The Seattle Seahawks enter the season as the defending Super Bowl champions, but they don't always receive that recognition. Notably, plenty of that has to do with Sam Darnold's reputation around the league.
Darnold has come a long way since his ugly tenure with the New York Jets, but he's still considered the team's weakest link. That's not necessarily the case, but not even winning the Super Bowl was enough to flip the script.
Regardless, his new offensive coordinator just wants to make life easier for him. Speaking with Seattle Sports, Brian Fleury shared his approach to the team's new offense and how some deception might take a heavy burden off Darnold's shoulders.
The Seattle Seahawks want to take pressure off Sam Darnold
"I think one of the hardest things to do in sports is be a quarterback in an obvious drop-back situation where the defense knows you're throwing the ball," Fleury said. "So, the thought process behind the offense is to minimize the amount of times we're asking any quarterback to do that. And it's, you know, screens, it's misdirection. It's play actions, moving the pocket, like all those sorts of things that just kind of take a little bit of the load off the quarterback."
Darnold's arm talent has always been remarkable, and that has also helped him thrive when going off-script. He can go outside of the structure and make every throw in the book, though he's better when given a clean pocket.
While not the most efficient guy under pressure, Darnold has become better at taking care of the football and making good decisions. He had some ugly games with multiple turnovers last season, but he cleaned up his act after his interception-riddled performance vs. the Los Angeles Rams.
Fleury already knows him from their time together with the San Francisco 49ers, and he knows how efficient he can be when given a strong play-action game. He excels under center, and the Seahawks' solid running game should help keep defenses guessing and open up more passing lanes for him.
The Seahawks want to put Darnold in a situation where he doesn't have to take as many risks, since the offense won't necessarily know he'll drop back to pass, avoiding the heavy blitzes that have hurt him in the past.
The Seahawks' interior offensive line will also be paramount to that end. Anthony Bradford struggled to block last season, and with a rookie ball-carrier in Jadarian Price leading the way, he'll have to be much more efficient at creating lanes for an inexperienced back.
George Holani's pass-catching will also be crucial early on. Zach Charbonnet is an elite and physical blocker in the passing game, and he's got steady hands, but it'll be a while before he's available after a major injury.
The Seahawks want to have a more complex offense in the first year of the post-Klint Kubiak era. Rashid Shaheed's vertical threat should also help keep a lighter box for the running game, with offenses knowing he can make them pay if single-covered downfield.
The whole will be greater than the sum of its parts in Seattle, and just because Brian Fleury has never called plays doesn't mean he'll just replicate what worked last season. He's been around some of the best offensive minds in the game and is a quick riser in the coaching ranks for a reason.
Darnold has been his own worst enemy for most of his career, but he doesn't have to do all of the heavy lifting in Seattle. If everyone does their jobs, he should only get better and — finally — silence the critics.
The bar is high — this team averaged the third-most points per game last season (28.4) — but Darnold should've earned the benefit of the doubt by now.
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