Field Gulls
We’re entering the second part of the 2025 Seattle Seahawks regular season, having raced out to an impressive 5-2 start before their Week 8 bye. One of the biggest developments for Seattle has been the performance of the passing offense, which ranks No. 2 in FTN’s DVOA and is tearing up the entire NFL with explosive plays. Sam Darnold and Jaxon Smith-Njigba have been the league’s best quarterback-wide receiver combo, but we have seen the likes of Cooper Kupp, Elijah Arroyo, Tory Horton, and A.J. Barner get in on the explosive play fun.
And yet, there’s room for improvement. The offense would probably disintegrate without JSN, as no one else on the Seahawks is anywhere close to his efficiency or target share. He has almost half of all team receptions, almost half of all first downs gained via pass, and has double the targets of the second-most targeted player on the team (Cooper Kupp). For the most part, Kupp has played his role well but we know he’s not 2021 Kupp and we shouldn’t expect as such. Tory Horton is a very promising rookie but he also hasn’t caught a pass over the last two games. Seattle doesn’t run a lot of 4-WR or 5-WR sets and therefore the likes of Jake Bobo and Dareke Young hardly ever see the ball. There has been success getting the ball to tight end A.J. Barner and the team is slowly incorporating Elijah Arroyo into the offense, but it’s not exactly high volume.
Do you believe the Seahawks could do with adding another offensive weapon? Wide receiver would be implied, but perhaps you’re unsatisfied with the running back room and want more or different running back help. The interesting thing to consider with wide receiver is what happens to the non-JSN/non-Kupp options. Does that mean fewer targets for Tory Horton? Is Jake Bobo on the bubble given he’s on a drastically reduced offensive and special teams snap count from 2024? Dareke Young could be on injured reserve soon, so there may be a spot opening up anyway. All things to consider, but especially for the passing offense and trying not to live and die off of the Sam to JSN combo. Rashid Shaheed and Chris Olave of the New Orleans Saints could be possible WR options, but the Saints may not be willing to part that easily.
Of course, I’m sure the greater push would be for a right guard to start in place of Anthony Bradford.
As is standard for the last Wednesday of every month, The Seahawks Syndicate podcast teams up yours truly, as well as Bryce Coutts (The Hawk’s Eye podcast and Field Gulls staff), Dan Viens (Seahawks Forever podcast and former Field Gulls podcast host), and Brandon Cain (The Hawk’s Nest podcast) to talk all things Seahawks. This is our midseason roundtable special and we have way more topics to cover than the merits of Seattle adding more offensive skill position players.
