Sam Darnold, Brian Daboll among 6 QBs, coaches positioned to fail in 2025

NFL franchises gear their offseasons around cultivating success. It's defined differently by each club on an annual basis, but it remains central to the team-building efforts of free agency, the draft and spring and early summer practices ahead of the next season. 

We see teams fall short of expectations every year, though. And those seeds can be planted as early as the offseason — just like this year. 

With plenty of time still left before football is played again this fall, here are the NFL quarterbacks and head coaches that appear to be positioned to fail in 2025: 

Sam Darnold , QB, Seattle Seahawks

Darnold may have gotten the money he sought with the Seahawks, but Seattle’s personnel deficiencies on the offensive side of the ball raise significant questions about just how effective he can be.  

To this point, the team has done close to nothing to address an offensive line that tied for 25th in pressure rate allowed and 24th in sack rate allowed last season, according to Next Gen Stats. The Seahawks also moved on from two of their top three receivers, trading DK Metcalf to the Pittsburgh Steelers and releasing Tyler Lockett. They signed Cooper Kupp in free agency, but he’s a declining player at 31. 

Needless to say, this is nothing close to the supporting cast Darnold had with the Minnesota Vikings last season — and it could hurt his ability to build off a career 2024. 

Brian Daboll, HC, New York Giants

Co-owner John Mara thrust Daboll (and general manager Joe Schoen) into an impossible situation at the start of the offseason, when he said that he’s "just about run out of patience" but also that the No. 1 priority is to find the "quarterback of the future." 

Armed with the No. 3 overall pick, the Giants might