Super Bowl 60 Player Notes: Seattle Seahawks

The week before the Super Bowl is always packed with information, analysis, and opinion, as the entirety of the NFL community hones in on one single game. So I’ve compiled some particularly relevant notes and nuggets, covering just about every mildly relevant fantasy player on each team. This piece covers the Seattle Seahawks and you can find the New England Patriots collection here.

If you’re into the numbers, don’t miss Aaron Schatz’s legendary content and our StatsHub advanced stats research tool for next-level insights.

Enjoy and Happy Super Bowl LX!

Seattle Seahawks Player Notes

Sam Darnold, QB

Sam Darnold didn’t have to do much in the Divisional Round against the Niners — though he was still efficient — but then dropped one of the best games of his entire career against the Rams in the NFC Championship (26.74 fantasy points). This has been the story with the Seahawks QB all season: He’s scored 20-plus fantasy points five times but finished in single digits eight.

• Darnold has only faced a top-10 pass defense three times this year — the Saints in Week 3, Texans in Week 7 and Vikings in Week 13 — and he scored 16.72, 8.62 and 3.12 fantasy points in those three games (for an average of 9.50). The Patriots were the No. 9 pass defense in the regular season and have held Justin Herbert, C.J. Stroud and Jarrett Stidham (partially in the snow) to a total of 23.26 fantasy points through the playoffs.
• Darnold struggled significantly against pressure during the regular season, with a 69.4 passer rating, six TDs, six INTs and an awful -0.58 EPA/dropback (fifth worst among qualified passers). However, in two playoff contests, he’s already thrown four TDs (with no INTs) against pressure, posting a 108.6 passer rating and a 0.49-point boost to his EPA/dropback. If that holds against the Pats, he’ll be hard to stop in the Super Bowl.
• Much like Drake Maye, Darnold has been lights out on the deep ball this year, with a league-high 18.9 yards per attempt, a 51% completion rate and success rate, a 119.9 passer rating, and 0.87 EPA/dropback … all of which rank top three among qualified passers including the playoffs.
• As is often the case, the biggest fulcrum of success for Darnold and the ‘Hawks will likely be protecting the football. In the eight games he hasn’t turned the ball over in 2025, including the playoffs, Seattle is 8-0 with a +103 point differential — and if you extend back to his year in Minnesota, Darnold is 13-2 with a +122 point differential. But in his three losses this year, Darnold has six giveaways, including the four-interception dud against the Rams in Week 11.

Kenneth Walker III, RB

Perhaps the two hottest running backs over the last month and a half are Rhamondre Stevenson — detailed in the Patriots article — and Kenneth Walker III. In his last five games (since Week 16), Walker has averaged 122 scrimmage yards per game, with 6.4 yards per touch. And he’s now responsible for carrying the entire backfield with Zach Charbonnet out.

• Walker has posted his three highest single-game fantasy performances of the season over his last five contests — 21.1 in the NFC Championship, 25.4 in Week 16, 35.5 in the Divisional Round. He’s averaged 21.4 points per game over that span, more than doubling his average of 10.1 PPG through the first 15 weeks.
• In those five games since Week 16, Walker has logged 16 explosive plays from scrimmage (second only to Stevenson) and 337 rushing yards after contact (second only to Derrick Henry). He’s also scored more TDs in those five outings (five) than he did the entire rest of the season (four).
• Notably, the Patriots run defense has allowed just 3.8 yards per carry on inside runs, including the playoffs (fifth best in the NFL), while Walker has averaged an absurd 7.2 yards per carry inside the tackles since Week 16. It’s a clash of red-hot running back with wrecking-ball run defense.

Jaxon Smith-Njigba, WR

Like his quarterback, Jaxon Smith-Njigba didn’t need to do much in the Divisional Round (three catches for 19 yards), but he still managed to catch a touchdown. Then he went bonkers in the NFC Championship, with 10 catches for 153 yards and another score. He’s scored at least 16 fantasy points in an absurd 15 games this year and at least 20 in 11, including the playoffs, and he has been arguably the most consistent player at his position in all of fantasy.

• The only games JSN has not hit at least five targets, four catches and 70 yards were the 26-0 shutout of the Vikings in Week 13 and the 41-6 trouncing of the 49ers two weeks ago. So unless Seattle wins the Super Bowl by 25-plus points, Smith-Njigba will almost certainly have a double-digit fantasy floor. In fact, in the 10 games Seattle has won or lost by a single possession this year, Smith-Njigba has scored 18+ fantasy points nine times and averaged 24.7 PPR points per game.
• Smith-Njigba has run routes from the left side of the formation at a slightly higher rate this year but has been largely balanced (and has also run 23.3% of routes from the slot). Christian Gonzalez has lined up at right cornerback on 71.8% of outside snaps, a departure from a more balanced first couple NFL seasons. As such, he’s matched up with the opposing team’s top-targeted receiver on just 26.0% of coverage matchups, a career low. Unless Mike Vrabel changes things significantly, don’t expect Gonzalez to shadow JSN in the Super Bowl.
• Smith-Njigba led the entire NFL with 53 catches, 1,258 yards and eight touchdowns (tied with Tee Higgins) on downfield passes (10+ air yards) in the regular season. But, including the playoffs, the Patriots have surrendered the second-fewest yards per attempt (8.7) and sixth-lowest EPA/dropback (0.17) on downfield passes.

Cooper Kupp, WR

• Cooper Kupp might have a bit of playoff proficiency: he’s averaged five more PPR fantasy points per game (12.3) this postseason than he did during the regular season (7.3). And let’s not forget the 2021 playoff run, where his 115.3 fantasy points ended up second by a wide receiver in a single postseason in NFL history, to Larry Fitzgerald’s 126.6 in 2008.
• On the flip side, Kupp has only seen six or more targets twice in the last nine games, and he has only logged over 60 receiving yards twice and scored just three touchdowns all year.

Rashid Shaheed, WR

• Rashid Shaheed is more exciting as an idea, a real-NFL asset and a returner than he is in reality. While he’s racked up seven catches of 20-plus yards on the season, including the playoffs, he’s never put together multiple such catches in any single game and has scored just two receiving touchdowns all year … both with the Saints. Given the Patriots’ proficiency against the deep ball, this is one boom-or-bust home run I would not be chasing next Sunday.

AJ Barner, TE

• AJ Barner has scored double-digit fantasy points eight times this season, but six of those eight came prior to Week 12. He’s only logged five or more catches and 50-plus yards twice all year, but it’s interesting to note that those came in two of Seattle’s three losses. If you’re building out projections or predictions for a New England win in Super Bowl LX, Barner might be a sneaky winner in that scenario.