Sam Darnold questions put Seahawks on low end of NFL offensive triplet rankings

The Seattle Seahawks retained two-thirds of their key offensive trio from last year. Kenneth Walker is back at running back, and breakout WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba is poised for more. The only change was going from Geno Smith to Sam Darnold.

That change is a big one, though. Darnold, despite his excellent play for the vast majority of last year, is a major question mark for Seattle. It's why CBS Sports insider Jared Dubin can only rank Seattle's star trio so high.

They ranked 24th, just ahead of, ironically, DK Metcalf and the Pittsburgh Steelers. "Checking in just ahead of Metcalf's new team, is Metcalf's old team," he said. "Opinions on these guys were all over the map, which is unsurprising given the season Darnold just had. He looked like an MVP candidate for a portion of the season but completely fell apart behind a depleted offensive line at the end. "

Smith-Njigba has broken out officially and is looking more and more like a "stud" wide receiver. When healthy, Walker is among the best. "But the (deserved) Darnold question marks keep the ranking in check," Dubin concluded.

It's a fair question to ask. For six straight seasons, he was mediocre at best. Then, in an ideal situation with an elite offensive mind, a dominant offensive line, and three terrific pass-catchers, Darnold broke out. Can he do that again without any of that? That remains to be seen, but there's a chance he reverts to the old Darnold, which firmly caps what the Seahawks can be on offense.

Fortunately, they are a defensive team anyway. This ranking puts Seattle ahead of teams like Pittsburgh, the Carolina Panthers, Indianapolis Colts, Tennessee Titans, and New Orleans Saints, so not exactly a who's who, unfortunately.