Super Bowl 60 Player Notes: Seattle Seahawks

The week leading up to the Super Bowl is always filled with news, analysis and opinion, as the entire NFL community focuses on a 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 love numbers, don’t miss Aaron Schatz’s legendary content and our advanced stats finder StatsHub for next-level insights.

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Enjoy and happy Super Bowl LX!

Seattle Seahawks Player Ratings

Sam Darnold, QB

Sam Darnold didn’t have to do much in the divisional round against the Niners – although he was still effective – but then lost one of the best games of his entire career to the Rams in the NFC Championship (26.74 fantasy points). This has been the story for the Seahawks QB all season: He scored 20-plus fantasy points five times, but finished in the single digits.

• Darnold has only faced a top-10 pass defense three times this year – the Saints in Week 3, the Texans in Week 7 and the 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 held Justin Herbert, CJ Stroud and Jarrett Stidham (partially in the snow) to one total of 23.26 Fantasy points during the playoffs.

• Darnold struggled mightily against pressure during the regular season, with a 69.4 passer rating, six TDs, six INTs, and a terrible -0.58 EPA/dropback (fifth worst among qualified passers). However, in two playoff games, he has already thrown four touchdowns (without any INTs) against pressure, posting a 108.6 passer rating and a 0.49 point increase in his EPA/dropback. If this holds up against the Pats, it will be tough to stop him in the Super Bowl.

• Much like Drake Maye, Darnold has been particularly talented on the deep ball this year, averaging a league-high 18.9 yards per attempt, a 51% success rate. And passing rate, a passer rating of 119.9 and 0.87 EPA/dropback… all this place in the top three among qualified passers, including the playoffs.

• As is often the case, Darnold and the Hawks’ biggest success 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 going 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 four missed interceptions against the Rams in Week 11.

Kenneth Walker III, R.B.

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 yards from scrimmage per game, with 6.4 yards per touch. And he’s now responsible for carrying out the entire backfield without Zach Charbonnet.

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• Walker posted his three best single-game fantasy performances of the season in his last five contests – 21.1 in the NFC Championship, 25.4 in Week 16, 35.5 in the Divisional Round. He averaged 21.4 points per game during that span, more than double his 10.1 PPG average over the first 15 weeks.

• In those five games since Week 16, Walker has recorded 16 explosive plays from scrimmage (second only to Stevenson) and 337 rushing yards after contact (second only to Derrick Henry). He also scored more touchdowns in those five outings (five) than he did in the entire rest of the season (four).

• Notably, the Patriots’ run defense has allowed just 3.8 yards per carry inside runs, including the playoffs (fifth best in the NFL), while Walker has averaged an absurd 7.2 yards per carry inside tackles since Week 16. It’s a matchup between a red-hot running back and a wrecking ball run defense.

Jaxon Smith-Njigba, WR

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

• The only games where JSN didn’t have at least five targets, four catches and 70 yards were the Vikings’ 26-0 shutout in Week 13 and the 49ers’ 41-6 loss two weeks ago. So unless Seattle wins the Super Bowl by more than 25 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 more than 18 fantasy points nine times and averaged 24.7 PPR points per game.

• Smith-Njigba ran routes from the left side of the formation at a slightly higher rate this year, but was largely balanced (and also ran 23.3% of routes from the slot). Christian Gonzalez lined up at right cornerback on 71.8% of outside snaps, a departure from the NFL’s more balanced first two seasons. As such, he faced the opposing team’s most targeted receiver in just 26.0% of coverage plays, a career low. Unless Mike Vrabel changes things significantly, don’t expect Gonzalez to follow JSN to 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 given up the second-fewest yards per attempt (8.7) and the sixth-lowest EPA/dropback (0.17) on passes downfield.

Cooper Kupp, WR

• Cooper Kupp may have a bit of playoff skill: he’s averaging five more PPR fantasy points per game (12.3) this postseason than during the regular season (7.3). And let’s not forget the 2021 playoff run, where his 115.3 fantasy points were second by a wide receiver in a single postseason in NFL history, behind Larry Fitzgerald’s 126.6 in 2008.

• On the other hand, Kupp has only seen six or more targets twice in the last nine games, and he has only recorded 60+ receiving yards twice and scored just three touchdowns all year.

Rashid Shaheed, WR

• Rashid Shaheed is more exciting as an idea, real NFL asset and returning player than he is in reality. Although he accumulated seven catches of 20+ yards during the season, including the playoffs, he never made multiple such catches in a single game and only scored two receiving touchdowns all year…both with the Saints. Considering how proficient the Patriots are against the deep ball, this is a booming home run I wouldn’t chase next Sunday.

AJ Barner, TE

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