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The Seattle Seahawks have tried to make life easier for Sam Darnold. But signing the quarterback remains a risky move. Adding the angst, Darnold flopped hard in his first session in front of the media.
The Seahawks traded steady quarterback Geno Smith and banked on Darnold, who had a resurgent season with the Vikings in 2024 before crumbling in the final two games of the season.
And in Darnold’s first curtain-opening session, he tossed a pair of interceptions in a 7-on-7 setting, according to a post on X by Brady Henderson.
Notes from the Seahawks' fourth OTA, the first that was open to reporters:
-An up and down day for Sam Darnold, who was intercepted twice in a short span during a 7-on-7 period in the red zone. Julian Love got him first, then Josh Jobe picked off his scramble throw.
What do Seahawks have in QB Sam Darnold?
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The good news is Darnold didn’t stay in the rut. Henderson noted that he turned things around.
Darnold bounced back after what sounded like some good-natured ribbing from OC Klint Kubiak, responding with TDs to UDFA WR Tyrone Broden and Cooper Kupp, and later to Zach Charbonnet and JSN. But all told, several plays died with Darnold holding onto the ball.
Making things tough for Darnold is the fact that the Seahawks didn’t invest enough in protecting him, according to espn.com.
“It's clear the longtime Seahawks GM (John Schneider) believes the players he has on the roster, almost all of whom are his draft picks, will improve,” Bill Barnwell wrote. “Some of that might be a product of a schematic shift. The Seahawks were a passive, dropback-heavy offense under Grubb. Kubiak should get them on the move more often and create more uncertainty for opposing defensive linemen to prevent rushers from pinning their ears back to go after the quarterback.
“Seahawks fans will need to hope Schneider is right, because the impact on Darnold could be devastating. Even during his resurgent 2024 season, his biggest weakness was his propensity for taking sacks. (It was) highlighted by a brutal end to the season in an ugly playoff loss to the Rams. Darnold ranked seventh in the league in QBR from a clean pocket. But when opposing teams got pressure on him, that dropped to 22nd. Since the start of 2018, his 17.2 QBR when pressured ranks 34th out of 50 quarterbacks with 900 dropbacks.”
