2025 Fantasy Football: Seattle Seahawks Team Preview

The Seahawks were mediocre statistically last year, ranking 14th in pass yards per play, 17th in rush yards per play, 18th in points per game, 21st on 3rd downs, 24th in interception rate, 24th in sacks per pass attempt and 28th in goal-to-go.  Now, they’ve switched out Geno Smith for Sam Darnold and have hired Klint Kubiak to be their 3rd offensive coordinator in 3 years.  

Offensively, the Vikings with Darnold and the Saints with Kubiak as OC in 2024 were both mediocre as well with the exception of 2 areas.  Darnold and the Vikings ranked 7th in the NFL in yards per pass play, while the Saints offense with Kubiak ranked 1st in goal-to-go.

 

QB:  Sam Darnold

It’s odd that the Seahawks opted to move on from Geno Smith for Sam Darnold, who is basically the next Geno Smith.  After a career of sub-par play, Smith broke out with the Seahawks in 2022 with 4,300 passing yards and 30 TDs / 11 INTs.

Last year, Darnold broke out with the Vikings with 4,300 passing yards 35 TDs / 12 INTs.  Smith followed his breakout year by averaging the following 2 seasons 4,000 passing yards with 21 TDs / 12 INTs.  Darnold could easily follow suit.

 

RB:  Kenneth Walker III

Since his stellar rookie season in 2022, Walker has seen his yards per carry continue to drop year-over-year.  In 2022, he averaged 4.6 ypc before seeing it go down to 4.1 in 2023, followed by 3.7 last year.  He’s also struggled to stay on the field with 2 missed games in each of his first 2 seasons before missing 6 games last year.  

Despite the drop in carries each year, he has managed to rush for at least 7 TDs every year and he finished with the most receptions for his career in 2024 with 46 for 299 yards in just 11 games.  Last year, Walker had 6 of his 7 rushing TDs in his first 5 games he played in.  

 

RB:  Zach Charbonnet

Despite only seeing 27 more carries than in his rookie season in 2023, Charbonnet’s rushing TDs went up from 1 to 8.  He made the most of Walker’s missed time.  In the first 4 games that Walker was out of in 2024, Charbonnet ran for 6 of his 8 TDs. 

Charbonnet continued to be a factor in the passing game as well.  A year after catching 40 targets for 33 receptions and 209 yards, he bested it with 42 receptions for 340 yards and 1 TD.   

 

WR:  Jaxon Smith-Njigba

In his 2nd NFL season, Smith-Njigba became the #1 option for the Seahawks.  He led the team in targets (137), receptions (100), receiving yards (1,130) and receiving TDs (6).  There’s room for even more targets in 2025 with DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett being replaced with Cooper Kupp.

Metcalf spent the first half of the season receiving more targets than Smith-Njigba before returning after missing 2 games to become the 2nd option to Smith-Njigba.  The 182 targets that Metcalf and Lockett saw in 2024 will predominantly be split between Smith-Njigba and Kupp. 

 

WR:  Cooper Kupp

In 2021, Kupp was one of the best receivers in the league.  He had a monster season in which he was targeted 191 times, catching 145 passes for 1,947 yards and 16 TDs. As is usually the case, when athletes receive unusual usage, they pay the price for the toll on their bodies in the years to follow.

Kupp missed 8 games in 2022, 5 in 2023, and 5 more last season.  Now, he’s 32 years old and has missed 18 of his last 51 regular-season games.  His catch rate has dropped to an average of 65 % over the last 2 seasons after averaging 76% over the 3 years prior.

 

WR:  Marquez Valdes-Scantling

Valdes-Scantling joins his 5th team in the last 5 years for 2025.  He’s a big-play threat that has had a few good years but they were while playing with Aaron Rodgers and Patrick Mahomes, 2 of the best that the game has ever seen.  He has a catch rate for his career that’s sub-50% as he’s a low percentage, big-play threat.

 

WR:  Tory Horton

Horton missed most of last season after putting up back-to-back 1,100 yards, 8 TD seasons at Colorado State.  At 6’3 and 186 pounds, he’s a wiry, elusive underneath option with 4.41 speed.  He’s a high-percentage target within 10 yards that can be dangerous on drags, screens, etc as he stops on a dime and can make the first defender miss after catches to create YAC.

 

TE:  AJ Barner

Only Smith-Njiba (6) and Metcalf (5) caught more TD passes than AJ Barner did in his rookie season (4), with 3 of them coming in his last 6 games.  Barner steps into the starter role with the release of Noah Fant.  

 

TE:  Elijah Arroyo

The Seahawks drafted Arroyo in the 2nd round at tight end.  Arroyo had 1 year of production in college due to injuries.  He’ll need to stay healthy but there’s ample opportunity to produce in the Seahawks offense that lacks proven receiving threats behind Smith-Njigba and Kupp.  Even with Barner ahead of him at tight end, Seattle could utilize a lot of 12-personnel (1 RB, 2 TEs) to get Arroyo more reps.

 

BREAKOUT PLAYER:  Zach Charbonnet

Charbonnet has been consistent over his first 2 seasons as a rusher and receiving option and most importantly he’s been available for 33 of 34 games.  Walker’s efficiency has dropped yearly as a rusher.  Charbonnet will see 200+ carries and 60 receptions in 2025.  He’ll finish with 1,200 total yards and double-digit total TDs.

 

BUST:  Sam  Darnold

Darnold had a great season with almost a 3-to-1 TD-to-INT ratio in 2024.  While he has talented receivers with the Seahawks, he doesn’t have Justin Jefferson.  In all 5 seasons in which Darnold has started 11 or more games, he’s thrown at least 11 INTs while averaging 13 INTs over those years.  He’ll fail to reach 4,000 passing yards and 23 TDs but will throw 13+ INTs.

 

SLEEPER:  Tory Horton

After Smith-Njigba and Kupp, the receiver room is light in talent.  Horton slots in perfectly as a high-percentage target on passes “10 and within”.  He’ll make a living as a rookie catching screens and drag routes and then looking to immediately make the first man miss and accelerate for big gasher types of plays that don’t put much stress on the QB.

 

BOLD PREDICTION:  AJ Barner

Seattle drafted Arroyo in the 2nd round of the 2025 draft a year after taking Barner in the 4th round.  Now the pair sit 1 and 2 at the top of the tight end depth chart following Fant’s release.  Barner will be the starter after showing so well as a rookie.

Only Smith-Njigba (6) and Metcalf (5) had more TDs than Barner’s 4 last year.  Barner did so on 70 less targets than Metcalf and almost 100 less than Smith-Njigba.  Metcalf, Lockett and Fant totaled almost 250 targets in 2024 and none remain in Seattle.  Mark Andrews was the only TE in 2024 with more than 8 TDs, Barner will surpass 8 receiving TDs in 2025.