The Seattle Seahawks are going through some early-season adversity.
After winning the Super Bowl last season, the team saw star quarterback Sam Darnold go down in the first quarter of Week 1. The good news is that the injury isn’t expected to be long-term, and the Seahawks went on to win that game.
Even though Darnold won’t go on injured reserve, he’s expected to miss a couple of games. This is one of the best rosters in the league, and it’s equipped to handle adversity, but it’ll still be tough to win without Darnold.
Now, let’s identify the three offensive players (other than Drew Lock) who will be the most important while Darnold is out.
RB Jadarian Price
Steven Bisig-Imagn Images
What do teams do to try to take pressure off a quarterback? Establish the ground game. That’s exactly what the Seahawks have to do without Darnold, and the rookie Jadarian Price is the most equipped to do the job.
Price had 10 carries for 52 yards in the opener. That was against a very stout Patriots defense, so the rookie should only get better as he goes. The Seahawks seemingly didn’t want to throw everything at Price in Week 1, but they’re going to have to lean on him a little more now.
It would be ideal if Price had a couple of big games with Darnold out; that way, when the quarterback comes back, the offense could legitimately be unstoppable.
WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba
It’s hard to put into words just how good Jaxon Smith-Njigba is. The receiver is clearly one of, if not the best receiver in the league. Even with Darnold out for most of the game, Smith-Njigba caught eight passes for 122 yards and one touchdown in Week 1.
Smith-Njigba is a quarterback’s best friend. The receiver is the type of target that can make a non-elite passer like Drew Lock put up elite numbers every week. It’s hard to imagine outdoing eight catches for 133 yards, but Smith-Njigba might need to hit an even higher level.
OG Anthony Bradford
This may shock some people, but Anthony Bradford might be the most important player on the offense over the next few weeks. That’s because Bradford was the weak link of the line last season, and he was at it again in Week 1.
Bradford had the worst PFF grade of any of the Seahawks’ starting linemen in Week 1. The guard allowed three pressures and had a putrid 3.1 pass-blocking grade. Only one guard out of 62 in the league had a worse pass-blocking grade than Bradford in Week 1.
When you have a backup quarterback playing, the last thing you need is for him to be running for his life. Bradford is the one lineman who can’t be fully relied on at this point.
