The Seahawks traded Geno Smith—reuniting him with Pete Carroll in Las Vegas—and not long after signed Sam Darnold to a three-year deal. The decision to move on from Smith was not a popular one with many NFL pundits, and the decision to bring Darnold in was met with skepticism, too. The third-overall pick of the 2018 draft was an afterthought after flailing with the Jets and a cup of coffee with the Panthers, and while he was outstanding in his one year with the Vikings, his final two games were disasters and reminiscent of the “seeing ghosts” meme that followed Darnold from city to city.

Well, Smith was atrocious in Las Vegas, and Darnold, who is also significantly younger, has proven to be a significant upgrade for the Seahawks. Yes, there was the four-interception game against the Rams that made the “can he win a big game” cries louder than the Kingdome in 1995, and his 25/14 touchdown-to-interception ratio isn’t close to elite. But none of that speaks to how well Darnold has played in 2025, especially in the second half and overtime of the rematch with Los Angeles, and the job he did avoiding mistakes in the must-win game against San Francisco to close out the year. Even with a group of weapons that doesn’t terrify anyone on paper outside of one player we’ll talk about, Darnold has been much more of an asset than a detriment, and he’s three wins away from shutting up an awful, awful lot of people.

Mike Macdonald is boring. His press conferences are knowingly dry and the man loves a cliché. In other words, this is not Carroll convincing you to run through a brick wall while talking about his practice squad. Despite being decades younger than Carroll, Macdonald gives off some of the most old-school vibes in the league, and that’s before you see his team play an exceptionally conservative brand of football. Nobody went for it on fourth down less than Seattle did in 2025 with just 12 attempts. But like Carroll, Macdonald has a steadfast belief that what he’s doing is right. It’s more of a vanilla ice cream flavored belief than Carroll’s Neapolitan.

But boy does it work. Viewed as a defensive mastermind before joining Seattle, the former Ravens’ defensive coordinator has helped transform the Seahawks into a juggernaut on that side of the ball—bringing to mind the Legion of Boom era. And anyone who has watched the Hawks play in 2025 can understand why players seem to love playing for him. It’s not a lot of yelling, the sideline antics won’t remind anyone of Lou Piniella, but there’s a clear respect Macdonald has built from his players. Media members and fans may not want to run through that wall. It seems like the players would do it in a heartbeat.

Macdonald is boring, but it's exciting boring, if such a thing is possible.

Jaxon Smith-Njigba was a first-round pick in 2023. He put together a solid if unspectacular rookie season, and then put together a 100-catch season in his sophomore campaign. And while those numbers are nothing to sneeze at, there was something that wasn’t quite there. That century's worth of receptions led to “only” 1,130 yards and six touchdowns. There was too much dink and not enough dunk in the production.

Oh, how that has changed. With DK Metcalf out of the picture, the man they call JSN set Seahawks records with 119 receptions and 1,793 yards while scoring 10 touchdowns; a figure that equaled his total over his first two seasons. Some of the credit has to go to Smith-Njigba as a third-year player who has improved his route-running and explosiveness each season. Some of it goes to Darnold for taking more chances with the wideout down the field. But much of this credit should go to Klint Kubiak, the new offensive coordinator who figured out that Smith-Njigba is so much more than a short-to-intermediate route target. There are five players who made the prestigious All-Pro team on Seattle’s roster, but he was the only first-teamer, and it’d be pretty easy to argue that his development into a superstar is as big of reason as any that the Seahawks are so close to hanging another banner.

We could keep going. General Manager John Schneider has done his most effective roster building since the Seahawks made back-to-back Super Bowls. DeMarcus Lawrence is one of the best free-agent signings in Seattle sports history. Nick Emmanwori has already made the Kam Chancellor comparisons look prophetic. Grey Zabel has been as good as anticipated on the offensive line. Leonard Williams is maybe the most underrated "star" in the sport. Anthony Bradford’s highlight tape is equal parts frustrating, hilarious and impressive.