Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold has the mobility, arm strength and athleticism to make off-script plays.

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He showed that against the Seahawks last December, when he delivered one of the more memorable moments of his breakout 14-win season with the Minnesota Vikings. Facing a four-point deficit in the closing minutes of a rainy Week 16 clash at Lumen Field, Darnold stepped up in the pocket to avoid pressure and threw an on-the-run strike to Justin Jefferson for a 39-yard touchdown that gave the Vikings yet another comeback victory.

But when is Darnold at his best? According to NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah, it’s when Darnold is getting the ball out quickly in a rhythm-based offense.

“You want to hunt explosive (plays), and sometimes that can take time, and sometimes you have to have some sacks in order to get explosive plays,” Jeremiah said Wednesday on Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk. “But I think Sam is at his best when he’s a back-foot, one hitch and get the ball out. When he does that and he plays and finds himself in that kind of rhythm, I think that’s when he’s at his best.

“And I think that really goes back to (his college days at) USC. When he tried to get outside of the scheme a little bit, yeah, he can do that. He’s a good athlete. But I don’t think that’s when he’s at his best.”

Throughout his career, Darnold has had a tendency to hold onto the ball. That remained true last year, as he took the fourth-most sacks in the league and had a 3.08-second average time to throw that was fourth-slowest among all qualified quarterbacks, according to Pro Football Focus.

But when Darnold did get the ball out quickly last season, he was among the NFL’s most efficient QBs. According to PFF, he had a league-high 82.2% completion rate with 10 touchdowns and two interceptions on passes that he released within 2.5 seconds of the snap.

However, that was in Minnesota, where Darnold had the benefit of an elite receiving duo in Jefferson and Jordan Addison. Is the Seahawks’ new-look receiving corps – led by Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Cooper Kupp – capable of consistently giving Darnold quick, open, in-rhythm targets?

Jeremiah said he’s “curious” to see how it all comes together in new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak’s scheme, but that ultimately both Smith-Njigba and Kupp can do that.

“Both those guys can win early,” Jeremiah said. “They have the quickness to win early to be able to give you on-time throws.”

Listen to the full conversation with NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah at this link or in the audio player near the middle of this story. Tune in to Brock and Salk weekdays from 6 to 10 a.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.

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