Matt Calkins: Seahawks' Sam Darnold and Jaxon Smith-Njigba proving doubters wrong

Matt Calkins, The Seattle Times on Oct 3, 2025

Published in Football

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RENTON, Wash. — Oops.

Some of those columns questioning whether Sam Darnold was a capable successor to Geno Smith? Feel free to send them to FreezingColdTakes.com and let them take their jabs. The idea that Jaxon Smith-Njigba was going to struggle without DK Metcalf drawing away defenders? That was my drunken ghostwriter.

If the Seahawks (3-1) were going to be successful this season, it was going to be due to a dominant defense picking up the offense's slack. And though that "D" has indeed been dominant, it's also been supplemented by an elite quarterback-receiver tandem.

At least through four games it has been.

Perhaps it's a bit premature to tag the Darnold-JSN duo with the "elite" label. Narratives change in a hurry, evidenced by last season's Seahawks going from 3-0 to 4-5 in less than two months. But as it stands, Pro Football Focus ranks Darnold as the No. 3 quarterback in the NFL (behind Marcus Mariota and Matthew Stafford) and JSN as the second-best receiver (behind Puka Nacua). Anyone who's been watching this pair knows that the eye test supports the analytics.

Through four games, Darnold has completed 70 of 100 passes for 905 yards, five touchdowns and two interceptions. His 9.1 yards per attempt are tied with Lamar Jackson for tops in the NFL, and his passer rating of 106.5 is sixth. Essentially, the signal caller who played like a legitimate star through his first 15 games as a Viking last season is back to his 2024 self.

Seahawks receiver Cooper Kupp isn't surprised. Two weeks ago he dismissed the idea that Darnold struggled under pressure, saying that if anyone went back and watched the final two games of the regular season, there were myriad factors for why Minnesota struggled offensively. And on Wednesday he praised his QB's ability to bounce back from years of various mishaps.

"The scarring that can happen with quarterbacks through a career of playing football, you start to feel like the throws, things go wrong, plays go wrong, protections, whatever it is, you start to lose trust in certain things," Kupp said. "But his ability just to stay mentally strong enough and have the fortitude to be able to say, ‘I can trust in who I am as a player.’ Trust in the guys that we have on this team and being able to continue to play at a high level, even when he's got all these other experiences that didn't turn out positively for him, that's a very impressive thing.

This season, Darnold has thrived in pressure situations. And his No. 1 receiver has been a major reason.

With 1:34 left in the game and his team down 17-13 to San Francisco in Week 1, Darnold hit Smith-Njigba for an 11-yard completion on the opening play of the possession, and then on a 40-yard completion to the Niners' 14-yard line two plays later. A fumble negated the drive, but Seattle had a chance to win.

A week later, Darnold helped lead the Seahawks back from a 14-7 halftime deficit vs. the Steelers, when JSN had 103 yards on eight completions in a 31-17 win.

And of course there was last Thursday in Arizona, when Darnold hit Smith-Njigba on a 22-yard pass to the Cardinals' 38 with 18 seconds left, setting up Jason Myers' game-winning field goal one play later.

I was among those concerned that trading away Smith and Metcalf would rob the Seahawks of their offensive explosiveness — that it was likely a QB downgrade mixed with a receiver who might struggle as the clear No. 1. And though we're only four games in, that hasn't been the case. Not even a little bit.

JSN's 402 yards are second in the NFL (behind Nacua's 503) and 65 yards better than third place. The Seahawks defense — which is tied for second in the league in fewest points allowed — is still the driving force of this team, but it's hardly dragging this offense along.

On Wednesday, Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald downplayed the specific connection between Darnold and Smith-Njigba, saying that while JSN is getting the bulk of the targets now, Sam is building chemistry with everybody on offense.

It's true that there are other options. But the Seahawks aren't where they are right now without the aforementioned tandem.

There is still plenty of season left, and lots that can go wrong along the way. But the passing attack hasn't been a problem — it's only been a plus.