers, for example, have a horrendous offensive line situation that they surviving despite of, and the list is long filled with other teams behind them in a similar boat. In my opinion, a bad team is less likely to part with a decent offensive lineman because that player will be seen as a building block for next season.

Even Wyatt Teller, the 30 year old pro bowl guard for the Browns who is set to be a free agent this offseason, could be hard to pry out Cleveland. The common fan might assume that he wants out of there, and the Browns in a lost season would be sellers, but Kevin Stefanski is a good coach, and the Browns might be well positioned to draft their next quarterback next Spring with how their season is going. In short, Cleveland might be holding onto hope that Teller will be a pending free agent that they can convince to stick around.

As I look around the league at other bad teams, I don’t know if I see another offensive lineman worth trading for who will likely be better than what Seattle already has. Second year guard/center Jackson Powers-Johnson appears to be on the outs with Pete Carroll in Vegas, but if he can’t vibe with ultra positive player friendly Pete, is he going to be a guy who Seattle will take interest in? 35 year old pro bowler Kevin Zeitler might like to get out of Tennessee, but would the Titans want to trade their best offensive lineman in a year where they are trying to develop their star rookie quarterback?

Even Cesar Ruiz with the Saints, a player I have mentioned multiple times as a potential trade target for Seattle (given the familiarity OC Klint Kubiak has with him), feels like a pipe dream trade scenario. He’s young and contracted for multiple years, and NOLA is trying to build a new foundation with their young head coach in place. Trading away a 26 year old right guard who has played decently in the past feels too counterproductive to what they want to do moving forward.

Sticking with the Saints, you could say that Trevor Penning, their former 2022 first round pick who busted out at tackle and has shifted to the left guard role for them, could be a reasonable target. Maybe, but maybe not if NOLA wants to continue taking a good long look at him at guard. Again, poor interior offensive line play is a league wide issue, and teams with young talent are probably more apt to want to see them developed through the trials and tribulations of a season then wanting to trade these guys away for a bag of peanuts and make a bad situation worse.

Think of it this way; Anthony Bradford might be the most suspect player on Seattle’s starting offensive line, but what exists behind him might be way worse. For as bad as some of these selectively edited Tik Tok videos are of him, he has the size and strength to win on initial contact against bigger defensive tackles in the league regularly while run blocking. It is just him climbing to the second level of a defense where things can go comical for an online content creator. If you take away Bradford with this offensive line, and insert Haynes or someone else, there is no guarantee that player wins regularly on initial contact, and therefore, you make a not so great situation worse. Same goes for bad teams trading away offensive lineman.

The hope for every team with a bad offensive line situation is that young players grow together through the course of an NFL season. The hope for NOLA is that Penning and Ruiz develop together in a lost season. The hope in Tennessee is that Cam Ward is protected enough with Zeitler on the line, that he grows as a passer as a rookie. The hope in Vegas is probably that JPJ can be reached by Carroll and Chip Kelly. The hope in Cleveland is probably that they can convince Wyatt Teller to sign an extension next offseason instead of collecting a mid to late round pick for him now.

The hope here in Seattle is probably that Anthony Bradford can settle in more at right guard coming out of the bye week, like it, or not. This doesn’t mean that Seattle won’t try to search for a good veteran guard option on the trade market if a bad team suddenly says uncle in the eleventh hour of the trade deadline. It just means that maybe that type of trade isn’t likely coming, and Seattle has to look at other means to maybe further fortify their team heading into the second half of the season.

If I were in GM John Schneider’s shoes right now, with the trade deadline approaching, I would stay on the offensive side of the ball, and figure out a way to improve my team’s third down success rate which as drastically dropped in the last two games from somewhat respectable to bad. I think perhaps the best way to do that is to give Sam Darnold one more weapon to throw the ball at on obvious passing downs.

With the kind of year that Jaxon Smith Njigba is having, it might sound a bit weird to suggest that Seattle needs more at receiver, but when you look at what is behind JSN, I am not so sure. Cooper Kupp is great in the run game as a perimeter blocker, and he provides a decent option for Darnold to throw at on first and second downs, but on third and long, he lacks separation needed when defenses know Seattle needs to pass. Tory Horton had a promising start to his rookie season, but has quieted down considerably over the past few games, and against the Texans on MNF, Darnold’s connection with him seemed noticeably off. I think Jake Bobo just sorta is what he is, and he will never be a quick separation guy on critical third downs.

It feels more unlikely now that NOLA will trade away Chris Olave, so I am kissing that pipe dream scenario away bye bye for Seattle, but I am wondering if his mate, Rashid Shaheed, could be a viable draft target. Shaheed knows Klint Kubiak’s system, and is a speed demon receiver who I think Seattle could use quite a bit on all three passing downs, if they needed to pass more.

He’s a natural run after catch guy, and he’s a field stretcher. His presence on third downs, with JSN, and Kupp would likely give a defensive coordinator a thing or two to think about. He’s also a great returner and would provide extra special teams value to an already good special teams situation.

Another receiver that I think might be a viable option for Seattle is disgruntled Raiders receiver Jakobi Meyers, and I do wonder if a player for player move would be almost inevitable for him. While, personally, I wouldn’t trade away Riq Woolen at this point given the injuries Seattle has endured in their secondary this year, the return of Devon Witherspoon to the defense does open up some possibility of it.

I can imagine Carroll wanting to add Woolen to his defense given their background together. I can imagine Seattle seeing the addition of Meyers as a rental player for the second half of their season being a spark for their obvious passing down offense. I can see Meyers seeing at opportunity to further spark Seattle’s offense as they aim for the playoffs being a better opportunity to cash in as an NFL free agent next Winter than sticking around in Vegas during a wasted season would be for him. I can see a scenario where a third down three receiver set of JSN, Kupp, and Meyers would have an exciting feel for Seahawk fans.

Another benefit of adding Meyers or Shaheed to this offense on second half of the season rental contracts is that either addition wouldn’t necessarily impede Tory Horton’s development as a potential future WR2 to JSN. I’m still a Horton believer, but it is noticeable how quieted down he became in the last two games where he didn’t catch a single pass while being targeted. That’s not good enough, but it is worth noting that in the last two games, Seattle faced two top end defenses.

This leads me to think Seattle doesn’t need to break the bank for a Chris Olave, or a Garrett Wilson, or even a AJ Brown. They just need a veteran who made gets this offense a bit more than a rookie fifth round pick, and maybe in that, adds a bit more of a secure third down passing option for Darnold.

I would be awesome to get a stud offensive lineman, but I am not holding my breath on it. I think that is probably a move for next offseason.

But I do think giving Darnold another viable target on third downs could be the difference between being a playoff contender to being a championship worthy team this year with this defense, and the explosive nature of this offense on first and second downs.

So, let’s do that.

Go Hawks.

The Road Warrior Seahawks Beat The Tough Jaguars So Let’s Trade!

Posted on October 13, 2025 by curtiseastwood

What an incredible weekend for Seattle sports fans. On Friday Night, the Team Of Destiny Seattle Mariners defeated the Detroit Tigers in 15 innings of gritty baseball to advance to the ALCS, and on Sunday evening, they took game one in Toronto against a well rested Blue Jays team. On Sunday morning, the Seahawks kicked off against a talented Jaguars team in Jacksonville, and they beat them down, 20-12, to advance to 4-2, and a three way tie for first place in the NFC West.

After losing a tough high scoring shootout battle against the Tampa Bay Bucs last weekend, I had a lot of Sunday morning nerves about the Seahawks chances in Jacksonville. The Jaguars have been the big surprise storyline in the NFL this season, thus far. They have been winning by playing smart football, establishing the run, and playing impressive defense. Their defense, in fact, had been leading the league in creating turnovers heading into Sunday. Trevor Lawrence, while not at the red hot level of Sam Darnold, or Baker Mayfield this year, felt like a talented young quarterback finally starting to turn the corner as a pro.

Seattle’s defense, last week, played like wet butt against Baker Mayfield, to be brutally blunt. For Seattle to win this game, I thought we would have to rely on Darnold playing another strong game, and we would have to hope that Seattle’s defense would find with within itself to hold it together while missing three quarters of its starting secondary again for the second straight game. That last part felt like a big ask.

Well, apparently Mike Macdonald still knows a thing or two about coaching NFL defenses because Seattle’s defense kicked the snot out of Lawrence, and company on their home turf. Didn’t see this coming, but it was a sight to see. On Sunday, Seattle had the better quarterback and defense, and they won because of that.

The defense wasn’t perfect, and neither was Darnold, but they were pretty damn close to it. Darnold had one bad play where he put the ball in harm’s way at a critical time late in the game, but he was otherwise brilliant as a passer, yet again. In terms of the defense, I still think there remained issues on the backend with coverage minus starting safety Julian Love, and corners Riq Woolen and Devon Witherspoon, and this game showed it. I also think that there remains some concerns with linebacker, as well, but holy smokes did Seattle’s pass rush show up big time when it was desperately needed.

I don’t think it is hyperbole to state the Seattle has perhaps the top DT tandem in the league with Leonard Williams and Byron Murphy pass rushing together inside, and the return of edge rusher DeMarcus Lawrence was sight to behold with how he stopped the run and pass rushed.

Still, with all the talent that Seattle has on their defensive line, it was clear that Mike Macdonald felt they had to blitz Lawrence in order to effect Jacksonville’s passing attack. Up until this game, Seattle had not been known as a big blitzing team in the league. Macdonald loves to rush four and drop seven. Against Lawrence, however, perhaps Macdonald sensed a opportunity to go after him a bit more knowing he’s still not the most polished passer in the league, and the blitz would help his depleted secondary some.

This was the sense I got out of this game. If Seattle was in a match with a top tier quarterback, they might have done things differently, and lost like they did last week. This is the main reason why I believe that sitting at 4-2 now, in a wide open NFC, Seattle should look to deal for an impact defender, or two. I want two more pieces, and I want them now.

It is clear that through six games, Seattle has one of the best quarterbacks in the league playing for them. Sam Darnold has played through six games, against six really good defenses, and by most metrics, he’s played elite against them all. I think the chances are that as this season progresses, he and his receivers will only get better.

Would it be fun to add Chris Olave who played for Klint Kubiak last year? Sure. Is it necessary? Not as much as adding a quality linebacker next to Ernest Jones, or safety depth.

Jaxon Smith Njigba feels like a better receiver than Justin Jefferson now, and perhaps the top receiver in the game (not hyperbole). Cooper Kupp is proving a solid complimentary piece to JSN. AJ Barner has significantly progressed as a starting tight end, and Tory Horton remains an intriguing third receiver. Ken Walker and Zach Charbonnet are playing better within this scheme now, and feel like a very solid one two punch together as runners. This young offensive line, while still needing work as a run blocking unit, has been a revelation in terms of how it has pass blocked together.

Then there is Darnold, who is Pro Football Focus’s favorite quarterback. Everything he is doing feels sustainable in this offense, and he feels like he can be the guy here in Seahawk blue for the next six to seven years pretty easily.

All of this leads me to the place of feeling very strongly that Seattle should not feel queasy about surrendering draft picks in 2026 to fortify their defense more. To my eyes, the Seahawks should look to improve their situation at weak side linebacker, and depth at safety. For as much as it was fun to see the pass rush return against Jacksonville, I would love to see them make a big splash at edge rush, if they can, as well, but for my money, I want a quality starting WILL linebacker next to Ernest Jones, allowing Tyrice Knight and Drake Thomas to be quality backups, and I need stronger insurance at safety in place of Julian Love being out, and the potential of Coby Bryant getting banged up, too.

The NY Jets are now starring at 0-6, and they have quality players on their defense despite their losing ways. Veteran linebacker Quincy Williams would be an ideal addition to Mike Macdonald’s defense, but the 49ers have lost All Pro LB Fred Warner for the season with a broken ankle and their DC is Robert Saleh, formerly the head coach of the Jets. With Seattle and San Fran tied for the division lead, it seems destined that both teams will be now looking at making trades, and it seems natural that Saleh would look towards a former player of his, but there are other teams pretty much out of contention now that the Seattle could look towards.

The Miami Dolphins, in particular, are now 1-5, and their head coach is on the verge of getting fired. They have former Seahawk Jordyn Brooks who John Schneider wanted to bring back last year, but couldn’t get a deal done. Miami plays a defense that features a very similar scheme to what Seattle deploys and Brooks played a lot of WILL and MIKE backer in his time. I wouldn’t be surprised if Seattle looked to reunite with him.

Speaking of former Seattle Seahawk, the Titans have also now dropped to 1-5, and Quandre Diggs is playing safety for them. He was a popular player in Seattle for a spell, and at the very least would offer valuable veteran leadership and depth. Could Seattle look to reunite? It’s an interesting thought.

Another former Seahawk defender with the Titans is linebacker Cody Barton who blossomed more in the league after he left Seattle. He’s played well for a good Bronco’s defense last year, and is a natural WILL linebacker who has been good in coverage. I think he’s a consideration.

The Saints are also now 1-5, and they have two talented veteran linebackers that they could look to deal, and they have a very interesting edge rusher in Carl Granderson who would be a fun addition to Seattle’s pass rush, if they want to further bolster it.

Then there is the 1-5 Baltimore Ravens, the team that Mike Macdonald was the defensive coordinator for. The Ravens already dealt off one of their young edge rushers, but what about star linebacker Roquan Smith? He was a Macdonald favorite in Baltimore, the player they traded for from the Bears who solidified his defense into being the best in the league. Could Seattle be eyeing him to come in and partner with Ernest Jones? It’s an extremely interesting thought.

One more Macdonald favorite from Baltimore would be safety Geno Stone who is currently on the 2-4. He was an intercepting machine for Macdonald in 2023. Maybe he’s a guy they now make a play for? It would make sense.

One thing to keep in mind for Seattle is the wild card of hybrid rookie player Nick Emmonwari who through two games since coming back from his week one injury, as been playing on fire for the defense. Emmonwari plays exclusively a Big Nickel role, which if you do not know what that it, it is like a hybrid of a safety/nickel corner/linebacker. He is being groomed into being the ultimate chess piece in Macdonald’s defense that mostly plays in a 4-2-5 front, and basically, while Emmonwari lists on the roster as a safety, he functions almost more like a linebacker who covers slot receivers and tight ends.

The main reason why I bring this up about Emmonwari is that it is unreasonable to assume that he’s going to take over either of the deep safety roles of this defense anytime soon, if at all. Same with an idea that he could fill in at WILL linebacker. His niche is this Big Nickel spot that will likely be the single most unique trait to the Seahawk defense moving forward. He is Macdonald’s eraser in the flat, making life difficult for tight ends, running backs and receivers in a specific area of the field while also providing blitz abilities. If anything, as he gets more comfortable in this role, his presence might relegate Devon Witherspoon to a more pure outside corner position moving forward.

Which leads me to the Seahawk cornerback position, and my uncertainty whether they need do go out and acquire more talent there. I think this game against the Jaguars showed that if you can get enough competent safety and linebacker coverage play, cornerback for this particular defense might be more plug and play that I had been thinking in recent weeks. If Seattle has two really good coverage backers, and really good safeties, and Emmonwari, perhaps they can survive on Josh Jobe, Derion Kendrick, Shaq Griffin, along with Spoon coming back, and perhaps Riq Woolen can be a player dealt for a veteran at another spot.

Final thing before I close this one out. I have listed linebacker and safety as my biggest needs for this team, and side mentioned edge rusher. I don’t want to dismiss the idea of Seattle making a big shocking move for a big named edge rusher who might be out there on the Market. The Bengals are 2-4 and so are the Vegas Raiders.

Trey Hendrickson is a name long been tossed out as a potential trade target for the Seahawks dating back to training camp. He is 30 years old and is on the last year of his contract. I don’t know if he is someone the Bengals will deal or be very stubborn about, but I don’t think the trade for Joe Flacco is going to save their season, and if Seattle offered their third round pick for him as a rental with a chance to sign back in the offseason, that feels like a pick that could prove valuable to the Bengals as they look to build more through the draft than ever with all the big contracts given to their receivers and quarterback. This would feel like a very John Schneider move to make now, and maybe Macdonald just sees winning with top shelf pass rush as the way to win the division more so than linebacker and safety or corner help.

Then there is the Raiders with one Maxx Crosby, who while he is Mr Raider, at age 28 how much longer does he really want to wait out this team finally getting competent?

They could have pursued Sam Darnold last offseason, but Tom Brady stepped in and waived that away, wanting 35 year old Geno Smith, instead, who has been awful for them. They beat the lowly Titans, 10-20, but again, Geno didn’t look great, and they now have to face the gauntlet of facing the Chiefs, Jags, and Broncos over the next three games. They could easily be 2-7 in a few weeks with a busted season.

It was reported that Schneider asked about Crosby in the Geno trade and was willing to deal DK there in addition for him last offseason. What if Seattle offered Vegas a couple first round picks for Crosby? Vegas would have the draft capital necessary to find their next quarterback, and more properly fill out their roster, and Seattle would get to add a star edge rusher who is contracted through 2029. It feels win win for both organizations.

This is an idea that was floated out last week by Rob Staton of Seahawks Draft Blog, and I think it is a really interesting one. I just don’t know if the Raiders front office would be ballsy enough to trade their most popular player, and supremely piss off the majority of its fanbase, but it is a fun thought for Seattle in terms of going all in.

And, at this point, why not go all in on this team this year? The Rams, Seahawks, and 49ers are all resting at 4-2, so why not create a NFC West arms race battle for the division?

Seattle’s arguably got the hottest quarterback in the division right now, and certainly one of the hottest ones in the entire conference and league. They also have the hottest receiver in the league in JSN. They have an offensive line that is generally not terrible and is actually pretty decent at pass blocking, and I think their run game is showing some signs of turning the corner. While I would love to see them trade for an upgrade at center or right guard, I don’t see quality centers or guards being available on the market.

So, why not make a good defense an absolutely terrifyingly defense now?

I think John Schneider and Mike Macdonald should think big about what might be out there, and go get it. Roquan Smith added to this defense sounds fun. Maxx Crosby sounds franchise altering. I’m ready to think big for this team, and I hope the front office is, too.

Go Hawks!

The Seahawks Beat Down Of The Saints Was Necessary Toughness

Posted on September 22, 2025 by curtiseastwood

It has been a long while since the Seattle Seahawks have faced an inferior opponent at home, and have handily taken care of business in a big, thorough ass kicking sorta way. In recent years, they would face a bad team like the New York Giants, or the Carolina Panthers at home, and they would lose in a very sloppy lack luster way. They did this numerous times in the last few years of Pete Carroll, and they did this very thing last year under Mike Macdonald.

The big residual effect of these type of home losses, over time, is that Lumen Field has no longer been the house of horrors for visiting teams that it has long been known to be, and now visiting opponent fanbases have felt more eager to make the long trip up to Seattle. The Seattle Seahawks needed to start putting a stop to this, and a very solid 13-44 ass kicking of the New Orleans Saints is a solid way to begin this very process. Bravo.

As I sat in my seat provided to me by my very special Seahawk Santa Buddy that is not too far away from the Seahawk benches, I soaked in all the vibes of the day. The crowd was full and very engaged, the Seahawk sideline was joyful, and together, and the level of team play on all three phases of the game was fantastically electric.

This felt like an important building block home win that Mike Macdonald and crew have been waiting for. If Seattle manages to be a playoff team this year, this might be the game we circle back towards and say “it started right here.”

If Seattle can manage to beat the Cardinals in Arizona on Thursday Night Football, they will have a mini bye week before they face a quality Tampa Bay Buccaneers team, and if they manage to beat the Bucs at Lumen Field, traveling fan bases might begin to think twice about pouring into this town. I know this sounds like a lot of putting a lot of the cart before the horse with this young season, and but it’s a fun thing to think about as a Seahawk fan who wants nothing more than to really see Lumen Field return to being a proper home field advantage again.

I’m not in the mood to nitpick a big time beatdown of the Saints, so folks can talk about the whacked out time of possession, and a lack of a run game if they wish, but I’m not so much into it. Instead, allow me to offer my thoughts about some of the big time contributors out of this win, and why their contributions potentially loom big moving forward.

Sam Darnold is proving to be a solid fit in this Klint Kubiak offense

Make no mistake about it, this was one very solid outting from Sam Darnold. No, he didn’t throw for gaudy yardage, or a ridiculous amount of touchdowns, but he didn’t need to do that, either. Instead, he needed to be the model of efficiency, poise, and timely playmaking-ness, easily guiding Seattle’s offense to 37 points against a defense that was selling out to stop the run, and forcing him to pass.

As I watched from my seat, I thought his effort against the Saints defense was very reminiscent of the game Jared Goff had against the Seahawks in Detroit last year on MNF. In that game, Goff was a perfect 18 of 18 passes for 292 and 2 TDs, and he pretty much did whatever he wanted to against the Seattle defense that was down a few starters. In this game yesterday, Darnold was 14 of 18 passes for 218 yards and 2 TDs, earning a near perfect 154.2 QB rating while completing 77.7 percent of his passes. He was very good.

The narrative that Sam Darnold is a pressure sensitive quarterback is starting to look more like a massive pile of horseshit that’s been heaped on him by lazy narrators. Over the past two weeks, against good defensive fronts, he has made big time throws under pressure, and Pro Football Focus had him rated as the second best quarterback throwing against pressure in the league last year.

I get it that this is only three games now, but it my eyes, Darnold feels like a very solid fit for the Klint Kubiak offense, and he feels like a guy who could continue to be a good fit here for a number of years, playing well into a second contract. He’s big enough to see the entirety of field, easily targeting all areas. He’s plenty mobile, and throws well on the run. He’s accurate downfield, and he gets the ball out quickly.

He could be for Seattle everything that Goff has become for Detroit. I believe that, and I would gladly take that.

I think this game was an important one for him to show everyone at home “hey, I got this.” Let’s keep it going.

Tory Horton is going to be a big factor for Seattle’s passing and return games.

Sunday morning, I texted various friends that I felt this game against the Saints would be Horton’s coming out party. I wasn’t wrong.

Tory Horton is a playmaker. After this game, his high level instincts as a returner are now known to casual fans who didn’t follow him at small college Colorado State. Fans are also becoming increasingly aware of his keen abilities as a receiver, as this game has proven, again, how adept he is at catching touchdown passes, and passes across the middle of the field.

He is showcasing here what he showed through college; good hands, dependable route running, speed, and natural athleticism, and a run after catch ability that is vital to a timing based passing offense.

In his podcast last night, Richard Sherman described Horton as the steal of the entire NFL draft, and I don’t think that’s hyperbole. I think Sherm is just excited about the reality that he sees.

Had Tory Horton not injured his knee during the season last year, and tested fully healthy during the scouting combine, I think Horton probably would have been a high second round pick, possibly a fringe first rounder. His talent and production in college would have warranted that. Instead, teams got nervous about his knee and also probably the fact that he played at a small level college, and he slid to Seattle’s pick in round five. He could be this year’s Puka Nucua, though, and it is interesting that, like Nucua, he has the very sage Cooper Kupp here as a mentor working with him.

While I wouldn’t mind seeing Seattle be a bit aggressive going after another established receiver through a trade over the next few weeks, I also have a sneaking suspicion that Horton’s role in this offense will only increase more as the season unfolds, and he gets more and more comfortable in this scheme. He has a look and feel of a classic Sean McVay style receiver who can stretch a defense as well as run every pattern with precision underneath.

I am very excited about this guy.

Jaxon Smith Njigba is officially the Rising Superstar of this Team

In terms of Seattle baseball, it can easily be said that this is The Year Of Cal Raleigh. The Mariners are red hot at the time when it matters most to be red hot as the playoffs approach, and nobody in Seattle sports is hotter than Cal Raleigh is right now. This has been a historic year for him in terms of home runs, and it feels like a historically special year for this much maligned baseball franchise that people love dearly up here.

It is, again, very early on the Seattle Seahawks football season with just three games played, but Jaxon Smith Njigba is on pace for about 1700 receiving yards this year, which would make for an incredible season. He registered 124 yards against the Niners, 103 yards against the Steelers, and on a day when he was battling the flu, he caught 5 passes for 96 yards, and a touchdown against the Saints, and he was pulled by the fourth quarter when the game was well in hand. So, it stands to reason that his production could have been much more, and if he sustains this level of production, it could easily be said that this is the Year Of JSN, as well.

I don’t know why more Seahawk fans are not more over the moon excited about JSN, thus far. Maybe it is the years of Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf playing in tandem here following the many Doug Baldwin years, but for my money, JSN looks like a guy who has everything a receiver needs to be a top end, annual pro bowler in this league for a very long time. He’s a superb route runner with great hands and enough speed to do every route asked out of a playbook.

Perhaps it is because he is so natural and fluid as a receiver, and catches so many routine passes over the middle that fans are a bit lulled by his steadiness. Maybe not being paired with a playmaking height disadvantaged quarterback like Russell Wilson, we haven’t seen the circus toe tapping sideline catches out of him yet like Baldwin and Lockett became famous for because Russ couldn’t see and did not target much the mid areas of the field. At any rate, I think the dude is fucking awesome.

Like Sam Darnold, he feels like a perfect fit for this Kubiak style west coast offense that values precision over top end physical traits. I’ve written this before, but I think if you look at the history of top shelf receivers that have come out of west coast offenses over the decades, for the most part, they share a lot of commonality with JSN in terms of physical stature, pass catching abilities, and abilities after the catch.

So, I am just going to say that I think it is now okay to put your DK or Tyler Lockett jersey in cotton balls for now, maybe save them for your kids when they grow older, and go get yourself that number 11 Seattle Seahawk jersey. If kick ass receivers is your football jam, I think you should.

The Offensive Line played better than your eyes told you they were in this game and that’s sweet

Ken Walker had a struggle of a day running the football. I won’t sugar coat it. He didn’t have many creases to hit it up inside, and every time he tried to stretch it to the outside, every Saints defender seemed very ready for it.

The Saints defensive front felt sold out to stop him, forcing Sam Darnold to beat them through the air. The mindset of defensive coordinator Brandon Staley seemed to be “if we take the run game away, I don’t believe Seattle’s QB and receivers will beat us.”

Seattle’s quarterback and receivers torched the Saints defense, and Seattle’s offensive line very much played its part in that process. Against yet another good defensive front, they passed blocked well again. This is the proper lens you need to look at this game with.

Now, perhaps as the season wears on, defenses will be leery to commit extra players in the box knowing that Seattle does, in fact, have a quality veteran quarterback helming the offense, after all, and Seattle’s run game with open up more. Until then, however, let’s applaud this young line for hanging in there to help out the passing offense.

Darnold looked quite comfortable dropping back, and firing the ball out quickly against a defense that was trying its best to send extra his way. That is a testament to him, for certain, but that is also a testament to a young offensive line that appears to be quickly developing a nice pass blocking chemistry with each other, which is not something I was expecting right out of the gates in this young season.

I think they are finally getting proper NFL coaching with this new staff. In fact, I think it is looking more and more like the talent was there for a decent offensive line to emerge, but the coaching simply was where it needed to be to make it happen for them.

Through three games, against three good defensive fronts, Anthony Bradford has looked really good in pass protection. He has been the exact opposite of that in previous years. This new staff appears to be reaching him where previous staffs have failed. If you can turn Bradford into a respectable pass blocking right guard, you know a thing or two about coaching and developing offensive linemen.

Seattle’s offensive tackles, again, looked like a competent tandem this Sunday, and against yet another quality defensive line. When was the last time you have seen this in Seattle? 2013, maybe?

Yeah, don’t underestimate how valuable it is for Seattle to have their O line looking this un-bad this early in the season with all the offseason changes that took place between the coaches and players. This is positive stuff that we should now start feeling good about.

As the season wears on, I think we will see better consistency out of the run game. It was a tough one against the Saints, and it might be a tough one on TNF against a good Cardinals defense, as well, but I am encouraged by a lot of what I see, so far. Each game is an opportunity to build cohesion, and if that has to be against tough defensive fronts, so be it.

The Mike Macdonald Defense Is Becoming The Badass Motherf#ckers We Need

Admit it. When you saw the free safety Julian Love wasn’t going to be playing in this game, you got nervous about that, didn’t you?

Already down Devon Witherspoon, and Nick Emmawori, you got uncomfortable thinking about how Spencer Rattler and Chris Olave could potentially come into Lumen Field and spoil your afternoon, especially with the history that Alvin Kamara has against Seattle defenses.

No, Devon Witherspoon? Well, let me introduce you to Derion Kendrick who through two games, has filled in and looked outstanding at nickel cornerback. Let me also introduce you further to Josh Jobe, who has been playing boundary corner like a solid pro bowler.

No, Julian Love? Well, here’s this Ty Okada cat who laid heavy hits against Saint receivers, and was second on the team in tackles and gathered a half of a sack.

To Rattler’s credit, I thought he played admirably in a tough situation, down big on the road, but Seattle allowed shallow underneath stuff while generally stopping up the run pretty well, and forcing him into bad throws on third downs. In many ways, this defense looked very vintage Legion Of Boom in this game, allowing some yards and time of possession, but not allowing many points, and at times, looking like an overwhelming swarm of bad intentioned orcs being shot out of cannons into the fray of bloody combat.

Through two games, Seattle has been without their best cornerback on the field, and a rookie defender who they view as their special weapon against the run and pass. Against the Saints, they were without their top safety.

They held the Saints and Steelers offenses to a grand total of 30 points in these two games (a 15 point scoring average). This is a level of defense that you can win a championship with, and soon enough they will have Spoon, Love, and Emmanwori all back in it together.

Mike Macdonald knows how to coach a motherf#cking defense. He does this by having his hoard of talented defensive tackles in proper positions that allow linebackers and defensive backs to make plays. He does it by having his defensive backfield properly knowing assignments and diagnosing plays. He does it with badass alpha dogs like Ernest Jones and Leonard Williams wrecking the afternoons of running backs. He does it by hurrying quarterbacks into desperate heaves of the football.

When Seattle made the hire of Macdonald, I was good with it, but this is the defensive effort that I needed to see come to life out of the hire. Right now, it feels like a brilliant move from John Schneider bringing this bright young coach to Seattle.

If you can consistently play defense like this, Seattle will be winning more games at home again, and Lumen Field will feel like a nightmare for visiting fans. Yesterday, Lumen was the loudest that I have heard it in a while, and the Saints felt genuinely overwhelmed with it all. It is right in the world that this level of defense should be the ring leader of it all.

Seattle’s Special Teams is special!

Seahawk fans can stop stressing out about Jay Harbaugh, and start celebrating the young coach. He has Seattle’s special teams looking badass-tical.

From Tory Horton’s franchise record breaking-ly long punt return for a touchdown, to D’Anthony Bell’s blocked punt, to Chazz Suratt’s heady punt return blocking and coverage tackling, to Jason Meyer’s dependable field goal kicking, Harbaugh is shaping Seattle’s special teams into a top shelf unit in this league, thus far.

It has been a long time since I have sat in a seat at Lumen Field, and felt this out of mind excited about what I was witnessing out of the Seattle Seahawks special teams in this level to totality. As if the strong defensive effort wasn’t enough, or the complete efficiency that Sam Darnold played with, Seattle’s special teams could easily be considered the star of the day.

Through three games, Seattle has had really grand special teams play. This is as good of a recipe as any to winning football moving forward. Let’s keep this going.

Fans need to let go, and let Jay Harbaugh into their hearts. He’s a good coach. He’s got this area of the team going in ways the further make football a fun watch. Embrace it.

Final thoughts

Vitally important win against these Saints. It is vital to get winning ways back to Lumen Field again, especially after a bad home record last year, despite going 10-7 on the year. Now, let’s start stacking up home wins while winning on the road.

As this season progresses, Seattle’s already strong defense should only get better with getting key players healthy again. Their defensive line rotation is deep, and their secondary and linebackers are well coached. Your eyes should be able to tell you this by now, and you don’t need to hear it from me.

Seattle has played against three pretty good defensive fronts, and their offensive line has held up against them, for the most part, pretty well. That should breed confidence in them as they will have more good defensive fronts in coming games.

Sam Darnold, and these receivers, and tight ends are showing signs of clicking together nicely. The more success they have the less likely defensive coordinators will feel an impulse to crowd the box to stop the run. This is something to keep in mind as we get further into the season.

K9 didn’t have a great day running, and really neither did George Holani, but rookie Jacardia Wright got action late that was interestingly productive when the Saints knew Seattle would run the ball to kill clock and yet he still broke off nice gains. This poses an interesting thought in my mind, as well.

I think this was a game where Seattle could have used Zach Charbonnet maybe more than K9 who was looking to hit it outside more instead of cutting back inside. I know K9 had the big game against the Steelers last week that we all marveled about, but part of me continues to wonder if this zone blocking thing is for him. It is hard to tell because of how dedicated NOLA was at stopping him, and how that opened up opportunities with play action from Darnold downfield, but it bears some consideration.

Seeing the way Wright ran late made me wonder what a healthy Zach Charbonnet would have brought to the game. Hopefully we get him back for the Cardinals on Thursday.

It also made me wonder if Wright is someone who warrants more consideration as a runner in this offense moving forward. I thought he looked awesome in the preseason. He did nothing against a strong Saints run defense late in this game to make me think his preseason success was any aberration.

But that is neither here nor there. This game, yesterday afternoon, was the thorough kick ass win against New Orleans we needed to see as fans, and the team needed to feel at home. It felt like a building block win, in fact. So, let’s build off of that.

Now let’s go get it done against Kyler Murray and the Cardinals. Let’s host the Bucs and make that game a nightmare for Baker Mayfield.

Let’s make Lumen Field a house of horrors again for the opposition. This is what Seattle Seahawk football at home is meant to be about.

Go Hawks!

Why I Like The Quarterback Room Of The Seattle Seahawks This Year

Posted on September 16, 2025 by curtiseastwood

As I sat down, and watched the John Harbaugh vs Pete Carroll on Monday Night Football, as I am sure a high percentage of other Seahawk fans did, I was left with the distinct impression of PTSD watching Geno Smith, on the very first play of the game, force a bad throw into coverage for an interception. Geno would go on through this game forcing numerous other passes into unfavorable coverage, ending the game with 3 interceptions, 0 touchdowns on 24 of 43 passing attempts for 180 yards and the league’s worst passer rating over the weekend. He could have had even more interceptions on the night with the amount of turnover worthy throws he tossed.

Now, I do not want to put too much into one game, and I think it is possible that this could be the year that Justin Herbert and the Chargers finally overtake Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs for the AFC West division, and Geno Smith could have a nice bounce back game this weekend, but I will also say that I have watched a lot of Geno Smith over the past few years, and the game he had on Monday Night was symbolic of why I was okay with Seattle trading him off into the loving arms of Pete Carroll. That game felt like the type of Geno Smith game he has when things go awry against a quality defense.

When things get tough against a good defenses, I’ve often seen him get impatient with the football, wanting to force things downfield instead of taking the simple underneaths, and when turnovers and sacks generate through the course of the game, and they are losing badly in the fourth quarter, I’ve seen many camera shots showing him sulking on the bench in a manner that maybe you don’t want to see out of your team leader, as was the case last night in Vegas, yet again. This is what Geno is prone to in games against strong opponents.

Now, I don’t know about you, different people are into different things, but one of the things I really loved about watching peak Russell Wilson in Seattle was his innate ability to stay calm and neutral under immense pressure packed situations. He wasn’t always perfect as a passer in games such as this, but I think his ability to keep his emotions in check helped Seattle win a bunch of high pressure games through the course of his time here. In the three years that I watched Geno as his replacement, I never got that same sense, and often times, I saw the exact opposite, and I say this as a person who regularly defended Geno on this blog.

Geno Smith has world class abilities to throw a football. His arm talent is elite, and he is one of the most athletic quarterbacks in the league, even at age 34. There is just an inner composition about him, though, that gives me a lot of pause.

I think the truth about Geno Smith is that, while he might be one of the best pure passers in the league, he comes with maybe the largest scale of arm arrogance; this belief that he can make every highlight level throw he attempts against dicey coverage. Then when shit goes south in games as a result, so does his demeanor, and leadership. The Raiders will win numerous games this year because of his arm talent, but they will, no question, lose games this year because of his tendencies, too.

Conversely, I think the QB situation here in Seattle is an interesting one for the Seahawks, and it is one that I will be willing to stay patient with as the season unfolds. I am not willing to say that Sam Darnold is definitively an upgrade over Geno Smith, or Jalen Milroe is destined to develop into the next Jalen Hurts, but I will say that I really like Seattle’s processing of making a shift at quarterback with the hopes of finding a longer termed solution than the probably felt they had with Geno Smith.

And I totally get it if you are not overly enthusiastic about Sam Darnold, if you have doubts about whether Jalen Milroe can ever blossom into a quality NFL starter, and Drew Lock is an after thought. I understand it if you are going to have a strong eye on the quarterbacks in college this year with a belief that if Seattle ends up with a losing record in 2025, it wouldn’t be the worst thing.

I am not here to sway doubters of Darnold and company as to whether Seattle has their long term quarterback already rostered. I am just here to say that I find the quarterback room of these three guys kind of a cool one, and I do have some optimism that someone can emerge, and fit what Mike Macdonald wants at the position long term. All three guys have athletic traits that can work well in a run heavy play action offensive attack. All three guys have some variance of youth on their side. All three guys have multiple years on their deals.

Let me quick profile each one to help explain why I dig ’em as much as I do.

Sam Darnold; his floor is Derek Carr, and his ceiling is Jared Goff

Talent wise, I think Sam Darnold is, in many ways, fairly similar to what Derek Carr was in this league. He’s tall, with a good arm, good mobility, he throws a pretty deep ball, and he can get the ball out on time. With good pieces around him, he can win you games, and get you into the playoffs, and that was proven pretty decisively last season in Minnesota.

Carr never got enough credit that I think he deserved as a NFL quarterback, and I think a lot of that was due to injuries, and being part of a bad Raiders organization. If Carr had been drafted by a better organization with great coaching, like the Rams with McVay, and the 49ers with Shanahan, he could have had a very different outcome in his career, I believe.

At the very least, for a few years, anyways, I think Darnold can have Seattle clicking in a quality game manager role much like Carr was in 2022 with the Raiders when he led them into the playoffs. I also think he can be a lot more here if things really do take off for him in terms of further development, which they might, in fact, do.

As I wrote this, I was very tempted to make the ceiling comp for Darnold that of one Matthew Hasselbeck. Hass was at the same age of 27 in Seattle when the game finally clicked for him after years of struggling. As we know, once the lights came, he enjoyed long a nice run as Seattle’s franchise quarterback, and part of me definitely believes this sort of success can be had for Darnold here with a good support cast around him, and proper coaching.

For the purposes of what Mike Macdonald wants this offense to truly be, however, I think a very fair ceiling comp for Darnold is present day Jared Goff, who I would label as perhaps the best game managing quarterback in the league right now. I think peak Jared Goff is exactly who and what Darnold can be here, if all goes well, with the caveat that Darnold possesses more athleticism that what Goff offers and can therefore do a bit more as a runner.

As we know, Detroit runs a very run heavy offense that relies mostly on building play action passes off of the run. It will be scorched into Seahawk fans’ minds for a long time that MNF game last Fall when Seattle went to Detroit and Goff was a perfect 18 for 18 for 292 yards and 2 TDs.. ALL OFF OF PLAY ACTION PASSES while the Lions ran for 120 yards on the night (talk about PTSD).

Like Goff, Darnold very much wants to function in a play action offense. At this stage, Goff is, by far, the more polished passer, but Darnold probably has the stronger arm, and he definitely has the superior athleticism. All he might need now is a coaching staff who believes in him, and an offense that is tailor built for what he does best as a passer.

While fans can fantasize about the upside of Jalen Milroe, it is very possible that Darnold’s scars in the league are very good scars at this point, nicely built up calluses that help him properly process against the league’s defenses, and he will only get better over time, seeing the game faster, and being more in command of this offense year to year. With an offensive philosophy that suits his strengths, there is a distinct reality out there that he grabs hold of an opportunity, he doesn’t look back, and he has a nice long-ish tenure here.

Drew Lock; his floor is Drew Stanton, and his ceiling is Ryan Tannehill

Drew Lock isn’t much on the mind of most Seattle fans these days. Most are probably more likely to be day dreaming of Jalen Milroe being ready to take over in a year or two, or they are slowly warming up to Darnold more after this nice win on the road against the Steelers, or they are just day dreaming about drafting Arch Manning.

That said, Lock has fans inside the front office of Seattle, and he has a big fan in GM John Schneider. If you were to watch all three of these passers throw in gym shorts throwing against air to receivers, it would be more easy to see why he has front office fans. He very well might have the best pure arm talent out of the three, and he has athletic traits to match it, as well.

The throw he made two years ago, in the fourth quarter against the Eagles, down the sideline to Jaxson Smith Njigba against tight coverage, was high level NFL stuff. He might not ever materialize into a starter again, but I will always remember that throw from him.

It is throws like that one that can have a GM and a coaching staff believing that there is something there in him that can be further developed. It is just that, in his few times as a starter, he can also make throws that leave you wondering what he was even thinking about.

As it stands, I would say that it is a long shot that Drew Lock ever develops into a quality NFL starter, but I do think he can have a long Drew Stanton type of career as a quality backup. This would be a very safe and reasonable floor comp for him.

Years ago, the Arizona Cardinals ended up with Carson Palmer as their QB and they were a royal pain in the ass for the Seahawks and others in the division. Palmer bounced around from Cincinnati to Oakland to AZ before finally having some quality success, and Stanton proved a great backup for him. In games when Stanton played, he played pretty admirably in place of Palmer, I thought. I can see Darnold and Lock having a similar dynamic in Seattle for a while.

I can also see a wee bit of a scenario where Lock takes over for maybe a injured Darnold, and plays well enough in this run centric play action scheme where the coach wants to stick it out with him, and suddenly we have a Tennessee Titan Ryan Tannehill situation from a few years back when free agent Tannehill took over for presumptive starter Marcus Mariota, and then didn’t look back. While I don’t think this is a very likely scenario, you never know.

In 2012, we all know that John Schneider was into drafting Russell Wilson, but he was supposedly also very enamored with Tannehill, and was hoping to draft him in round one, if he fell to Seattle. Tannehill wasn’t the greatest pro, but he had very similar toolsy traits to Lock. He was tall, athletic, with a live arm that could effortlessly flick it downfield.

We know Schneider likes Lock a lot, and he is a great locker room guy. What happens if Darnold gets seriously injured, and Lock steps in and plays well enough to make Seattle a quality playoff team? I dunno, but I suspect that it could make for an interesting offseason.

Jalen Milroe; his floor is Taysom Hill, and his ceiling is Jalen Hurts

I would love to make Jalen Milroe’s ceiling comp that of one Lamar Jackson. It would be really fun to say that, and then try to dream that glorious ceiling into existence. I think we have to be realistic about this rookie, however.

I appreciate it that Milroe appears to have a fan in the head coach, and Mike Macdonald knows what a quality duo threat quarterback does to any defense. Macdonald has seen first hand what Lamar does on Sundays, and he just watched what Jalen Hurts did in the Super Bowl with top defense and run game.

I also think it is somewhat fair to suggest that Milroe could grow to become a quarterback like Jalen Hurts, someday, but it will likely take a lot of work in terms of his development for him to get there. I think it is highly unrealistic to think of him someday becoming Lamar Jackson, however. It would be like me saying that ceiling comp for Sam Darnold is Josh Allen, and that ceiling comp for Drew Lock is Justin Herbert.

I also am dubious to believe that the Kubiak scheme would ever be a proper fit for Milroe. This is a scheme entirely built on timing, accuracy, and anticipation throwing, and I don’t know how much Milroe can consistently ever do that. Peak Russell Wilson had problems doing that, and I think Super Bowl winning Hurts has issues with that, as well.

If he was thrust into the QB1 role right now, Seattle would have to depend even more so on the run game to stay ahead of the chains and away from third and long. Kubiak would probably have to limit his playbook, significantly.

In fact, I sorta believe that, for Milroe to ascend to QB1 in Seattle, and excel at it, the most realistic path might be for Kubiak to leave for a head coaching gig with perhaps Sam Darnold following him via a trade. Maybe then Macdonald would look towards Milroe, and decides to bring in a new offensive coaching staff who would run a Hurts style offense with more emphasis on designed QB runs and run pass option stuff to get Milroe comfortable doing what he naturally does best. In a situation such as this, maybe Milroe excels much like Hurts, and this becomes very exciting stuff for all Seahawk fans moving forward.

I would say, at the very least, while he develops behind the scenes, Milroe can carve out a very vital role in the Seahawks offense as a Taysom Hill style quarterback who comes on the field in short yardage situations, and in change of pace moments. In that, however, I think Kubiak and Macdonald must be smart about it.

I didn’t love how quickly they rolled out with the Milroe Package in the first offensive series against San Fransisco, and his QB draw was immediately snuffed out in result. It felt very forced to me, and ill timed.

I also found it interesting that Seattle chose to make him an inactive player against the Steelers this weekend, opting for tight end AJ Barner to serve in the tush push QB role, instead. It could be a sign that Milroe needs further behind the scenes development just to dependably become a Taysom Hill player for Seattle.

If Seattle someday does simply get Taysom Hill like production out of Milroe, and nothing more, then his selection in the third round last Spring will have been a good one. If he actually does blossom into a quality NFL quarterback, however, then that puts John Schneider into the Hall Of Fame for being able to find two starting quarterbacks for this franchise in round three.

Right now, I think the jury is needs to be appropriately out on him. If Darnold gets unfortunately injured, Drew Lock will be the starter in his place. The team is very clear on that. This is the right way to handle Milroe. He needs a proper redshirting.

But for now, it is fun to dream about what Milroe could someday become here in Seattle, if the window of opportunity ever opens for him, and he grabs hold of it, and never lets go of it. Until then, however, a whole lot of things need to line up for him to get there. We should be real about that.

Closing thoughts

Nobody knows what is going to materialize out of this quarterback room, and I think that is perfectly fine. Seattle is not tied long term to any of these guys, and that is smart.

But I like their processing of punting on Geno Smith and bringing in these guys for a good long look. It seems, tactically, very smart by John Schneider to do this, taking educated gambles that don’t hinder the franchise long term until someone emerges as The Guy.

Personally, I think it would be a huge boost for this team if one of these QBs emerges as the long term answer, though, and I don’t really care which one it is. If I were a betting man right now, I think I would be more apt to wager on Darnold than the others, but let’s see how the whole season goes first.

At the end of the day, I just think it would just be great if we have the position settled, and are annually picking impact players in round one of each draft either for the trenches, or elite skill player athletes. I think this is as good of a way as any to succeed in this league.

Not every great NFL organization is built around a young quarterback who was a high first round pick. Kyle Shanahan has never turned the keys of his offensive off to this type of player. Philly didn’t just win a Super Bowl with one. The Lions are relying on a quality retread QB, and the Rams have never drafted a QB high with McVay as their coach. Coach Holmgren never had one in Green Bay or Seattle with all of his successes. Peak eighties 49ers had a former third round pick leading their team, and nineties 49ers had a first round pick bust who they traded for leading them to titles.

And we all know what happened for the Patriots decades ago when they turned to little known sixth round pick Tom Brady in favor of injured established starter Drew Bledsoe. Rewind to nearly a quarter century ago, and virtually nobody saw that coming.

This is my food for thoughts about Sam, Drew, and Jalen, though, however which way this shakes out. I think these are all pretty likable dudes who will be easy for most fans to root for.

Each guy has talent, and question marks. It is what it is, and while it might not be an ideal situation for fans because of the unknowns, I am comfortable with not knowing what we really have right now.

One thing is for sure, however; whoever sits at the QB1 situation for Seattle long term is destined to play with a kick ass defense under Mike Macdonald. Maybe that is what we really should all be getting excited about more and more. It’s a fun thought.

Go Hawks.

Seahawks Stay Resilient In Dominating 31-17 Win Over Pittsburgh

Posted on September 15, 2025 by curtiseastwood

Today is a very good day to be a Seattle sports fan. The Seattle Mariners have swept the Angels to gain full leadership of the AL West, and the Seattle Seahawks traveled to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and pounded the dreaded Steelers significantly enough to show football pundits that perhaps their offense isn’t as anemic as the narrative was built up to be after a tough home loss to San Francisco last weekend.

A few days ago, I wrote a piece about Ken Walker and Riq Woolen that was possibly the single most critical article I have ever taken to write about individual players on this blog. While my intention wasn’t to make it a total hit job, I wanted to illustrate a number of reasons why I felt perhaps they weren’t working out in the new schemes Seattle has adopted under Mike Macdonald. I questioned K9’s ability to fit inside a primarily zone blocking scheme, and I questioned whether Woolen had the discipline needed to operate consistently in Macdonald’s complex defense.

Towards the final moments of the game yesterday against the Pittsburgh Steelers, I joked with friends that K9 must had read my blog. Of course, he did not, but I am sure he heard the criticism that was all over radio waves last week, on podcasts, and written by much bigger fish out there than what this little blog is.

Walker had himself a critically important game on Sunday in Pittsburgh. He played with purpose, and with such a decisiveness that I cannot even recall the last time I saw this out of him. Maybe his rookie year?

He didn’t dance behind blockers waiting for a big whole to open up so he could run to daylight. He didn’t look hesitant or unsure. He hit creases, violently, and for most of the day, carried Seattle’s offense on his back. A total reversal of what he showed last week against San Francisco, and in many stretches last year.

This is the type of running Seattle needs to fully see their offense open up. This is an offensive scheme that is entirely built on the run, and K9 has the type of talent at running back that he could be one of the brightest ones in this league, if he plays pissed off for greatness on a regular basis. When you have a back doing that, it opens everything on the offense up for a reliable veteran quarterback such as Sam Darnold.

Football is not a game for the hesitant. It is a sport dependent on the willingness to stare violent intentions in the face, and throw it back on the opponent. It is a blood sport with helmets and shoulder pads, and with strategy that resembles conventional warfare.

It is a game that scares soccer moms, and speaks to the inner barbarianism inside us that compels us to take muay thai classes. It is the yin to our yang.

If Ken Walker has now understood that his mission to a big free agent pay day is to trust his offensive line enough to play decisive with bad intentions on second level tacklers with regularity, he will undoubtedly seize the RB1 role in this offense over Zach Charbonnet. If both guys can bring it like this, then I think we could be looking at something special brewing in Seattle this year.

When linebackers and DBs are thinking about K9, it gives Cooper Kupp catch and run opportunities as was on display through much of the game. It also opens up tight ends, and it allows JSN to get downfield on one on one situations for deep shots such as the one that Darnold brilliantly hit him with late in the game to set up K9’s backbreaking outside toss run to the end zone that stunned Steeler Nation.

All of this happened on Sunday, in a tough road environment for Sam Darnold, who, save for a couple bad interceptions, had himself a quality day guiding the Seattle offense. It was important for him to have this type of outing, as well.

Darnold was, without a doubt, the better quarterback in Pittsburgh yesterday. He looked more poised than Aaron Rodgers did, and as the game wore on, he looked like the passer who would prove better down the stretch. He was decisive, gritty when he needed to be, and I think this is a quality game for him to further build chemistry with Kupp, and company.

As mentioned in a piece I wrote after the loss last week, this offense will likely take time to find itself this season, and in that, it will take a number of games for Darnold to find his chemistry with his receivers. In this game, he looked like he was taking encouraging steps forward with that. Now let’s build off of it, and get those two INTs out of our game.

Rodgers, however, to my eyes, from the get go, appeared old and flustered, and typically salty enough for Steeler fans to now be a bit concerned. This was from the opening series that the Steelers had the ball and he led them to a field goal score, as well.

He doesn’t move like he used to, his efforts to get outside the pocket feel more labored, and it felt like he knew he was going to be in for it all game long against Seattle’s dominating defensive tackles and quick edge rushers. He was, and by the end of the game, he looked like he wanted to retreat into a hippie yurt somewhere in central Oregon to meditate about his next appearance on the Joe Rogan Podcast.

Seattle didn’t blitz him much probably because they were without their do everything corner Devon Witherspoon, but they really didn’t need to blitz him, either. Their front four rushers did enough. You know you have something when you can dependably rush four to affect the passer. We will touch more on that in just a minute, so hold this thought in your mind a bit.

As for Riq Woolen, I thought he had himself a good bounce back game, as well. Like K9, he needed this to be a quality outing.

On the whole, I thought all the defensive backs shined in coverage, and it appears that perhaps Seattle’s depth at cornerback is better than folks were anticipating with Spoon being out. This, in my mind, might be one of the more sneakier encouragements to come out of this game.

Josh Jobe continues to be one of the best kept secrets in the league at cornerback, and Shaq Griffin held in admirably, as well, as did newcomer Derion Kendrick (who was a late addition waiver claim from the Rams). Kendrick, in particular, seems to have picked the complexities of the Macdonald defense up fast, and if this is so, he gives Seattle a depth at corner to where Seattle see an opportunity for decent mid season trade, potentially.

Could the Raiders come sniffing around Riq Woolen with Jakobi Meyers on the table who has requested a trade out of Sin City? Would Miami come calling about Riq offering Jaylen Waddle in exchange?

Even though Cooper Kupp had himself a quality bounce back game in Pittsburgh, demonstrating his intended role in this offense, do we trust him to hold up for an entire season, or does Seattle look for opportunities to add a veteran receiver from another team who fits what Seattle wants to do, offensively?

I think these are interesting questions to keep in mind as we get further into games and it is better revealed to us what these Seattle Seahawks are this year. Right now, even though I loved what Kupp did in this game, what JSN continues to do, and what rookie Tory Horton showed, I still wonder if this offense is one receiver away from really getting to where I think Kubiak and Macdonald want it to go this year.

I know this is just two games into the season, and we still don’t totally know what we have in the Seahawks right now, but here is the Big Positive Thought that I have brewing.

I believe the Mike Macdonald defense is getting pretty legitimate in Seattle, right now, this season. Not legitimate in the “yeah, pretty good” sorta way, but in the legitimate “holy shit, I do not want to see my quarterback play against that” sorta way.

Last week against the 49ers, Brock Purdy was hurried and flustered much like Aaron Rodgers just was. Had Woolen not made a couple critical mistakes in coverage late in the fourth quarter, I think Seattle would have walked away with a win despite their offense not doing much. In fact, part of the problem against the 49ers was that Klint Kubiak kept a pretty safe dialed back approach to the offense with Darnold, and it wasn’t until points were needed late, that we really saw the passing opening up more downfield with Darnold delivering.

Sam Darnold, even with the Jets, has always been a good downfield passer, and this week, on the road in a very tough environment in Pittsburgh, Kubiak opened up the offense more, and allowed Darnold to push it downfield against a pretty good Steelers defense. It wasn’t perfect with that one bad INT intended for Cooper Kupp, in particular, but got multiple players involved, and it made the offense more of a scoring threat, and generally, Sam delivered.

There will be a host of games on this schedule where Seattle will not be playing defenses that are nearly as good as they have played in back to back weeks, and there will be offenses who won’t be as good, either. As Kubiak’s offense starts to settle in more, I think there are likely going to be games this season where Seattle could look pretty dominant as a young football team, barring significant injuries.

Will that be enough to win the division?

Maybe, the season is long, and I think there are still question marks as to how healthy Matt Stafford can stay with the Rams, how healthy the 49ers can be, and how real the Cardinals are.

I do not want to get ahead of my skis with the Seahawks right now, but I will say that I feel much better about them winning ball games when I know that they have a defense that can consistently pressure the quarterback by playing a two shell defense, and also stop the run with those backend looks. Seattle has a lot more talent up front than I think they are being recognized as having, and their backend looks like they are being coached at a very high level.

Coaching matters in the NFL, and it matters more than any other team sport, in my view. I think Mike Macdonald is a really, really good football coach, and people are eventually going to start seeing that more and more the further we get into games this year.

In this game, in Pittsburgh, Aaron Rodgers saw it. You could tell, from the get go, that he could see it, and he wasn’t feeling easy about it, either.

And DK Metcalf couldn’t do jack shit it with it, as well. He was largely shut down, and from a fan perspective, for a guy who wanted out of Seattle for supposed greener pastures, that was quite a delightful watch. Have fun being expensive and mid in Pittsburgh where fans won’t likely be as forgiving as they are out here.

I had a feeling heading into this game that Seattle would play Pittsburgh pretty tough, and maybe sneak out a quality win on the road. I didn’t necessarily see this level of ass kicking, though.

I dig it, and while I am sure some will say that this final 31-17 score on the road is deceiving with that botched kickoff return by the Steelers that gave Seattle seven extra points, Seattle’s offense still managed to score 24 points in this one, and might have managed more if not for a missed field goal and a dump fourth and one play in the red zone that led to Darnold’s second INT. Things to clean up, for sure, but damn..

Gimme more K9, and for the love of everything good in the world, please keep Robbie Ouzts on the field in front of him. We can do good things with that, I think.

Go Hawks.

Seahawks Offense Proves To Be Work In Progress In Home Loss To Niners

Posted on September 8, 2025 by curtiseastwood

Let me start this whole thing off by saying that I think it is worthwhile for any diehard Seattle Seahawks fan to watch that Dallas Cowboys Netflix show America’s Team, as much as the subject and title might offend. It is incredibly well produced, but more importantly, it offers tons of insight into how a proper championship quality team gets built over the duration of about three to four years.

Three years is probably how long it takes a good head coach to see their vision of how they want their team to win fully take hold. Could happen sooner, as was the case of Sean McVay in LA, but most often, it takes about three or four years.

That is how long it took Pete Carroll here, and Mike Holmgren years before. That is how long it Jimmy Johnson years ago in Dallas, and that is how long it took Kyle Shanahan with the dreaded 49ers. This is how long it could take Mike Macdonald here in Seattle now, and that felt evident after yesterday’s dud against San Francisco.

As the dust has settled upon yet another disappointing home loss to these pesky 49ers, I cannot summon that much anger as I reflect on this 17-13 defeat. Was this a blown opportunity to beat a bitter division rival? Sure, and that blows, but.. I dunno.. also feels like a game that could prove teachable for a young team and a young coaching staff, and maybe this is the Cowboys Netflix show rubbing off on my perspective.

Truthfully, I’m not even really all that upset that Lumen Field was that packed with 49ers fans. I mean, I hate that it was, but I also think, what are we, as Seahawk fans, really expecting at this point?

It is what it is. The Niners are now the significantly more established team, with more top end talent, and Seahawk season ticket holders, perhaps many of them transplants now who work for Amazon and Microsoft, feel more compelled to sell off to Niner fans to turn a profit than be at the game themselves. It sucks, but there is only one way to turn this back around in favor of the home team.

This all changes when the Seattle Seahawks give 49er fans strong reasons to stay at home in Northern California. For the first time in a while, I do feel like those reasons could be coming sooner than later, as bad as this loss feels, and this game was an indicator.

Seattle’s defense, generally speaking, played good enough to win this game had in not been for some fourth quarter coverage issues (Riq Woolen, please come down to the principal’s office). As for their offense, while they were not great, they flashed potential, and nearly pulled off a come from behind win at the end. It didn’t happen, but I don’t think most 49er fans were necessarily feeling tons of confidence right before that strip sack of Sam Darnold happened in the final seconds, as he guided Seattle straight up the field into the red zone with plenty of time to score a game winning touchdown.

I know a lot of frustrated Seahawk fans won’t see it this way, but when the game was over, I kinda thought that in another match, Seattle would take these Bay Area clowns, and really, it was a game that could have gone either way. We shall see if that’s true in their end of season rematch down in Santa Clara.

This was not an easy game for the San Francisco 49ers, who some have projected as being the top team in the division based on talent, experience, and ease of schedule. This is probably the best positive that Seattle fans can take from another disappointing outcome.

Seattle fought them tough. Maybe that is not going to make a lot of Twelves feel assured about new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, and new QB1 Sam Darnold, but at the end of the day, I never thought this game would make or break either team this year.

I think the truth about the Seahawks offense is that it will likely be a process of finding itself through the first half of the season, much like Mike Macdonald’s defense did last year. I had hopes that they would come out of the gates on fire, but I am now tempering expectations. My new more rooted in reality view is that it might take to the end of October before we start seeing it gel.

Darnold is brand new to these receivers, and linemen, and runners. Klint Kubiak is probably still assessing what kind of offensive attack he can lean into with the talent on the team, and maybe he overthought scheming against his old boss Kyle.

I will say that I was pretty surprised (and annoyed) about how much of a mixed bag of looks concepts that Kubiak chose to use in this game. By everything that I kept hearing coming out of training camp, and seeing in games, I thought we would see way more Darnold under center, playing out of I formation with a fullback, getting the ground game going, and using play action out of it.

From the jump, it felt as though we got into a lot of the same crap we saw last year with Ryan Grubb’s calling plays. Lots of shotgun, drop backs, empty backfield passing, and stupid screens that weren’t working, and really not nearly enough trying to lock in and build off of the run.

Darnold’s best plays of the day seemed to be when he was allowed to go downfield, and when he was rolling out of play action. Zach Charbonnet seemed like Seattle’s most effective runner, and yet they head scratching-ly kept going to Ken Walker with seeming hopes of getting him going. JSN seemed like Seattle’s best deep threat, yet they were trying to get him going on screens instead of having him route up DBs downfield off of play action passing.

I think all of this frustrating stuff is probably symptomatic of Kubiak and Mike Macdonald needing to further iron out the newness of this offense, and figuring out what best to do with this personnel. I can forgive them for this game, but I don’t think I will be very forgiving if in week six against the Jacksonville Jaguars, the offense still looks this way.

We cannot have another year of erratic offensive play, especially with a schedule as favorable as this one appears to be. If this happens, it is squarely on Macdonald and nobody else.

Who knows if Sam Darnold is a franchise QB for this team, but it seems like he is used best as an under center play action guy. Maybe commit to him mastering that before trying to “trick opponents” with things further in the bag of the playbook.

Perhaps hold back on trying any Milroe Package stuff until the regular offensive starters all got the basics down like clockwork through the course of a game. I was hoping to see what the rookie could do, but that QB sneak play early in opening drive of the first quarter was a dud of a play when other parts of the offense seemed to be initially working, it felt head scratching to watch, and painfully forced. If it would have worked, we would be celebrating it today, but Milroe on the field pretty much signals what the play will be to any talented All Pro linebacker such as Fred Warner.

I also think it would be nice to decide who the main running back is between Walker and Charbonnet, and roll with him. For my money, it looked like Charbonnet was destined to be the hot hand against the 49ers until they shifted to K9, who was ineffective. I think it is possible that Charbonnet is the better fit for this scheme in terms to how he sees and reads the holes, but because K9 is the more dynamic athlete, perhaps they are trying to see if they can get him going. I think they need to decide on one being the primary guy, and for my money, I think it should be Zach.

I also cannot stress it enough how important it is to be what your state you want to be on offense. If your head coach says that he wants a tough as nails running style offense, then be that. Sam Darnold is not making so much money that you need to feel like you need him out of shotgun to get things going through the air. You can be more stubborn about getting the run game going, use that fullback, and tight ends.

And where were the much anticipated tight ends in this game, anyways? San Francisco had their top guy knocked out, and still found ways to get their reserves going.

Be what you say you are going to be.

I’m not going to criticize the defense much in this one. Nope, won’t do it.

They fought hard, but were on the field way too much, and you could say they struggled on third downs, but I would also say they clearly weren’t supported much by the offense. Against the well oiled offensive machine of the 49ers, who have been dominating with this offense for years now, they still managed to give Brock Purdy fits all day. They gave an effort worthy of a quality home win.

It was just the offense that didn’t deliver, and it is what it is. Nothing more, or less.

Ultimately, however, I would also say that now is not the time to panic about it, either, comparing Darnold to what Vegas did with Geno Smith against the Patriots, and all this other stuff that some fans and media will, inevitably, feel compelled to do. Let’s just resist that impulse, and think about the greater picture and process of this team moving forward with Macdonald at the helm.

If you are an overly stressed out Seahawk fan right now, or an underwhelmed one, then get even more behind the Mariners as they push for the playoffs, and then keep your fingers crossed that Kubiak, Darnold, K9, JSN, Charbonnet, and Cooper Kupp and company will settle in together better after September. I still think there is a good chance that they all will.

And I still believe this could be a fun year for Seahawk fans.

Go Hawks.

The Seattle Seahawks Had To Kill The 2025 NFL Draft And They Did It

Posted on April 28, 2025 by curtiseastwood

Every year, I walk away from watching the NFL draft feeling pretty good about the Seattle Seahawks. I just want to be clear about that, and you are free to take this article with as much of a grain of salt as you wish with the knowledge of this simple fact.

This is want glass half full people do in life, and I am definitely a glass half full type to the extent that I feel I sometimes offend others when I am not as mad and outraged about something as they are. My survival instincts are such that I gravitate to find assurances in the positives, and not dwell upon negatives to the point of walking into the ocean waters to never return again.

If the zombie apocalypse were to happen tomorrow, and I made it through the first day, my thought might become “at least real estate in Seattle will become cheap again.”

So, I was okay with Seattle taking a running back in the first round of the 2018 NFL draft when they could have had Lamar Jackson as a developmental quarterback behind Russell Wilson. I was also fine in 2019, when they reached for a need at edge rusher in LJ Collier instead of taking one of the many good offensive linemen that were available. I was even okay with them taking wide receiver Dee Eskridge in 2021 over all pro center Creed Humphrey when offensive line was clearly their bigger need than a third wideout was. “In Pete and John I trust” was my happy motto in all of these instances.

But these are examples of draft decisions that GM John Schneider has been a part of that have had Seattle Seahawk fans pulling their hairs out, screaming at their television sets, and wanting to see his ass canned, if not his head handed to them on a silver platter (twitter reactions can be intense). This offseason, the anti Schneider delegation of the Seahawk fanbase has grown to an all time high fever pitch, fueled by a 2024 season that saw a dysfunctional Seattle offense with another piss poor offensive line effort, but make no mistake about it; Seattle’s draft history from 2017 to 2021 has been built up ammo against the lovable movie quoting GM.

We will never know for certain if those picks were more influenced by him or Pete Carroll (who had final say over personnel decisions), but it is interesting that in two draft cycles now with Mike Macdonald as coach, Seattle has emphasized the interiors of their defensive and offensive lines with their first pick. That feels very contrasting to time spent with Pete, and it was very eye opening to see Vegas select a running back at 6th overall Thursday night when they could’ve taken offensive tackle Armand Membou, who was regarded the most physically talented offensive lineman in the entire draft class. Let that sink in if you have been more of a Pete person than a John person as a Seattle Seahawk fan over the years.

Anyhoo, I digress from the topic I intended to write about.

The Seattle Seahawks, and maybe specifically GM John Schneider, needed to absolutely destroy this draft after a season of Mike Macdonald taking over for the very popular Pete Carroll, leading the team to the 10-7 record, but just missing out on the playoffs again. For many fans, it was season full of frustrating mixed results. We saw much better defensive efforts, but that was to be coupled with erratic and dysfunctional offensive football.

This led to offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb (popular with diehard Husky fans serving also as Seahawk fans) getting fired, and fueling controversy over airwaves, and social media. Seahawk fans who were also diehard Husky loyalists were more apt to blame Macdonald for the offense’s dysfunction than heaping the blame on Grubb, even though Grubb was clearly out of his depths of understanding professional defenses he was coaching against.

Then we had both Geno Smith and DK Metcalf asking for trades and finding their ways out of the 206 are code (also upsetting to a lot of fans and their supporters in the media). When your starting quarterback and one of your starting receivers wants out, it could be construed by an average fan that all is not great at the VMAC, especially if that average fan was quite attached to said player(s).

So, yeah, John Schneider really needed to nail this draft. Like, he had to crush this mother out of the park, and then some.

Well, I am here to report to you, as a diehard, glass half ful, Seattle Seahawk fan, that he did that. I mean, John Schneider absolutely murdered this motherfucker.

I am not using hyperbole when stating that I believe this could become Schneider’s greatest draft class ever, even greater than the famed 2012 draft that saw us land Bruce Irvin, Bobby Wagner, and Russell Wilson, and many other starters. I needed a day to let this draft settle down with me, and not be too overly reactive with my positivity, but this is where I sit with it two days later.

If you get two quality starters out of a draft, guys who can easily work themselves into extensions after four seasons, that is a pretty good draft haul, and you did well as a front office. I think there is a very reasonable chance in four years time, we could see four top end starters coming out of this class for the Seahawks that they will choose to extend, if not more. That is potentially a massively good haul, and a franchise redefining one, at that.

Let me stress again this again. We could see four of them, but I think there is also a chance that it could be more.

Here are my breakdowns are each player selected in order, and you can decide for yourselves after this piece if you are ready to get more excited about the future of the Seattle Seahawks franchise tucked away in the never rainy always sunny Pacific Northwest.

North Dakota State Guard Grey Zabel

I am reluctant to put this on his plate, but it is impossible not to compare this kid to hall of fame Seattle Seahawk guard Steve Hutchinson. I do think his upside good be pretty close to that, though. That is not to say that he won’t have any welcome the NFL moments as a rookie, he will, but I view him as an instant plug and play player, most likely at left guard, and I think he has the physical traits and game tape to project as a pro bowl guard for Seattle, if not an annual All Pro player. Guys who have the college tape that he has, and the extreme explosive traits that he has generally make for really good NFL offensive linemen. Seattle was extremely fortunate that he was still available at pick 18. For some fun historical context, Hutchinson was taken 17th overall back in 2001. I haven’t been this excited about a Seattle first rounder in ages.

South Carolina Safety Nick Emmanwori

Emmanwori was a popular prospect with Seahawk fans for picking at 18, and Seattle traded up for him in round two, taking him at pick 35. In his press conference, Schneider commented that when Seattle traded up for him, they felt like they acquired two first round picks with him, and Zabel. He was extremely popular with Seattle defensive coaches through the draft process. It is easy to see why. He has the highest performance scoring out of any college safety coming out of the NFL scouting combine, ever. His athleticism is off the charts, and it is paired with a huge 6-3, 220 pound frame. It is easy to compare him to Kam Chancellor (a self confessed hero of his), but I think he’s different. He’s a much better athlete than Bam Bam was, a bit less of a hammer, but maybe more of an overall playmaker. He plays the run like an extra linebacker, though, and is described as a tight end eraser by draft pundits, which is exciting considering who we play against within the division. This is a very exciting pick.

Miami Tight End Elijah Arroyo

There are reports that a number of NFL teams had Arroyo as a top 25 physical talent in this draft, but they are scared away by his injury history from a few seasons ago. Seattle was not scared, though, and took a big swing at the fences by taking him at 50. His 2024 college game tape is an exciting watch, when he played a healthy season, and was a big time playmaker for Cam Ward and the Canes. He is yet another high profile explosive athlete, but better yet, he has an unusually advanced route tree for a college tight end. On top of his explosive traits, his ability to stretch the field as a big man, he is a very gifted route runner, and in Klint Kubiak’s system, route running is the most import thing for any receiver to show. Seattle could elect to keep Noah Fant around to ease Arroyo into this offense in 2025, but I wouldn’t be totally surprised if Seattle chooses to let him go if they feel Arroyo can step right into being a day one starter. It will be interesting to see how it plays out.

Alabama Quarterback Jalen Milroe

At pick 92 in the third round, the Seattle Seahawks took this highly athletic college quarterback. I have to be careful about how I project Milroe because I don’t want to set expectations up to a higher level than they should be right now for him. Due to the fact that there is so much meat on the bone when it comes to this quarterback and how it impacts Seattle with his selection, I will be writing a separate piece about him in the coming days. There is a lot to digest here, but for now, let me say a few short things about him.

I watched a lot of games of his last year when I thought there was a chance he could be a target for Seattle in this draft. He is a phenomenal athlete on the field as a quarterback. He has incredible wheels and instincts as a runner, and he has a cannon of an arm that launches some very impressive deep passes. He is very unpolished as a traditional passer, however, and he will have a lot to clean up as a developmental quarterback, and therefore, it is pretty unrealistic to expect him to compete with Sam Darnold this year for the QB1 job, and it might take him a few seasons to develop into that situation, if he does. In that, I will also say that if Klint Kubiak is successful at cleaning up a few fundamentals of his game, Jalen Milroe has all the physical talents in the world to become a superstar quarterback in the NFL. That is his ceiling, and it is a very exciting thought to think about as a Seattle Seahawk fan.

Notre Dame Defensive Lineman Rylie Mills

Mills had his fans with the draft pundits, and some folks even had a late second round grade on him. He tore up his knee in the college playoffs, however, and wasn’t able to physically test for teams. Due to this, he fell in the draft to early round five, where John Schneider has an excellent track record of making great value selections over the years (AKA Round Five John Schneider Magic). His college tape is pretty impressive as a power rusher, and run stuffer. According to Mike Macdonald, defensive coordinator Aden Durde was banging the table loudly for him. I suspected that Seattle would target a massive nose tackle type, and Mills isn’t that, but he has the traits to play the big power end role in Seattle’s defense that Roy Robertson Harris provided last year, but he will need time to properly heal. His impact on this team might be further down the round, but he’s a very interesting value pick.

Colorado State Receiver Tory Horton

Personally, I am pretty high on Horton as a receiver, and I was anticipating that he would be Seattle’s pick in the third round. I felt like that would be the area he would go, and that was sort of the projections I saw for him alot online. Needless, to say that I was happy to see Seattle get him later in round five with some more Round Five Schneider Magic Making.

I became a Horton stan after I watched a game of his in college a couple years ago when Colorado was battling Colorado State, and I dialed into because of the Coach Prime Time hype that was happening. Naturally, all the talk was about Prime and his kid at quarterback for the Buffs, but during the battle, my eyes kept going to Horton whenever the Rams were on offense. He seemed like a 12th grader playing against 6th grade kids at times, making impressive catch after impressive catch that led to a Colorado State upset over Prime and Son. It was a fun game to watch, and as it stands for the Seahawks, I think he has the talent to challenge for this third receiver role this year, and he could become WR2 down the road, mark my words on this. In his press conference, John Schneider compared him to Packer great Donald Driver, and I can see it.

Alabama Fullback Robbie Ouzts

I will admit that I had no idea who the bleep this cat was when Seattle took him late in the firth round, but after I saw Seattle listing him as a 6-3, 275 pound fullback instead of the tight end role he played for the Tide, I got excited about the prospects of more John Schneider Round Five Magic brewing in our faces again.

Why am I excited about this? This feels like a very Baltimore Raven thing to do, and anyone who knows my thoughts on the Seattle Seahawks knows how much I am desperate for this team to ultimately emulate the Ravens way. I want it so much so that I want the Seahawks to feel like the NFC version of the Ravens, and this pick makes me feel like they are heading more and more towards that. Exciting stuff to think that a big run blocking college tight end from a top SEC program can convert to a big, powerful, forceful lead blocker for Seattle running backs and provide Sam Darnold a bit of a safety outlet as a receiver. I bloody well love this draft pick for Seattle, and if your are desirous for physical running NFL football to return to the PNW you should bloody well love this pick, as well. Go Hawks!

Kansas Guard Bryce Cabeldue

Again, great value day three pick by John Schneider, but this time in round six. Cabeldue was an athletic tackle in college who scored high PFF grades as a zone blocker. Some viewed him as a third round pick talent, and Seattle got him much later. I think he is a guard in Seattle’s system, but he has flexibility to play tackle in a pinch, and maybe even stick there. This selection, I believe puts Anthony Bradford’s roster spot in jeopardy as it sounds like Seattle’s intention is to have him play guard. We shall see.

Miami Running Back Damien Martinez

For as exciting as the Milroe pick is, I think this might be the pick that really puts this draft class over the top. I was shocked to see Martinez available in the seventh round. Martinez feels like the type of back that a team drafts in round four, and elevates quickly as a productive starter for them. He is a powerfully built one cut inside runner who was coached up really well in college to be patient with his blockers, see the holes, and explode through them. This point of patience is critical for a zone blocking attack that is all about the offensive line reaching levels and creating lanes. The zone system requires running backs who are patient to wait for lanes to materialize, and if I am being honest about Ken Walker, that has been a blemish of his as a starting running back for the Seahawks. Martinez is an interesting grab for Seattle.

Iowa Tackle Mason Richman

I haven’t the faintest clue about Richman, and I won’t pretend that I do. A little more digging around on the internet shows that he was a four year starter at left tackle for the Hawkeyes, and had a pass blocking grade 79.6 by PFF last year, which is encouraging. Mel Kiper noted in his A draft grade for Seattle that he really liked this pick, and that is also pretty damn cool.

UNLV Wide Receiver Ricky White

Like Martinez, I was genuinely surprised to see Ricky White still available in the seventh round. He was a highly productive college wide out for the Runnin’ Rebels, a smooth route runner, solid pass catcher who can high point passes, and he’s a separation artist. He didn’t run a fast 40 yard dash at the combine, and this must have sank his draft stock, but he looks more sudden in games than this 40 time suggests. At any rate, his fall benefits Seattle because he is a complete system fit for what Kubiak needs his receivers to be. This was a great value pickup at the end of the draft.

Closing thoughts and feels

As I mentioned above, a good draft class is when you have landed a couple starters who can be long terms pieces to your team’s roster. Guys who can be good enough starters that you look to keep them around into a second contract.

Seattle had three outstanding drafts in a row from 2010 to 2012 that helped define the height of the Legion of Boom era. I think Seattle has had two really good drafts in a row between 2022 and 2023 that has helped them survive the Russell Wilson trade, and build towards a promising future. I believe the 2024 draft is trending well with the big time potential of Byron Murphy, the promising way Tyrice Knight played at linebacker, how AJ Barner played at tight end, and I still believe in Christian Haynes as a serviceable right guard in the future, and I believe Sataoa Laumea belongs as a guard in the NFL, as well.

This draft, however, feels potentially super duper special, and allow me to explain why I see it this way. I will try to make this as succinct as possible.

I believe that Grey Zabel and Nick Emmanwori have the rare athletic traits and game tape at their respective positions on the offensive line, and at safety to be regular pro bowl players, and possibly All Pro players, as well. On top of that, I can see both of them being tone setters on both sides of the ball. I can see Zabel being that nasty play through the whistle ring leader of Seattle’s running attack, and I can see Emmanwori evolving into that spirited back end defender that offensive coordinators have got to account for. The idea of Emmanwori and Devon Witherspoon working together in coverage and as secondary run defenders and blitzers is an exciting concept in my mind.

Elijah Arroyo could be vintage Vernon Davis in this offense. Provided he stays healthy enough, he could easily become a true mismatch receiving tight end who can stretch the field, run all routes, create huge YAC production in space, and generally be a regular pain in the ass for defensive coordinators to think about. Seattle gave up a rare big bodied receiver when they traded DK Metcalf, but they gained one at the tight end position with Arroyo. He has definite pro bowl potential down the road.

Again, I will write more extensively about my thoughts on Jalen Milroe (I have many). For now, I will simply say that if Klint Kubiak can coach some bad tendencies out of him, and clean up his short area accuracy issues, get him to comfortably function in a proper pro style offense, he could become an exciting QB1 down the road. In the meantime, he has a natural skillset that is so rare in this league that I would have to imagine Kubiak and Macdonald have plans for that in packages this year, and that have me wanting to go see more games live. It honestly does.

As for the rest, I think there is a strong chance Seattle found its starting fullback in Robbie Ouzts, and there is a very reasonable chance, in my mind, that Tory Horton can grow into the WR2 role, in time. It would not shock me if Seattle develops eventual starters in Mills, Martinez, and Cabeldue, as well, and I think Ricky White will surprise a lot of Seahawk fans this preseason (he’s a good system fit).

So, as I see it, Schneider has landed at least three likely high end starters who will be fixtures here for the next decade of Seahawk football, and it is somewhat possible that he has landed a fourth one who will be a star quality franchise quarterback. There is probably another starter in Ouzts if he takes to the fullback stop which they seem excited about for him.

There could be three to four other starters coming out of this haul. Not all of these guys will play into second contracts if they develop into starters, but some of them might.

If all of this happens, this will be, without any doubt, John Schneider’s career defining draft class, outdoing the famous Seattle Seahawk draft of 2012. It will put him into the Hall of Fame as a general manager, no doubt, especially if Macdonald and Kubiak develop Milroe into a quality starting quarterback in this league.

All big ifs, I am sure, but that is what we are looking at here. This is the reasonable potential of this draft class. This is what I can comfortably conclude with my glass half full perspective.

And if you want a glass half empty take from me because that is just the way you roll, sure, Elijah Arroyo might never stay healthy enough to be a reliable starting tight end, Milroe might never becomes more than a Taysom Hill gadget player, and it might prove that Seattle should have taken another offensive lineman at 35 instead of a playmaking safety. All of this could also prove true.

Just let me know if you need some encouragement when the zombies eventually show up in your front yard.

Go Hawks!

By Draft, Or Trade, The Seattle Seahawks Need Mike Macdonald Players

Posted on April 8, 2025 by curtiseastwood

There are many reasons why I have supported the Seahawks moving on from Geno Smith, and DK Metcalf, and I have liked both players a lot during their time in Seattle. For me, I was not shocked by either move. In fact, I applauded both trades.

Through the course of last season, doubt began to grow steadily in my mind as to whether DK was a Mike Macdonald guy, and maybe whether Geno was, as well. The fact that both fellas requested trades out of here confirmed it. If you are a Macdonald guy, you will want to be here (see Ernest Jones). If you are not, then you will probably be fine to move on.

It’s all good, though. When new regimes come in, there is typically a feel out phase for the coaches, and the players.

When the legendary Mike Holmgren took over the team in 1999, superstar receiver Joey Galloway decided to hold out for half a season, and after the season concluded, he was dealt to Dallas for two first round picks. The Walrus wasn’t playing.

So, nothing needs to be controversial about this reality of DK, and Geno wanting out and moving on. It just is. For younger Seahawk fans who had a decade and a half of Pete Carroll football, I can understand this being a shock to their system. I just see it differently.

If you are well into your middle age years, such as I, and you have followed NFL football most of your life, you see cycles with the team you closely follow. Every major coaching cycle that I have witnessed with the Seattle Seahawks since 1983, when Chuck Knox replaced Jack Patera, there have been major shakeups of the roster, especially at quarterback.

Knox replaced franchise quarterback Jim Zorn with a little known backup by the name of Dave Krieg midway through his first season here, and Krieg never looked back. Years later, Tom Flores replaced Krieg with what eventually would become Rick Mirer. Dennis Erickson was quick to move off of Mirer and cycled through John Friesz, Warren Moon, and eventually landed on Jon Kitna. Mike Holmgren eventually replaced Kitna with Matt Hasselbeck and Trent Dilfer. Pete Carroll then replaced Hasselbeck with what eventually became Russell Wilson. Such is the cycle of new coach and quarterback life.

So it should be no shock to any long term Seahawk fan in year two of Mike Macdonald, Geno Smith has been replaced by Sam Darnold. Not if you are a geezer, such as I am.

People can say that it was John Schneider who was the one for moved off of Geno Smith, but I would have to imagine that if Mike Macdonald was that much of huge believer in him, he would have implored John not to trade him. I’m going to guess the Macdonald didn’t fight too hard against this move. Not if he saw an alternative on the horizon that he thought he could get similar results out of, and is significantly younger.

Why Seattle moved on from Geno when Macdonald seemed to embrace him is a bit cloudy, I will admit. Seattle’s proposal to him for an extension wasn’t that different than what he ended up agreeing to with Vegas, after all.

If I were to guess why this trade happened, I would say that it was maybe a bit more player driven than the team looking to get rid of him, but it is interesting that the team didn’t fight too hard to make him happy with whatever concession he needed to stick around. I suspect that if we really examined the root of his relationship with the Seahawks, it might appear to be a much more of a mutual parting of ways than how this story has been drawn up in the media.

As for DK, I think things are more clear. He’s a highly talented, and ultra competitive player who has probably felt miss-used in Seattle over the years, and because Mike Macdonald was shifting to an offense that would be running more, he likely wasn’t interested in hanging around for that. Fine. Best of luck in Pittsburgh.

We can talk offensive line improvements all day long, and I will not grow tired of it, but at the end of the day, I want players here who want to be Seattle Seahawks, period, and in that, want to be Mike Macdonald guys. I don’t need Pete Carroll players who hold grudges over the front office, and most of all, I don’t want to overpay to keep talent that just doesn’t truly want to be here.

Last season was a hard watch for me as a Seahawk fan with both DK and Geno, individually, at times. I thought both players showed a lack of poise that cost Seattle games, and demonstrated tantrums during games that made me feel like they were losing their grips as leaders.

The image of DK Metcalf ripping the headset off of an assistant coach and yelling at Ryan Grubb with it was as ugly of a thing to watch as anything I have seen from a Seahawk, and I saw some ugly shit in the Kingdome in the 1990’s. It is an imagine that will forever be burned into my mind. I root for the Pittsburgh Steelers signing cranky old Aaron Rodgers just so DK can create a new shit show moment on his current team that will surpass the ugliness of this one here.

In terms of Geno, man, I hate to say it, but things didn’t feel that much better, in certain moments. There was a lot of bad sideline body language that filtered out through him in tough losses, and there was meltdowns, as well.

I was in the stands last December, close to the Seahawk bench, when in the closing moments of the loss to the Vikings, Geno Smith decided to get into a yelling contest with an angry fan. Having witnessed Sam Darnold ball out against a good Mike Macdonald defense, and pull off a gutsy win with that throw at the end of the game, and then witness Geno’s meltdown afterwards stayed in my mind, and fueled my thoughts.

Time will tell if Sam will be as good as Geno in Seattle, or better. One thing that I feel very certain about Sam is that after a rough loss at home, you won’t see him verbally going after a frustrated Seahawk fan in the stands.

As I see things now, I believe Sam Darnold has a pretty good chance to prove himself a bonafide Mike Macdonald guy. I sense he has a personality that will likely mesh well with the coach. He just needs to lead this team to wins on a consistent basis, and the rest can fall into place for him.

I also sense that Sam probably really wants to see this thing work out for him here long term. After his years of taking lumps in bad organizations, kicking around a couple other ones, he probably just wants to win any which way he can, and if that means being a high end game manager for a defensive minded head coach way up in dreary, isolated Seattle, Washington, then he’s probably going to be down for it.

He might even be happy enough to self depreciatingly joke about throwing the ball 25 times a game, especially if this team is eventually in annual championship contention. I sense Sam is this sorta fellow.

Despite the fact that he was raised an LA kid, he doesn’t strike me as a bright lights fella like Russ was, and DK sorta is. I think he has a personality much closer to Matt Hasselbeck and Dave Krieg, and for Seattle, I think that can be a really good thing.

In terms of other current Seahawks, I think cornerback Devon Witherspoon is a clear Mike Macdonald guy, and has a chance this year to further step up into a leadership role, not only on defense, but for the entire team. Of all the guys who have come out of recent draft classes, he might be the one most thrusted forward in terms of being a core Macdonald fella. You can tell the gifted defender and coach are tightly bonded.

There are many other dudes on defense that I sense circling strongly around the young head coach, as well. Defensive tackles Leonard Big Cat Williams, and Jarran Reed feel like strong Macdonald guys. Linebacker Ernest Jones also feels like a core Macondald dude, and I think safeties Coby Bryant and Julian Love are probably right there with him.

My guess is that defensive end DeMarcus Lawerence will probably establish himself as one, as well. Macdonald seems genuinely very excited to add him to his defense, and D Law was very eager to come up here to play for him, and defensive coordinator Aden Durde (who coached him in Dallas).

The offense, however, is mirkier in terms of who the Macdonald fellas are. I might be pretty high on the potential of Sam Darnold, but he still needs to prove it. I might think that Jaxson Smith Njigba could become a new leader, and a core Macdonald fella, but that is projection, as well. Ditto for Ken Walker, Zach Charbonnet, and AJ Barner.

Cooper Kupp should become an immediate leader, but it is mirky how long termed his stay will be here, given his age, and injury history. This is why I believe Seattle will most certainly look to draft a receiver within a few weeks, and maybe much higher than people are anticipating.

In terms of the offensive line, I don’t know who the leader is, and this feels a very glaring issue. I think Charles Cross is a good left tackle, but I don’t sense he’s an alpha dog like Duane Brown was. Abe Lucas is a bit of a junk yard dog at right tackle, but injuries have held him back to becoming the alpha up front that he would likely naturally be. The situations at guard and center are even mirkier, as we all know.

This is why it is imperative that Seattle makes moves during the draft (or by trade) that bring in talented alpha dogs to the offensive line, at least two of them. I think it is equally important that they look at players who play other positions on offense who can come in here with strong alpha personalities, as well, and galvanize themselves as core Mike Macdonald guys.

I have said this name a lot in recent pieces, but North Dakota State guard/center prospect Grey Zabel feels like the perfect draft pick for Seattle, given their obvious needs. He plays with an aggressive, athletic, fiery zone blocking style, and has a personality the reeks of leadership. Ohio State guard Donovan Jackson does, as well, and so does Georgia guard Tate Ratledge. Being able to land any one of these guys in the first or second round of the draft would be a huge get for Seattle, in my view.

I want to single out an offensive guard prospect who could be a sneaky target for Seattle that probably not enough people are talking about due to where he played ball. Sacramento guard Jackson Slater is a small school grinder who spent all of his time in college playing in a system that is very similar to what Klint Kubiak will be coaching here. He was a stand out player at the Senior Bowl, and he was a great athletic tester at the NFL Combine. On top of that, he grew up in the Seattle area. He might be much higher on Seattle’s draft board than people realize, and if they opt to go different directions than offensive line in their first couple picks of the draft, he might be a player that they feel very comfortable targeting a bit later.

In terms of other local angles and offensive line, it is worth noting that Oregon tackle Josh Conerly Junior is another Seattle kid who is thought to be a good player for a zone blocking scheme, and is generally thought to be a high to mid second round pick talent. With some maneuvering in the draft, it wouldn’t shock me, especially if Seattle takes a player at 18 who isn’t an offensive lineman, that perhaps they try to move up in the second round for Conerly to play left guard, and then look to draft Slater a bit later on. What a boost of talented young local kid infusion that would be to the interior of their offensive line if they were to land both players, and Conerly would have the potential to move to tackle should they need an eventual replacement for often injured Abe Lucas.

I want to throw one more local kid angle at you in this coming draft that I think it is important to strongly consider. Ohio State receiver Emeka Egbuka has been connected to Seattle in recent weeks, and I think there are compelling reasons why.

First and foremost, he is a gifted athlete with strong route running abilities, separation abilities, and he has sure hands that perfectly suite the Kubiak system. In fact, he might have more upside to him than even JSN, even though he is constantly compared to him given where both players played college ball, and what roles they played there.

The second thing is that Egbuka is regarded as a natural leader, and was a guy other fellas followed at the high profile program of Ohio State. This is a big personality comp to throw at him, but it appears like he may have Doug Baldwin vibes, and believe me when I say it that this offense, as it currently exists, could probably use a bit of Angry Doug in the locker room.

The third thing about Egbuka that I think is really worth weighing heavily on is that he grew up in the greater Seattle area a huge Seattle Seahawks fan. It would be extremely meaningful for him to be drafted by the team he heavily rooted for as a kid, and for him to have a chance to come home and establish himself as a new leader of it moving forward.

After dealing with years of unhappy Russ, years of unhappy DK (and perhaps an unhappy Geno), wouldn’t it be refreshing for John Schneider if he just took Egbuka at 18 and figured out guard on day two? I find it very tempting.

There is another pass catching scenario that I think they would have to strongly consider, maybe not at pick 18, but perhaps after a trade back in round one, or a trade up in round two. I think LSU tight end Mason Taylor is going to be a really good NFL football player for a long time in this league, and would fit the Klint Kubiak offense, brilliantly. I believe this so much that I actually got pretty excited when news broke yesterday that he has a scheduled pre-draft visit with the Seahawks at the VMAC.

Mason has deep NFL genes with his dad Jason Taylor being a long time NFL defensive end, and he has a high football IQ as a player. He’s a gifted receiver, and he’s a willing blocker. He feels like a grinder, and a tough guy, and if Macdonald wants this team to become the most physical team in the NFC West, having a talent tight end like this dude is a good step forward towards being that.

There is no local angle to Mason playing here, and his dad was a high profile athlete from Miami, and his aunt is a high profile sports media personality living in LA, but given the fact that his father played defense, I suspect he would appreciate seeing his son play for a coach like Macdonald in Seattle. I would be comfortably be willing to wager that Mason Taylor and his skillset, and pedigree would fit in really well with the Seattle Seahawks, and what they want to be. I believe this so much as that I wouldn’t be upset if he becomes their pick at 18.

I also can’t help but think that, if they somehow maneuvered around enough to come out of this draft with both Emeka Egbuka and Mason Taylor, that these two moves, alone, would provide a titanic franchise altering scenario for the Seattle Seahawks towards the positive; so much so that it would feel championship worthy.

I don’t know if championships can be made on a philosophy of picking best available player at a need position high, but I do think that taking best player available regardless of position is a philosophy the championship teams often embrace. Therefore, it is not completely set in stone for me that Seattle must take an offensive lineman at pick 18 just for the sake of it, especially in a draft where it appears to be deep enough with guard prospects for them to grab a couple good ones a bit later on.

As for quarterback in this draft, while I am not a fan of Seattle spending a high pick on one (I don’t think there is one in this draft worth it), I am warm to the idea of Brock Huard’s that taking a mid round flyer on Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe, if the opportunity is there for it. He is by far and away the biggest project QB in this draft, but his athletic upside is absolutely through the roof, and the immediate skillset that he would provide as a running QB is fun to envision for this offense. He is also a very high character personality who could be a great locker room presence.

Mike Macdonald has recently expressed his approval of the tush push play continuing in the league. What if one of the things that is fueling his fandom of the play is because he has a vision of Seattle taking Milroe in the third round specifically to be a developmental quarterback who would see plenty of attack in year one as Seattle’s tush push specialist player on third and shorts and fourth and shorts?

What if behind closed doors, he and Klint Kubiak are envisioning a scenario where they have Sam Darnold and Milroe on the field together much like Mike Holmgren used Matt Hasselbeck and Senecca Wallace in certain packages?

Holmgren and Macdonald talk a lot at the VMAC together when Holmgren makes appearances there. It would not shock me if Holmgren has shared with Macdonald thoughts on how they could be creative like this on offense, if Macdonald was ever picking his mind on the subject.

The more I peal back these hypothetical Milroe to Seattle layers, the more I can see it being a thing. The fact that Brock Huard, who is quite tapped into the organization, brings Milroe up on his radio show as a player he would have interest in at QB in the middle rounds, and the fact that Macdonald seems to love the idea of the league keeping with the tush push, the more I can convince myself that Jalen Milroe is screaming Seattle Seahawk in a few weeks.

I suppose I should also acknowledge a likelihood that the first player Seattle takes in this draft isn’t an offensive player at all. In truth, I think it’s fairly likely, even though I have already stressed that most of the Macdonald guys on this team already play on the defensive side.

Why do I think this? Because I tend to sense that cornerback is a bigger need for the Seahawks than fans want to realize right now, and this draft is uniquely rich at defensive tackle, and there are a few fascinating safety prospects who could be options for Seattle at pick 18, as well.

I would say that if there is a scenario where Michigan cornerback Will Johnson falls to pick 18, then I think Seattle should grab him, even with other players I have mentioned still being available. There is a strong chance that this won’t happen because he is such a naturally gifted, well rounded player, but he was injured enough last year that with shoulder and toe injuries that it kept him from performing at the NFL combine back in February, and perhaps those injuries force a fall in round one.

If Seattle were to take advantage of that, he would join the team as pure outside defender who is great in coverage, good against the run, and would very likely be a built in Mike Macdonald player with Macdonald’s ties to Michigan. Given the inconsistencies of Riq Woolen and Johnson’s deep understanding of this particular scheme, it would be a no brain decision drafting him.

Outside of the draft, I think it is also worth talking about potential trade scenarios for the Seahawks, especially when it does come to the offensive line. I’ve got a fun one for you.

Let’s suppose in a hypothetical world, Seattle’s first pick is Emeka Egbuka, and he is the player available that the organization feels strongest about making a Seattle Seahawk. Now lets say at pick 50, there is a really good cornerback they like that they believe can be a long term partner with Devon Witherspoon, and they take him there. Then let’s further say that at pick 52, there is a nose tackle that they feel can be the stalwart anchor for the next decade of Mike Macdonald football in Seattle, and they scooped him up. Fans would be in an absolute uproar over Seattle punting on offensive line if this scenario played out this way, no question about it.

Now, let’s say that at pick 82, instead of taking Jackson Slater or another guard prospect to mix in with Anthony Bradford, Christian Haynes, and Sataoa Laumea, John Schneider works out a trade with New Orleans for veteran guard Cesar Ruiz, a former Michigan Wolverine center who is essentially a John Harbaugh guy, and by that degree of separation, a Mike Macdonald fella. He would also be a Klint Kubiak player having played for the OC for a year in NOLA, and he would know the Seattle offensive line coaches very well.

Would this move settle your anxieties some with the offensive line, especially if Seattle walked away with Jackson Slater at pick 92? I know it would settle mine down quite a bit.

Then we would be looking at a scenario where Seattle has infused its offensive line with a proven NFL player who is young enough to be a fixture here for a good long while. It wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility, in this scenario, that Kubiak would choose to make him his starting center given his history at the position in college, and his familiarity with this scheme.

How likely is this a thing that could play out for Seattle? I’m not sure. I suppose you could ask why NOLA would be willing to part with him, but it is worth noting that they are strapped with a bad salary cap situation, and Seattle does have a much better one to fit him in. In fact, Seattle is presently sitting on a healthy amount of current cap space that screams for a trade scenario such as this one.

It is also worth noting that two of the biggest positions needs for the Saints seem to be corner, and edge rusher. Could Seattle sweeten the deal by adding Riq Woolen who they might not view as a good long term fit here with Macdonald? Could it be a package of Boye Mafe and a pick for Ruiz when they know they have Derick Hall emerging into a bigger primary edge rushing role?

This is a fingers crossed scenario that I would love to see Seattle pull off. Use the draft capital that your acquired in the recent trades to help flip for a proven, quality veteran guard or center who Kubiak knows, and trusts, and feels good about building around.

Is this a pipe dream fantasy? Quite possibly, but allow me to have it.

At the end of the day, this is the offseason to get right about Mike Macdonald guys. Draft these guys, trade for these guys, sign these guys. Let 2025 be the true start of the Macdonald era sans Pete Carroll holdovers who won’t fully buy into what Macdonald’s vision is.

I am embracing this uncertainty of Sam Darnold and Cooper Kupp, and the speculative nature of their impact here. I am fine with the question marks, and the unfinished vibes of the offensive line. I’m excited to see what the draft brings, how trades might happen, and what they could add after the draft.

I have chosen to let go of Geno Smith and I wish him well in Vegas. I have very easily let go of DK Metcalf, as well.

I invite you to do the same.

Go Hawks.

12th Life

Intuitive takes on the Seattle Seahawks, Seattle area sports, and other cool stuff, with no analytics involved.

Tag Archives: seattle-seahawks

Sam Darnold And The Seattle Seahawks Are Super Bowl Bound!

Why These Seattle Seahawks Can Win A Super Bowl

Why I Want The Seahawks To Think Offensively In A Trade

The Road Warrior Seahawks Beat The Tough Jaguars So Let’s Trade!

The Seahawks Beat Down Of The Saints Was Necessary Toughness

Sam Darnold is proving to be a solid fit in this Klint Kubiak offense

Tory Horton is going to be a big factor for Seattle’s passing and return games.

Jaxon Smith Njigba is officially the Rising Superstar of this Team

The Offensive Line played better than your eyes told you they were in this game and that’s sweet

The Mike Macdonald Defense Is Becoming The Badass Motherf#ckers We Need

Seattle’s Special Teams is special!

Final thoughts

Why I Like The Quarterback Room Of The Seattle Seahawks This Year

Sam Darnold; his floor is Derek Carr, and his ceiling is Jared Goff

Drew Lock; his floor is Drew Stanton, and his ceiling is Ryan Tannehill

Jalen Milroe; his floor is Taysom Hill, and his ceiling is Jalen Hurts

Closing thoughts

Seahawks Stay Resilient In Dominating 31-17 Win Over Pittsburgh

Seahawks Offense Proves To Be Work In Progress In Home Loss To Niners

The Seattle Seahawks Had To Kill The 2025 NFL Draft And They Did It

North Dakota State Guard Grey Zabel

South Carolina Safety Nick Emmanwori

Miami Tight End Elijah Arroyo

Alabama Quarterback Jalen Milroe

Notre Dame Defensive Lineman Rylie Mills

Colorado State Receiver Tory Horton

Alabama Fullback Robbie Ouzts

Kansas Guard Bryce Cabeldue

Miami Running Back Damien Martinez

Iowa Tackle Mason Richman

UNLV Wide Receiver Ricky White

Closing thoughts and feels

By Draft, Or Trade, The Seattle Seahawks Need Mike Macdonald Players