Quarterback Sam Darnold was a risky move for the Seattle Seahawks. He was fantastic with the Minnesota Vikings until the last two games of the season in 2024, but then he reverted to his old ways of throwing poorly timed passes and causing his offense to be inefficient.
The hope, of course, is that Darnold learned how to be good during the first 16 games of last season and can carry that into 2025 and beyond for the Seahawks. HawkBlogger Brian Nemhauser isn't so sure, though.
Speaking on the HawksZone Rundown Podcast, Nemhauser, a credentialed member of the media and able to see practices open to the media, said there was little to love about what Darnold was doing in his first-team reps in OTAs and minicamp, but a lot to worry about. That is not exactly what a Seattle football fan wants to hear.
Seahawks reporter does not have glowing praise for quarterback Sam Darnold
Nemhauser said, "The things that have stuck out to me more have been some judgment stuff still, like where he’s choosing to deliver the ball, when he’s choosing to deliver it. He’s thrown a handful of interceptions; he should have thrown a number more... At this point I think it’s fair to at least have a little bit of concern that, okay, he does not have a Justin Jefferson on this team who can beat any player in any coverage, and he doesn’t have a Kevin O’Connell who knows how to scheme everything perfectly to get those guys open."
There is a lot to unpack there, of course. One is that Nemhauser accidentally takes a swipe at new Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak. Perhaps Kubiak can also scheme well enough to get wide receivers such as Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Cooper Kupp open. That should certainly be a hope.
At another point during the interview, Nemhauser said that perhaps Darnold's struggles were due to him getting to know his new teammates and the new system that Kubiak employs. That could all be true, but Darnold was partly signed because he and Kubiak had worked together previously, and that should allow Darnold to acclimate quickly to what Kubiak needed.
That hasn't happened, yet backup Drew Lock has looked great in practices. There is no reason for Lock to feel more comfortable in the offense than Darnold.
The most alarming point Nemhauser made was Darnold's lack of pristine judgment so far. There hasn't been a real question about Darnold's arm strength. He has a good arm, but where he has struggled has been with his at times awful decision-making.
This got him into trouble for much of his career before joining the Vikings, and when Minnesota needed him to be his best in the final regular season game against the Detroit Lions and what turned out to be the Vikings' only playoff game, Darnold was terrible.
Against the Lions and the Los Angeles Rams, the Vikings scored only 9 points in each game, and Darnold was a combined 43 of 81 passing with one touchdown pass and one interception. His quarterback rating was 68.8. When he wasn't throwing the interception, he was often off-target.
In other words, when pressure was highest, Darnold wilted. The Seahawks cannot afford that if they are going to have any hopes for a playoff push. Yes, it is early and training camp has not yet begun, but Darnold doesn't look like a good QB1, but meanwhile, Drew Lock does.