Seattle Seahawks 2025 Preview and Season Prediction

Published: Thursday, July 3, 2025

by Matthew Nazario

Ever since the departure of franchise quarterback Russell Wilson in 2022, the Seattle Seahawks have been floating around on what I like to call the “island of irrelevancy.” They have not been good enough to compete for a title or make a playoff run, but not bad enough to secure a high draft pick. 

Seattle has spent the last few years constantly being picked to finish last in the NFC West, falling flat after hot starts, and overall being treated like an afterthought by the NFL media as a whole outside of a few primetime games. 

Granted, the 12th man surely has had it better than most fanbases can say. They have won a Super Bowl within the past decade as well as only having one losing season over the past decade. However, the current iteration of the Seahawks felt like a shell of what once was one of the most dominant forces in the NFL during the Legion of Boom days.  

Evidently, management felt the same way and over the past three years, they have parted ways with Wilson, longtime beloved coach Pete Carroll, Wilson’s replacement in Geno Smith, and D.K. Metcalf.  Seattle has its sights set on a hopefully brighter, better future for the franchise. 

New Captain at the Helm, and One Interesting Backup 

After struggling to find his place in the NFL for the first few years of his career, Sam Darnold was able to flip the script and have without a doubt the greatest season of his career thus far with the Minnesota Vikings in 2024. Although his season ended with a blowout loss to the Rams during Wild Card Weekend, Darnold proved to be one of the best QBs in the league in 2024. 

He was fifth in both total passing yards and touchdowns, with 4319 yards and 35 touchdowns respectively. The Seahawks witnessed his talents and powerful arm firsthand in what was a crushing loss to the Vikings during Week 16 last season, where it was Darnold's heroics that led Minnesota to victory.  

His efforts rewarded him with a great payday and a fresh start, where he now can be the Seahawks long-term solution at the quarterback position.  

Interestingly, the Seahawks may have both their current and long-term solutions at QB already. Seattle took Jalen Milroe out of Alabama late in this year’s draft, a shocker in quite a few ways due to how far he fell in terms of rounds and that he will now be a Seahawk. 

While it is hard for me to see Darnold flaming out badly to the point of being benched, it will be interesting to see how Milroe develops or if he will get an opportunity of a lifetime sooner rather than later. 

An Offensive Reset 

Seattle will be running almost a brand-new offensive unit to kick off the 2025 season. There are some positives carried over from the previous season to watch out for, particularly Jaxon Smith-Njigba who is coming off a career year. In a year of firsts for the upstart receiver, he became a Pro Bowler for the first time as well as having his first 1000-yard season. 

Aside from Darnold, the newest man of the hour on offense is longtime Los Angeles Ram Cooper Kupp, who after nearly a decade with Los Angeles joins the division rival Seahawks. 

Seattle also splurged on a solid deep-ball threat in the form of Marquez Valdes-Scantling, whom despite the Saints' struggles last season, proved to be quite the dangerous threat going down the field. While at first glance this unit appears to be an interesting, yet uncertain mosh of talent, there is tremendous upside if they were to click very quickly. 

Of course, there are still a good amount of question marks surrounding this offense. It is no secret that Seattle has had endless struggles with their offensive line for years. Drafting Grey Zabel to help on the interior protection was a great first step, however the O-line is a bit concerning given the injury history of both Charles Cross and Abraham Lucas. 

It is even more concerning when considering how Darnold responds to poor pass protection. The offensive line situation from Minnesota to Seattle is vastly different, and fans should look to see if the linemen step up or will Darnold have to adjust on the fly. 

The improvement of line play will also be important in helping the run game of Kenneth Walker III and Zach Charbonnet, a facet of the offense which did not exactly hit the way it was supposed to in 2024. Walker has been held back by injury issues and it led to regression in his play last season. 

Mike Macdonald and an Improving Defense 

Mike Macdonald’s first season as Seattle’s head coach was an overall success. Minus a few disappointing losses and being the only 10-win team to not make the playoffs in 2024, the team seemed to gain newer identities on both ends of the field as the season progressed. 

The defense saw a new level of toughness that the unit had been missing for years. Macdonald impressed many as the defensive coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens in 2022 and 2023 and has helped to bring that energy and toughness over to Seattle. 

Seattle has had quite an underrated drafting catalog over the past few seasons which has, in turn, landed them great defensive prospects for the future. The draft picks acquired from the Broncos in the Russell Wilson trade helped them acquire both Boye Mafe and Devon Witherspoon, with Witherspoon making his first Pro Bowl this past season. 

The Seahawks latest defensive draftee, Nick Emmanwori of South Carolina, has drawn comparisons to the likes of Kam Chancellor for his aggressiveness, impressive physique and agility. 

Riq Woolen, another homegrown talent, had a bit of a rocky 2024 with many questions about his effort coming into question, but when he is at his best, Woolen can be a premier corner in the NFL especially when paired up with Witherspoon.  

The front office has also made some solid defensive additions via free agency the past two seasons with the likes of former Giants’ Julian Love and Leonard Williams, as well as this summer with the return of Shaquill Griffin and former Cowboy Demarcus Lawrence joining the Hawks. 

Similarly to the offense, the ceiling is incredibly high for this defensive unit despite the question marks. It will be interesting to see if the long struggling run defense of Seattle will finally see improvement. 

Season Prediction

The 2025 Seahawks have a lot to prove, and get many chances early on this season to do so. For example, Weeks 1 and 2 are quite the opportunity to make a name for themselves, as they host division rivals the San Francisco 49ers, and the following week travel to Pittsburgh to take on Aaron Rodgers, DK Metcalf, and the Steelers. 

Sam Darnold even gets the opportunity to battle his former team, the Minnesota Vikings, in Week 13. The NFC West contests will be closely contested as always, but the rest of their schedule is very much manageable. Playing the NFC and AFC south is a plus, as outside of Tampa Bay, Houston, and a budding Carolina team, the southern divisions are relatively weak.

I predict Seattle to finish 11-6 and clinch a Wild Card spot.  I feel as though Seattle will not be as bad as many media outlets make them out to be, and will be giving them a ceiling of 12 wins. If it is more of the same as we have seen the past 3 years, I think the floor would be around 7 or 8 wins. 

Seattle has had a tendency to start off hot, flame out mid season, make a small comeback and lose very winnable games over the past few years, so consistency will be the key to their long-term success in 2025.  The ingredients are there to create a force to be reckoned with in the NFC, but time will tell if Seattle soars, or crashes and burns.

Matt Nazario can be reached at matthew.nazario@student.shu.edu.

Posted in: sports,