Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold is one of the NFL’s biggest mysteries heading into the 2025 season.

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After a disappointing first six years in the league, the former No. 3 overall draft pick resurrected his career with a breakout Pro Bowl campaign last fall. He led the Minnesota Vikings to a 14-3 regular season and five game-winning drives, while finishing fifth in the league in both passing yardage and touchdown passes.

However, the luster of Darnold’s breakthrough was somewhat dulled by a rough finish, as he struggled in a blowout Week 18 loss to the Detroit Lions and an ugly wild-card playoff loss to the Los Angeles Rams.

As Darnold enters a new chapter of his career in Seattle, what type of season do the Seahawks need from him in order to have success this fall?

When posed that question Tuesday on Seattle Sports’ Bump and Stacy, ESPN’s Bill Barnwell focused on consistency and stability.

“The tough part at times – whether he’s been playing in a bad situation or even in a good situation – is you don’t know what you’re going to get,” Barnwell said. “Some weeks, Sam Darnold is awesome. I mean, he can spin it. He has a great arm. He feels very confidence-driven – which every player, every quarterback is driven by confidence to some extent. But it feels like he’s maybe more susceptible to that.

“When things are going well, Sam Darnold looks great. And when things are not going well and he doesn’t trust his offensive line and maybe he’s made a mistake or two, Sam looks very scattershot. And so I think you want to see consistency.”

Even in the middle of Darnold’s standout 2024 season, he had a no-touchdown, three-interception dud against the lowly Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 10. But he bounced back, throwing 11 TD passes and no picks over his next four games.

“Week in and week out, you’re going to have some moments where you take sacks (and) you don’t look great,” Barnwell said. “That happens to every quarterback. But can you fight past that? If you make a mistake, can you come back out in the next drive and look good?

“The issue is not the arm with Sam. It’s the head. So I think keeping his head consistent from week to week, keeping him afloat and keeping him with some level of confidence is going to be an important task for the coaching staff, and also think for Sam himself.”

The coaching impact

Barnwell then elaborated on the role that coaching plays in building and maintaining a quarterback’s confidence. That certainly was a factor in Darnold’s success last season, as he played under Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell, who’s regarded as one of the brightest offensive minds in the NFL.

But as Barnwell explained, it’s not just the X’s and O’s that separates O’Connell and other top coaches.

“I can watch Vikings tape and steal all the plays they have – that doesn’t mean that I’m gonna be a good offensive coordinator,” Barnwell said. “So much of it is about game-planning. So much of it is about just sustaining your quarterback’s confidence. So much of it is giving them answers to what they’re gonna face on a weekly basis.

“And I think Sam Darnold had a lot of those answers last year in terms of, OK, what kind of blitzes am I gonna see? What are my answers? Who’s my star player? How do I work off my star player?”

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For the Vikings last year, that star player was Justin Jefferson – one of the best wide receivers in the league.

“There were so many moments last year for the Vikings where it wasn’t about, oh man, Justin Jefferson ran a crazy route and he got open and made a big play – although he does do that,” Barnwell said. “But it was about, OK, I know how the opposing team is going to defend Justin Jefferson. This is what opens up based off of that. This is what opens up based off of the manipulation I have of my wide receiver.”

While Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba isn’t quite at Jefferson’s superstar level, Barnwell anticipates he’ll be the focal point of Seattle’s offense this fall.

“He’s not Justin Jefferson, but it kind of has to be the same thing here, because we know when you’re looking at the Seahawks, that’s probably who the opposing defensive coordinators are looking to stop,” Barnwell said.

“And so, how are teams covering JSN? What does that open up for the rest of the offense? How does the run game impact here? How does the play-action game affect here? And then how do you sort of make all of that succinct and actually tangible for Sam on a weekly basis? There’s so much that goes into it.

“And I think Sam is capable,” Barnwell added. “… Sam can do it. We saw him do it last year. But again, can you give him those answers every week? And can you keep him confident and afloat week to week?”

Listen to the full conversation with Bill Barnwell at this link or in the audio player near the top of this story. Tune in to Bump and Stacy weekdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.

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