I love the Hawks activating Nick Kallerup today. He is our best blocking tight end and this foretells heavy and max protection. Could be a good sign for Shaheed as well, as I would expect some screens for him.
Nick Kallerup is active today. That's the third time this season. I expect a fair amount of heavy personnel from the Seahawks in this one, both to help the run game and to provide some protection against this Broncos pass rush.
Inactive:
Chazz Surratt
Drake Thomas
Avery Smith
Robert Henry
Montorie Foster Jr.
Brandon Pili
Jalen Milroe
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Really good news that the #seahawks have activated WR Irv Charles from IR. Dude is an off the charts Special Teams guy—amazing gunner and a great vice (blocks the gunner). This is sorely needed as Shaheed has had no time to field punt returns @mookiealexander mentioned earlier.
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I think #seahawks fans are overlooking just how valuable Rashid Shaheed has been to this team, especially on special teams.
I’ve seen plenty of criticism of Shaheed, particularly given his 3-year, $51 million contract. And some of it is warranted—maybe a lot of it. Through five games this season, he has just 9 receptions for 96 yards and no receiving TDs. That’s not enough production for someone making $17 million a year.
But let’s not forget what he did after arriving in Seattle last November.
In just 9 regular-season games, Shaheed put up these numbers:
Punt Returns:
13 returns, 210 yards
16.2 yards per return
1 TD
Kickoff Returns:
14 returns, 418 yards
29.9 yards per return
1 TD
That’s 628 return yards and 2 TDs in just 9 games.
For perspective, the NFL’s top punt-return average last season was New England at 17.3 yards, followed by Tennessee at 16.6 and Seattle at 15.4.
On kickoff returns, the Jets led the NFL at 29.9 yards, followed by Indianapolis at 28.8 and Seattle at 28.0.
Had Seattle averaged Shaheed’s numbers over the entire season, we would’ve finished 3rd in punt returns and tied for 1st in kickoff returns.
And that doesn’t include his 95-yard kickoff return TD against San Francisco in the playoffs.
Now, am I satisfied with Shaheed’s production this year? Of course not. His return averages are down to 8.8 yards on punts and 27.6 on kickoffs, and we aren’t getting nearly enough from him offensively.
But I also think Brian Fleury needs to do a better job utilizing him.
Why aren’t we lining him up in the backfield occasionally? Running more jet sweeps, screens, pre-snap motion and finding creative ways to get him the ball in space? The Rams utilize Puka this way quite a bit within 5 yards of the line and we can do the same with Shaheed.
He’s one of the fastest players in the NFL, yet it feels like we’re treating him primarily as a deep threat. He’s averaging 12.3 yards per carry this season, albeit on just 3 attempts. I’d certainly like to see more of that.
And with defenses putting so much attention on JSN, shouldn’t we be doing everything possible to take advantage of Shaheed’s speed?
I’m not giving Shaheed a free pass. At $17 million annually, he needs to produce more, and his ball security needs to improve as well.
But let’s not forget how much he contributed to our Super Bowl run. The guy can change a game without catching a pass.
We have an incredibly explosive weapon. It’s time Fleury figured out how to get more out of him.
Go Hawks!
To my fellow Seahawks fans, let’s have an honest conversation about Sam Darnold and this offense.
Darnold hasn’t consistently played at the level we saw during the first half of last season. In the second half, we started seeing some troubling tendencies: throwing off his back foot under pressure, forcing passes over the middle, and making risky decisions when escaping the pocket.
After that ugly Rams game in LA, opposing defenses seemed to recognize something: disguise your coverage, show Darnold one look before the snap, rotate defenders into coverage afterward, and you can bait him into mistakes.
But here’s what frustrates me: we’re not doing enough offensively to help him.
Through five games this season, we’ve reportedly used max protection just SIX times. Five of those six plays were highly successful. That’s an extremely small sample size, but why aren’t we experimenting with it more, especially given our pass-protection issues?
I also believe Darnold has become too reliant on his first read, particularly when that read is JSN. Watching the All-22, I’ve noticed situations where Sam appears to lock onto his initial target rather than working through his progressions. Some of that is undoubtedly because our pass blocking has been underwhelming. But at some point, you have to get through your reads and find ways to distribute the football.
Now, here’s why I’m not panicking about the offense just yet.
Our running game through five weeks is remarkably similar to where it was at this point last season.
As @AndrewDestin1 pointed out in his NYT analysis:
2026: 17th in rushing yards (530), 20th in yards per carry (3.8), and 20th in rushing success rate (34.8%).
2025: 17th in rushing yards (565), 23rd in yards per carry (4.0), and 21st in rushing success rate (38.2%).
And that was with Kenneth Walker III and a healthy Zach Charbonnet.
So we’ve been here before. The running game can improve, and so can the passing offense.
But Brian Fleury needs to get more creative.
We cannot continue running an offense that feels so dependent on JSN. He’s phenomenal, but defenses know where Darnold wants to go with the football.
I’d love to see three adjustments:
More Tory Horton: Find ways to get him involved in different personnel packages and create favorable matchups.
More play-action: Darnold was outstanding using play-action last season. Why aren’t we leaning harder into something that clearly plays to his strengths?
Get creative with Rashid Shaheed: Put him in motion, line him up in the backfield occasionally, use screens and manufactured touches. Make defenses account for his speed beyond simply running deep routes.
And finally, let’s talk about the trade deadline.
I know everyone wants Saquon Barkley or Jonathan Taylor, but I think spending premium draft capital on a running back would be a mistake.
I’d much rather see John Schneider aggressively pursue an EDGE rusher. If there’s any realistic chance of landing Tuli Tuipulotu from the Chargers for a second-round pick, I’m making that call immediately. A young, disruptive pass rusher would do far more for this team’s long-term outlook than an expensive running back.
At RB, I’d take a different approach. Call Tennessee and offer a sixth-round pick for Tyjae Spears. He’s an explosive receiving back who could give Darnold another weapon on third downs without sacrificing valuable draft capital. His pass protection isn’t perfect, but he offers something this offense could use.
Bottom line: I’m not giving up on Darnold, and I’m certainly not giving up on this offense. We’ve seen how good both can be. But Darnold needs to improve his decision-making, Fleury needs to evolve his play-calling, and Schneider needs to be smart about where he invests our draft capital.
We’ve got the talent to make another serious run. Now it’s about putting everyone in position to succeed.
Go Hawks!!! 💚💙
JSN is so far better than any other receiver in the NFL. He is having a historic game (151 YDS, 3 TD) with Seahawks backup QB Drew Lock against a Arizona Cardinals team that didn’t allow a receiving TD against the Chargers.
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Civilization-wise the US is Athens (open & free politically, innovative, deep alliances, technologically dynamic) and China is Sparta (closed politically, centralized, authoritarian) — but the US is more Sparta i.e. established power, while China is more Athens i.e. rising power.
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The Brooklyn boy who predicted the 9-11 attacks is still an interesting read #september11 #NeverForget
nbcnews.com/id/wbna3067562
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Crazy 9/11 story: 5 days before the attacks, a Brooklyn high school freshman who had recently immigrated from Pakistan told his teacher while looking toward the World Trade Center, “Do you see those two buildings? They won’t be standing there next week.”
freerepublic.com/focus/f-new…
Good shot of the thunderstorms in Draper this evening in 4K slo-mo on my iPhone @NWSSaltLakeCity @SLCScanner #utwx
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