The Seattle Seahawks finished their 2024 campaign with a 10-7 record. They narrowly missed the playoffs in an insanely competitive NFC Conference. After that the team has shifted their offensive massively. With the signing of Sam Darnold and Cooper Kupp, trading DK Metcalf and Geno Smith, and much more. Seattle had a overhaul on the offensive side of the ball during this offseason. Mike Macdonald has high hopes this offense will be better than last season. Even with the immense amount of changes, I still don’t feel confident in this Seattle offense in 2025.
The Bad Offensive Line
Let’s address the elephant in the room when talking about this Seahawks team. The struggles that this offensive line had last year. Geno Smith was the 6th most sack QB in the NFL last season with 50 sacks taken. This team was a pass first team that wants to beats you in the air. That is really hard to do when you have a struggling O-line. This line ranked bottom 3 in the league last year per PFF. Seattle also ranked bottom 5 in their rushing yards per game. Macdonald wasn’t able to trust his line to protect his backs in the ground game. With their first-round pick they addressed with by picking up Grey Zabel who I like. Even so, I don’ think it’s enough to keep Darnold off the floor this season.
Is Sam Darnold Good Enough?
Sam Darnold broke out last season after a rough start to his career in New York. The former 3rd overall pick had 4,319 passing yards paired with 35 touchdowns. He ranked top five in the NFL in these metrics, but only 14th in QBR. Darnold’s 12 interceptions and poor performance when things mattered the most for the Vikings leaves some question marks for everyone. Seattle is getting a QB who had the best season of his career at 27 years old. On the other side, that Vikings team had elite weapons and a great O-line. We can’t know for sure, but the situation in Seattle isn’t as good with a bad O-line and no run game to lean on. Sam can keep up his impressive season, but this is definitely a season where he’s gonna boom or bust as an NFL starter.
Lack of a Run Game
Seattle struggled on the ground in the 2024 season. Their starting back Kenneth Walker only played 12 games due to injury, but even before that he struggled. The team’s line was a big reason for that obviously. This left Seattle leaning on the pass game way more than the run game as a team. They only ran the ball in 37.2% of their offensive stats, which was bottom 5 in the league. I just don’t see how this run game improves. This team has almost no O-line improvement and with Walker coming off of an injury, Seattle is going to struggle on the ground. That means Sam Darnold will be tasked with carrying this team through the air. That leaves me with a head full of worry as an offense this imbalanced will be easier to read. Walker is a player that is young and can bounce back. It’s just a question of will he come back better than before?
Top Heavy Receiving Room
The Seahawks started their offseason getting rid of veteran receivers DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett. As sad as it may be for Seattle fans, it was the right choice to make. Lockett has been on the decline for a couple of seasons not. DK has been dealing with injury and caused off-field drama as well. With a young star in Jaxon Smith-Njigba, the front office knew it was time to build around him. Signing veteran Cooper Kupp and MVS who is coming off of a productive season with New Orleans. Kupp is coming off of a disappointing year as he once again dealt with injury issues. That’s scary for Seattle because outside of these top 3 guys, they don’t really have anyone solid behind them. Mix that with a QB who is used to amazing WR play, and you could be looking a huge step back in the passing game. JSN is amazing, but I don’t think you can have a career year with a bad O-line and Darnold behind the helm. I could be proven wrong, but I just don’t see it.
New Offensive Coordinator
Klint Kubiak is the new guy running this Seattle offense. This is a do or die job for Kubiak as he comes off an up and down season with the Saints. That team started strong out of the gate offensively, but after the first few weeks fell on their face. A mix of injuries and inconsistent play made New Orleans the 27th overall offense in the league per PFF. Kubiak is going to have to find a way to unlock Darnold’s potential the way that Kevin O’Connell did. He’s also going to have to find a way to get this line not to give up 50 sacks. As well as making sure this run attack can actually average 100 yards a game at least. Seattle’s offense is just full of so many questions and concerns. Klint is really going to have to prove himself as a good coach this year. It’s all just another question added to the pile for Seattle. Can Klint Kubiak revive this offense in the 2025 season?
