CourtneyJackson

Corbin Smith·Jul 9

If it wasn’t for Smith-Njigba, the Seahawks’ offense might have just been a serious mix of mild roman candles and underwhelming Pop-Its.

The true aerial shells came to No. 11, especially in play action. Kubiak put Darnold in positions to succeed more often than not, using play action. Only league MVP Matthew Stafford had more passing yards out of play action than Darnold last season. Only Lamar Jackson averaged more yards per attempt out of play action than Darnold. When targeting at least 20 yards downfield, Darnold ranked fifth in the regular season with 30 completions while ranking second in adjusted completion rate and passer rating in those downfield targets. Not all of those went to Smith-Njigba, either. Rookie Tory Horton ranked second on the team and was trending towards a special season before his year was cut short from a shin injury.

Dan Viens·Jun 26

Stability may end up being the biggest reason to believe in Sam Darnold this season. After finally finding success in Seattle, he enters the year with continuity that has been missing for much of his career. Returning to the same offensive system with the same supporting cast gives him an opportunity to build on last year's strong campaign instead of starting over once again. The offseason has only added to the optimism. Reports from OTAs and minicamp have praised the offense's comfort level in its second year together, and Darnold continues to benefit from established chemistry with Jackson Smith-Njigba while developing connections with emerging weapons like Rashid Shaheed and A.J. Barner. If he continues to limit turnovers while maintaining his downfield aggressiveness, Darnold has a realistic path to outperform his current fantasy draft cost by a significant margin.