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Oct 5, 2025; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Seahawks tight end AJ Barner (88) reacts after catching a touchdown pass against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the second half at Lumen Field. Steven Bisig-Imagn Images

Seahawks PFF grades: Sam Darnold deserves better, Byron Murphy II among standouts

Originally posted on Seattle Seahawks on SI
By Tim Weaver | Last updated Oct 6, 2025 1:00 PM ET

While they couldn't quite finish the job, the Seattle Seahawks came awfully close to beating one of the best teams in the NFL this year on Sunday. The shootout loss to Tampa featured another superb game from Sam Darnold, as well as strong contributions from several key young pieces, including AJ Barner and Byron Murphy II.

Let's see what we can learn from this week's PFF grades for the Seahawks.

Dareke Young, AJ Barner, Ken Walker top offense

He only played four offensive snaps, but Dareke Young made them count. Young made an awesome catch on a 36-yard jump ball from Sam Darnold, For this efforts, Young earned a 91.0 overall grade, the highest for Seattle's offense this week. He also added two massive kickoff returns of 43 and 50 yards.

Tight end AJ Barner also made a pretty massive impact despite a relatively low snap count. Barner was on the field for 23 offensive snaps but managed a perfect game. He caught all seven of his targets from Darnold and scored two touchdowns, earning an 87.9 overall grade from PFF.

Running back Kenneth Walker III came in third on offense with an 83.5 overall grade this week. Walker only got 10 carries, but he put up 86 yards on a really tough Tampa run defense.

Sam Darnold deserves better grade

If not for the unfortunate helmet-deflection interception at the end, this might have been the greatest game of Sam Darnold's career - certainly his best in a Seahawks uniform. Darnold was absolutely dealing from the last drive of the first half all the way to the end, putting up 341 yards, four touchdowns and a 95.8 QBR. PFF gave him a 79.3 grade, which seems a bit low given the number of incredible throws he made. Tough crowd.

Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

Anthony Bradford does the thing again

While Jalen Milroe and Jake Bobo technically earned lower grades, they only played a total of six offensive snaps on Sunday. Once again, the lowest graded starter for Seattle's offense was right guard Anthony Bradford. This week he put up a 64.1 in run blocking and a 0.0 in pass blocking. Yes, you read that right.

Byron Murphy II, Nick Emmanwori lead defense

On the other side of the ball two young guns earned the best grades. Defensive tackle Byron Murphy II continued his breakout season with a 77.5 in pass rushing, boosting his overall grade up to 83.3, the top mark on defense this week. For the year Murphy has a 74.3 grade, which ranks 18th at his position.

Rookie safety Nick Emmanwori returned to the field for the first time after suffering an ankle injury in the season opener, and he acquitted himself well. Emmanwori was active all over the field, notching five stops and earning a 78.3 in coverage, 82.2 in tackling and an 81.4 overall, good for second-best on defense this week for hte Seahawks.

Ernest Jones on the bottom

The Buccaneers made a clear effort to attack the middle of the field with their passing game, which put middle linebacker Ernest Jones in the crosshairs. Jones wound up with a rare off-game, giving up several big catches en route to a 28.6 grade in coverage, bringing down his overall score to 28.2. That was the worst mark for Seattle's defense against the Bucs.

This article first appeared on Seattle Seahawks on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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