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# Seahawks Minicamp Takeaways: Sam Darnold Shows Unexpected Fire, Line Competition Gets New Wrinkles
- URL: https://www.emeraldcityspectrum.com/seahawks-minicamp-takeaways-sam-darnold-offensive-line-competition/
- Published: 2025-06-11T01:09:11.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-08T06:20:01.000Z
- Author: Corbin Smith
- Tags: Analysis, Seahawks, Sam Darnold, Cooper Kupp, Mike Macdonald, Cody White, D'Anthony Bell, Shemar Jean-Charles

\[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="2674"\]

![  Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold prepares to throw during a drill at a mandatory minicamp practice. Credit: Corbin Smith/Emerald City Spectrum  ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1d/f2/1df2f77b-83dd-4bc0-a6d2-6d1bb5df89a3/content/images/2026/10/img_4801-jpg-format-original-2.jpg)

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold prepares to throw during a drill at a mandatory minicamp practice. Credit: Corbin Smith/Emerald City Spectrum \[/caption\]

RENTON, Wash. - As Mike Macdonald made sure to note in his post-practice commentary on Tuesday, the real bullets have yet to start flying for the Seattle Seahawks with training camp still nearly two months away.

However, even without tackling or physicality on the menu in mid June, Macdonald has loved what he has seen from Seattle during the three phases of the offseason program, to the point where he decided to cancel the third practice of mandatory minicamp, ready to send his team off for summer break on Wednesday instead of Thursday as a reward for their efforts.

“Guys are on it. Just the spirit of practice is right where we need it this time of year,” Macdonald opened. “Got another great opportunity tomorrow to stack another one and then off we go, but to make sure we take advantage of the time we've been given now. The guys are doing that. So just really pleased with effort, attitude, intent, spirit. A lot of stuff to work on. We have a long journey ahead of us, but for right now just really excited about the effort, enthusiasm of the team, and it's a fun group to work with.”

What went down at the VMAC in the first of two mandatory minicamp practices? Here are five takeaways from Tuesday’s session:

### 1\. Don’t let the innocent smile fool you: There’s “some s—-” to Sam Darnold.

From first glance, typically seen on the practice field with a smile on his face and laid back body language, Darnold doesn’t fit the archetype of a trash talker. And he certainly doesn’t have the appearance or the demeanor of a player who would bring a fiery streak with him to the field, as those characteristics don’t come out when he’s speaking with media.

But looks can be deceiving, and as Macdonald learned first hand in a losing effort against the quarterback last December when he steered the Vikings to a win at Lumen Field, the Seahawks felt that intensity on the field before signing him in March. That competitive drive has been further evident since he arrived for the offseason program, bringing spirit and accountability to the huddle.

“The thing you love about Sam is he's just dude, man,” Macdonald said. “There's a sense he's one of the guys, so he’s right there with them and all the things. But there's some s—- to him, like don't mess with him. He's got that edge to him, that competitiveness, and the guys respect that. But he's him. He's not trying to be anybody else, and you got to respect that about him.”

With a more playful description of Darnold’s personality after going against him during OTAs and now in minicamp, safety Julian Love characterized his new quarterback’s trash talking as “dad jokes,” unexpectedly bringing the heat a bit to go toe to toe with the likes of Devon Witherspoon on the other side of the ball between the lines at the VMAC. The ability to not only deal with the chatter from a prideful defense but also fire it back as well has earned the respect of everyone in the locker room, with an example coming after a 45-yard touchdown pass to Cody White during 7-on-7 on Tuesday.

“Sam kind of has some of that little swag to him and he has ability, and so he's making us better,” Love said after practice on Tuesday. “He's not a square type of guy. He's cool with dishing it back a bit.”

As for a few other things that his new teammates have learned about the veteran signal caller during the course of the offseason program, receiver Cooper Kupp indicated that, unlike most quarterbacks, Darnold struggles with his golf game. This shouldn’t come across as a news flash considering the player himself partook in self-deprecation during OTAs when describing his game on the green.

More amusingly, per Kupp, Darnold apparently doesn’t have the most sophisticated tastes in terms of dining out, as the wideout cited his “childish taste like palette” that remains a work in progress. But if there’s a plus side, the wideout appreciates the effort so far from his new teammate to try to expand his horizons, so there may be hope on that front just yet.

“The recommendations, kind of the way it came off was like he wanted to go get some fries and chicken strips. And I was like, look, I have a six year old. I can bring you his food. I can bring that and I'll go eat something good. But it ended up being fine. He ventured out and he was at least willing to try some stuff. And it seems like I may have misread him. We'll see. Time will tell.”

### 2\. Competition along the interior offensive line presents a few new alternatives.

During three open OTA practices a week earlier, the Seahawks rotated Christian Haynes and Anthony Bradford with the first team offense at right guard and Olu Oluwatimi and Jalen Sundell took all of the reps at center. However, while the team didn’t rotate in any other players at those two spots with the first offense on Tuesday, they began to experiment a bit more from a versatility standpoint moving players around, opening the door for a few other possibilities as they aim to assemble their best starting five for the start of the season.

Both Haynes and Bradford received extensive reps with the first team offense, but in the case of Haynes, the Seahawks slid him to the pivot position, where he took an entire series during 11-on-11 with the starters. This marked the second time during open practices that the team has taken an extended look at the former third round pick at center, which Macdonald believes should only further bolster the competitions taking place in the interior.

“We're mixing and matching right now. It's a lot of great competition, and Christian has shown the ability to snap, so we've given him some opportunities to do so,” Macdonald explained.

Along with Haynes playing significant snaps at center, Sundell showed off his versatility as well, moving to right guard for a handful of plays with the first-team offense in addition to logging several series at center during team drills. Having previously played four of the five offensive line spots at North Dakota State, Seattle clearly has interest in taking a look at him at multiple spots, meaning there could now be three viable options battling to start at both right guard and center heading towards the start of training camp in July.

### 3\. Defense picks up where it left off with a different “launching point.”

It’s been more than six months since the Seahawks last played in a game, and as defensive coordinator Aden Durde acknowledged during OTAs, that means the team had to go back to square one gearing up for the upcoming season. But after finishing among the top five scoring defenses in the NFL in the final nine games, with 13 of the 14 players who logged the most snaps from a year ago returning, it shouldn’t be a surprise that the unit has hit the ground running in year two of the Macdonald era and has been able to get back up to speed in rapid fashion.

From the outset of OTAs, Love felt like Seattle hadn’t missed a beat since January, as a defense loaded with established veteran leaders came out firing on all cylinders from an energy and preparation perspective, eager to build off of their strong finish that came up just short of a playoff berth. Unlike last season where they were going through the motions to an extent trying to learn a complex playbook, they are playing much faster and understanding the intricacies of the system far better, which should be expected in the second season under a head coach.

When asked what stands out as different compared to a year ago, Love indicated that it simply boils down to starting at a much different “launching point” with so many returning players and coaches.

“I think last year, obviously there's so much to figure out and it takes a while,” Love responded. “We just started on a whole kind of different level and we just know how each other works. I think the camaraderie and the chemistry is just heightened and so now that kind of standard is high from the jump.”

Typically, defenses already find themselves ahead of offenses this time of year, especially for a team like the Seahawks breaking in a new coordinator and starting quarterback. Nonetheless, that doesn’t take away from the unit’s stellar play on Tuesday when they only yielded one touchdown during 11-on-11 team sessions, including none to the first-team offense. Highlighting that success, Riq Woolen swatted away a potential score in the end zone to Marques Valdes-Scantling and Nehemiah Pritchett knocked away a nice fade throw from Darnold against White, showcasing just how much further ahead they are from this time last year in comparison.

### 4\. Newcomers in the secondary continue to enjoy positive initial returns.

Without tackling or contact allowed in minicamp practices, it can be difficult for defensive linemen or linebackers to stand out this time of year. As a result, not surprisingly, the Seahawks have been led by their talented, vocal defensive backfield during the final phase of the offseason program, and it hasn’t simply been returning starters such as Love, Woolen, or Witherspoon either.

On the veteran front, cornerback Shemar Jean-Charles, who signed with the team as a free agent in March, reeled in an interception during 7-on-7 when Drew Lock overthrew tight end Noah Fant on an out route, finding himself in the right place at the right time to take advantage of an errant pass. The fifth-year pro has consistently been noticeable during the offseason program, recording a pick and two pass breakups last week in OTAs before recording his latest interception on Tuesday afternoon.

Between Jean-Charles and safety D’Anthony Bell, who has also been a standout during offseason workouts and had an interception and pass breakup last week, the Seahawks have further reinforced one of the team’s biggest strengths, bringing on two players who not only will be assets on special teams but also have enough talent and positional flexibility to carve out situational roles in dime and nickel packages.

“There's some familiarity with our staff and pro personnel department that brought those guys in,” Macdonald said of Jean-Charles and Bell. “It's an understanding about the type of people we want to bring into our building and onto our team, and they've shown that. Just the work ethic. It's a different system than they're used to playing, but frankly, the special teams ability is the tip of the spear, so I'm excited to see what they do when they get their shot in the preseason.”

Impossible not to notice skying above all of his defensive back peers at 6-3, 220 pounds, rookie Nick Emmanwori also continued to impress moving all over the formation in a variety of roles. Along with blitzing on a few occasions from the slot, he dropped back into coverage in a team situational red zone drill and forced Darnold to throw a pass over the middle into the ground with nobody open, demonstrating how his size and length can promptly erase passing windows.

### 5\. The battle for roster spots at receiver may wind up being the fiercest on the team.

With quarterback maybe being the lone exception, no position has undergone more dramatic changes for the Seahawks this offseason than receiver with the team trading away DK Metcalf, releasing Tyler Lockett, and signing Kupp and Valdes-Scantling to help compensate for that lost production. Additionally, the front office invested not one, but two draft picks on Tory Horton and Ricky White III, initiating a close to full-scale revamp to the receiving corps.

Time will tell whether Seattle can truly replace Metcalf and Lockett’s contributions on the field, but from a depth perspective, offseason workouts have shown that there shouldn’t be any questions about the talent still in the group. With Jaxon Smith-Njigba ready to take over as the true No. 1 target and Kupp and Valdes-Scantling cemented as second and third receivers, there won’t be drama with those three players, but behind them, as many as five or six players have thrown their helmet in the ring for what could amount to two or three roster spots in September.

On Tuesday, White stood out as the star of the show, as the former Michigan State standout came open after Darnold executed a pump fake in the pocket on a fade route and the quarterback hit him in stride for a 45-yard score in 7-on-7\. He later added the only offensive touchdown scored all day during 11-on-11 drills, creating quick separation on a crossing route with Lock hitting him in stride for six points. Meanwhile, undrafted rookie Tyrone Broden hauled in a 45-yard score from Jalen Milroe in skelly drills, continuing to make the most of his opportunities.

So far, Kupp has been blown away by the depth that Seattle has within the receiving corps, in particular raving about the unselfishness of the group handling all of the crucial dirty work that comes with Kubiak’s offense.

“I think one of the coolest things is just the willingness for all of the guys to say there's nothing in this offense that you want to be kept from,” Kupp explained. “Everyone wants to be able to do everything. That's a big deal when you have guys that are willing to play every position, learn every position, understand the intent of the play, and to be able to say, no matter where I'm at, I'm going to be able to block D-ends, I'm going to be willing to block linebackers, run every level of route. It makes it fun.”

Catching passes against Seattle’s formidable secondary will be much tougher when the pads come on in August and they have to deal with physical press coverage as well as contested targets. But if the past few weeks have shown anything, the Seahawks’ coaching staff could have some difficult decisions to make come late August with so many capable wideouts who offer rock solid all-around skill sets and special teams capabilities, especially once Horton returns to full action coming off a knee injury.