What do the Seattle Seahawks have to do in 2026 to defend their Super Bowl title? There is a laundry list of tasks, but up near the top, in any order you choose to rank them, are the following…
The breakout players of 2025 – Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Sam Darnold on offense, Nick Emmanwori and Drake Thomas on defense – have to prove last year was not an anomaly. John Schneider’s first three draft picks have to approximate the production of the veterans they will be replacing.
The offensive line must continue to improve, especially at right guard. And Brian Fleury needs to put his own stamp on an offense that was soaring under Klint Kubiak’s stewardship.
One key to unlocking the Seattle Seahawks' new-look offense in 2026
Staying mostly-healthy would be nice too.
Lately, I’ve begun to think that – as important as those things are – there may be something else that tops them all. Fortunately, there’s a pretty good chance this will happen.
John Schneider drafted tight end Elijah Arroyo in the third round of the 2025 draft. Two rounds later, he took wide receiver Tory Horton. With the departure of DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett – and the release of Noah Fant looming – adding some young blood to the receiving corps was essential. Metcalf, Lockett, and Fant accounted for almost half of Seattle’s receiving yardage in 2024.
Both Arroyo and Horton were injured in their rookie seasons. Neither became a major part of the offense. A.J. Barner stepped up at tight end and showed he can be one of the better two-way players at his position in the league.
Cooper Kupp provided some veteran savvy, and Rashid Shaheed arrived after Horton was injured to add some outside speed. Backs Kenneth Walker III and Zach Charbonnet pitched in, and together, the pass-catchers cobbled together a decent attack.
Oh, yeah. And Smith-Njigba had one of the best seasons ever produced by a Seahawks receiver.
JSN may well do that again, but he needs help. Barner should remain a reliable option over the middle and in the red zone. But he is never going to be another Trey McBride. Kupp should also be a steady presence, but at 33, he is likely to trend down. As dynamic as he is with the ball in his hands, Shaheed has never been a polished receiving threat. Walker is gone. Charbonnet is hurt.
The thing Seattle needs as much as anything in 2026 is for Elijah Arroyo or Tory Horton – and preferably it will be both of them – to develop into a dangerous second receiving option to support JSN. Both have the physical ability to do so.
Horton was just beginning to show it when he got hurt. Arroyo was quiet most of the season, but he had several plays, including a deep ball against the Cardinals in Week 4, that revealed his speed, body control, and hands. Both of these players are poised for a breakout. At least one of them has reached that potential in 2026.
It is not as if general manager John Schneider has needed the first round to find his receiving stars. JSN may have come in round one, but the pass catchers who led the team throughout most of Schneider’s tenure have been Metcalf (second-round pick), Lockett (third-round pick), and Doug Baldwin (one of the greatest undrafted players in league history).
That has been a Seahawks’ hallmark dating back to inception. Try this trivia question.
What first-round draft pick ranks highest on the Seahawks all-time receiving list? Hint – it’s not JSN. If he stays healthy throughout 2025, he almost certainly will be the answer to this question moving forward. But first, he has to surpass Joey Galloway, Seattle’s top pick in 1995. Galloway is currently in 8th place on the Seahawks’ all-time receiving list.
If I’m doing my math right, that means seven other players – none of whom were taken in the first round of the NFL draft – rank ahead of him. Tory Horton and Elijah Arroyo have the chance to begin climbing that list in 2026. For the Seahawks’ offense to thrive, at least one of them needs to do just that.
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