RENTON, Wash. — From 2001-10 it was Matt Hasselbeck. From 2012-21 it was Russell Wilson. From 2022-24 it was Geno Smith, and during the majority of those seasons it was clear from the jump who would be behind center for the Seahawks.

This trend isn’t exclusive to the new millennium when it comes to this franchise. Jim Zorn was the starting quarterback from 1976 to the middle of the 1983 season. Dave Krieg, after taking over for Zorn in ’83, held the spot till 1991.

The Seahawks may not be one of the NFL’s more storied organizations, but barring the mercurial ’90s they have been consistent when it comes to their starting signal callers.

Which is what makes this season so much different from what this team’s fans are used to seeing — particularly over the past quarter century. When it comes to the most important position in team sports, the Seahawks are truly starting over with Sam Darnold.

The 28-year-old’s name was in the Seattle sports chatterverse Tuesday when Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald was asked during his radio show on Seattle Sports 710 whether there would be a quarterback battle following Darnold’s two red-zone interceptions in Monday’s OTA (organized team activities).

Responded Macdonald: “You guys are crazy. … Look, I respect you’ve got to ask it, but it’s a crazy question. It’s not going to happen. Like, Sam’s our starting quarterback. We love him. He’s doing a tremendous job.”

Most fans have to know this is true, even if Seattle did draft QB Jalen Milroe during the third round in April. You don’t hand a guy a three-year, $100 million contract and expect him to compete with a third-rounder. Matt Flynn, who lost his job to a rookie, Wilson, in 2012, had signed a far less lucrative three-year, $26 million contract.

Barring an injury, it will be Darnold starting at QB even if he throws two interceptions every time Seattle takes the field before the regular-season opener. The question has always been: How effective will he be?

After all, Darnold’s financial value likely took a tens-of-millions-of-dollars plunge in his final two starts with the Vikings last season. The first was in an 18-for-41, 166-yard, zero-TD performance in a 31-9 loss to Detroit that cost the Vikings the division title. The second was a 25-for-40, 245-yard performance in which he took nine sacks in a 27-9 first-round playoff loss to the Rams.

Obviously the rest of Darnold’s season, which was instrumental in Minnesota finishing 14-3, made him a desirable free agent. But given that last season was easily the best in his seven-year NFL career, expectations for him in 2025 are as up in the air as a go-route deep ball.

Perhaps that’s why results in June OTAs are getting a level of scrutiny they wouldn’t for a more established Seahawks QB. Darnold threw a couple more interceptions during 11-on-11 drills Wednesday, but tossed in some TD passes.

Again, it’s OTAs. We’re not even at minicamp yet. Still, Darnold recognizes that some throws could have been better.

“I think at the end of the day, I want to go out there and play clean football, but also, I want to go through progressions and be aggressive,” Darnold said. “Especially in those seven-on-seven periods, there’s no threat of (the) run. So those linebackers are getting some depth, and I’m trying to push some stuff down the field that maybe I shouldn’t. I’ve got to learn from some mistakes there and maybe just check it down.”

“Clean football” was something Darnold emphasized in his introductory news conference with the Seahawks. He said understanding the importance of protecting the ball is what helped allow him to make a massive jump in production last season, when he threw for 35 touchdowns against 12 interceptions — the former being 16 more than his previous career high.

And given how that was Darnold’s only year with the Vikings, it might give hope to fans wondering what he can do under a new offense … assuming it’s as new as they think.

As Darnold said Wednesday: “I think it’s fun to learn. It’s fun to learn new systems. I think at the end of the day, a lot of teams do some similar things but just call it different names.”

What’s unquestionable is that the Seahawks have a new look given the loss of Smith and DK Metcalf, and Darnold is the face of that makeover. The Seahawks are starting from scratch with their QB. And the hope around here is that that sentence won’t be repeated for a long time.

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