If the Seahawks draft a quarterback in the first two rounds, John Schneider will have made the biggest contradiction of his entire career to date this offseason. Not only because the GM has committed $65 million to Sam Darnold over the next two seasons (Seattle can release Darnold in 2026, but not without a significant financial penalty) but also by the fact that Schneider has now put a label on why so many quarterbacks fail in the NFL:
They don’t get enough reps and they don’t feel wanted by the organization.
If the Seahawks draft a quarterback in the first round, and even in the second round, it sends a direct message to Darnold that Seattle only sees him as a bridge quarterback. Though that didn’t seem to hurt Darnold in Minnesota last year after the Vikings drafted J.J. McCarthy, picking Jaxson Dart, Shedeur Sanders, or Tyler Shough next month would send a clear message — “this is going to be a competition sooner or later” — that is directly opposed to Schneider’s own philsophy on getting the most out of each quarterback.
In an interview with ESPN’s Mike Tannenbaum on Wednesday, Schneider and Bucs GM Jason Licht were asked a series of questions about the job of general manager. The one that stood out to me, because I think there is no other mission as important as quarterback hunting (I’ll get to that later) was Tannenbaum’s question about why so many quarterbacks fail in the NFL. A number that Schneider estimated was at least 80%.
“In my opinion, the reps. Guys need opportunities and they need the reps to be able to play and not be jumping around to different systems, different quarterback coaches. That’s hard. They’re basically learning a different language. Those guys are special. To sit in those meetings and watch what they’re learning? Pretty hard.”
Then Licht said that one of the reason Baker Mayfield has succeeded with Tampa Bay over other teams (including the Panthers, when he was teammates with Darnold), was that he felt like he was wanted there. To which Schneider emphatically agrees, “Yes!”
“There’s a psychological advantage to that, when they feel like they’re at a place where they’re wanted,” said Licht.
Then Schneider added, “And you have to evaluate the person that’s working with him too. Okay, are the (coaches) buying in?”
If the Seahawks draft Dart in the first round, or even Shough in the second round (despite a low rate of return, second round QBs are also usually treated like future starters), it does not send the message to Darnold that Seattle is fully committed to him as the starter. It does keep him looking over his shoulder for the entire season.
You may recall that at the end of last season, there were boos for Darnold and calls to make a change at quarterback in the playoffs if Darnold didn’t snap out of his “funk”…which was essentially one horrible start against the Lions to lose the NFC North title in Week 18 and then a poor start in Minnesota’s wild card loss to the Rams:
What are fans going to say in TRAINING CAMP if the Seahawks draft Dart and then Darnold has a few bad practices?
Adding a significant quarterback prospect to the roster between now and then would be the opposite of Schneider “buying in” to Sam Darnold.
Seaside Joe tries to avoid absolute definitive predictions, but the odds of the Seahawks taking a quarerback in the top-80 seems to be less than 5%.
Even a third round quarterback might only be compared to Russell Wilson.
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