The Seattle Seahawks' special teams were fairly terrible in 2024. One might have rightly wondered why special teams coordinator Jay Harbaugh still had a job. As it turns out, Harbaugh is pretty good at what he does, and Mike Macdonald was smart to keep him.
Harbaugh isn't the only person in the organization doing a surprisingly great job in the third phase of the game. Fans assumed punter Michael Dickson would be good, and he is. Kicker Jason Myers is having a bit more of a struggle.
But Dareke Young? He is one of the unsung and unexpected stars of the team. He has been good on special teams coverage for the last couple of seasons when he has been healthy enough to play. But until this season, Young had never returned kicks in the NFL. The last time he did so was in college in 2021.
Dareke Young is one of the unsung stars for the Seattle Seahawks to start the 2025 season
Not only did Young take over for an injured Kenny McIntosh, who seemingly had the lead on the kickoff return job before he was hurt in training camp, but Young has excelled and likely done better than McIntosh would have. The fourth-year veteran leads the league at 34.4 yards per kick return.
Half of his returns have gone for longer than 30 yards, including runs of 43, 50, and 60. While the new kickoff rule has allowed teams overall to have better starting field position, Young's greatness has made Seattle even better than other teams in terms of improvement.
In 2024, the Seahawks' starting field position was 27.8, which was 31st in the NFL. In 2025, Seattle's starting field position through five games is 30.6, 15th in the league. Three yards better than last season is sneaky important.
In an odd twist of statistics, Dareke Young hasn't done much in terms of being a receiver in the NFL. He has only caught four passes in his career, two in 2022 and two this season. Every catch has turned into a first down, though, and he averages 18 yards per catch.
Young doesn't have a real path forward to see a lot more targets, however. Jaxon Smith-Njigba is clearly the Seattle Seahawks' WR1, and Cooper Kupp is WR2. Ascending tight end AJ Barner might be quarterback Sam Darnold's third-best option, though rookie receiver Tory Horton is capable as well.
Still, Dareke Young is almost certainly going to keep returning kickoffs. He is great at it. The next question Seattle has to ask itself is how soon it wants to start speaking to Young about a contract extension, as he is set to be a free agent next offseason.