He showed that against the Seahawks last December, when he delivered one of the more memorable moments<\/a> 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\u00a0comeback victory.<\/p>\n But when is Darnold at his best? According to NFL Network\u2019s Daniel Jeremiah<\/a>, it\u2019s when Darnold is getting the ball out quickly in a rhythm-based offense.<\/p>\n \u201cYou 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,\u201d Jeremiah said Wednesday on Seattle Sports\u2019 Brock and Salk. \u201cBut I think Sam is at his best when he\u2019s 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\u2019s when he\u2019s at his best.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd 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\u2019s a good athlete. But I don\u2019t think that\u2019s when he\u2019s at his best.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n 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<\/a>.<\/p>\n But when Darnold did get the ball out quickly last season, he was among the NFL\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n However, that was in Minnesota, where Darnold had the benefit of an elite receiving duo in Jefferson and Jordan Addison. Is the Seahawks\u2019 new-look receiving corps \u2013 led by Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Cooper Kupp \u2013 capable of consistently giving Darnold quick, open, in-rhythm targets?<\/p>\n Jeremiah said he\u2019s \u201ccurious\u201d to see how it all comes together in new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak\u2019s scheme, but that ultimately both Smith-Njigba and Kupp can do that.<\/p>\n \u201cBoth those guys can win early,\u201d Jeremiah said. \u201cThey have the quickness to win early to be able to give you on-time throws.\u201d<\/p>\n Listen to the full conversation with NFL Network\u2019s Daniel Jeremiah\u00a0at this link<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n Seattle Seahawks news and analysis<\/p>\n \u2022 How DeMarcus Lawrence is already making impact with Seattle Seahawks<\/a>
\u2022 Rost: Why interview with Seattle Seahawks WR Cooper Kupp went viral<\/a>
\u2022\u00a0Wyman: How Seattle Seahawks\u2019 new offense puts stress on linebackers<\/a>
\u2022\u00a0Don\u2019t be surprised if RB is Seattle Seahawks\u2019 best-ranked position group<\/a>
\u2022\u00a05 takeaways from Seattle Seahawks\u2019 OTA and minicamp practices<\/a><\/p>\n
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