As training camp inches closer and closer, the NFL Top 100 Players of 2025 continues on. Last year, the Seattle Seahawks had three players in the top 100. Safety Julian Love came in at 95, cornerback Riq Woolen came in at 91, and former Seahawks wide receiver DK Metcalf came in at 84. Of course, some notable names were left off the list (Geno Smith, Devon Witherspoon), but unfortunately, being underrated is par for the course with Seattle sports. That trend continued this year as well with Leonard
Williams coming in at 99.
However, one name that may have come as a surprise to Seahawks fans just surfaced on this year’s list. New starting quarterback Sam Darnold came in at number 72, the first ranking of his career.) Darnold had a breakout season last year with the Minnesota Vikings, which came after rookie JJ McCarthy tore his right meniscus and was ruled out for the entire season. Darnold quickly took advantage, posting a 66.2 completion percentage while throwing for 4,219 yards and 35 touchdowns to only 12 interceptions. The 2025 season for Darnold was a huge turnaround for his career after “seeing ghosts” with the New York Jets and then quickly becoming a backup with the Carolina Panthers and San Francisco 49ers.
The elephant in the room for Darnold, and for the Seattle Seahawks as a whole, is, can Darnold repeat this career comeback this 2025 season? One of the arguments that he can repeat this success, is that his time starting with the Jets (and briefly with the Panthers) are not good testaments to his true skills. The Jets are infamously “quarterback hell” and will ruin any passer they touch. Just look at how Geno Smith left the Jets and was able to resurrect his career in Seattle.
The Panthers have not been much better. Baker Mayfield also flamed out in Carolina in 2022 (just like Darnold), but then joined the Rams and immediately led them to a 98-yard game winning drive, off the bench. Mayfield has since found success with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. All this is to say that Darnold’s time with the Jets and Panthers may not be a fair depiction of his true talent/potential. When put in a situation where he can flourish, such as in Minnesota last year, Darnold could be a true franchise quarterback. Seahawks fans surely hope this will be the case this year in Seattle, where Darnold is reunited with Klint Kubiak, who was Darnold’s passing game coordinator in San Francisco in 2023.
However, there are valid arguments that Darnold will shrink back into what most people think he is, a career backup. Surely, the lack of success with the Jets and Panthers still leave a “stink” over Darnold. Add onto that, his success last year came with quarterback guru, Kevin O’Connell as his head coach, and with one of the best supporting casts one can have on offense.
Comparing Darnold’s situation in Minnesota last year to this year in Seattle, it isn’t a stretch to say he is in a less desirable offense. Seattle has a good set of receivers led by Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Cooper Kupp. However, this is a sure downgrade after coming from a top duo of Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison. Then looking at offensive line, Minnesota’s last year was not dominant, but they were better than Seattle’s (not that difficult to do.) PFF ranked all offensive lines for 2024, and had the Vikings at 18, while Seattle came in at 31.
Seattle surely hopes to not put Darnold in position where he needs to put this offense on his shoulders. If Seattle can run the ball effectively and not put the entire offense on Darnold, then that could allow him to be a true point guard of the offense. Being able to run the ball effectively will also be important to help the offensive line out. If the offensive line is not needing to pass block on every single down (as they seemingly did at time last year under Ryan Grubb), that will put them in position to succeed, and be able to protect Darnold when its most important. If Kubiak can get the running game going, and improve this offensive line, Darnold in turn, will be in position to repeat his success from last year. However, this is the NFL, and Darnold will still be expected to stand up to the moment and deliver when he is asked to. Late last year for the Vikings, Darnold was unable to do so.
Time will tell if Darnold will take a step back this year, if he can replicate his success from last year, or even improve from last year. For the Seahawks sake, hopefully it will be one of the latter two. In that case, Darnold could find himself on this Top 100 List again for 2026.
More from fieldgulls.com:
- Greg Olsen got weird about Russell Wilson and the offense
- Pre-Snap Reads 9/9: Jamal Adams talks about new scheme
- Whose house?! BILLS HOUSE!
- Matthew Stafford is going through some stuff
- Boye Mafe limited, Ken Walker does not practice for Seahawks Thursday
- Pete Carroll thinks Seahawks crowd will ‘know exactly what to do’ when Russell Wilson returns
- Field Gulls predicts the 2022 Seahawks season
