Before getting into the minutiae of Sam Darnold's status among the best quarterbacks in the NFL, let's commend him for where he stands today and going into next season as simply a quarterback: he's the reigning Super Bowl-winning quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks, a former first-round bust-gone-good, and one of the most stand-up guys in the league.Â
These days, you're frowned upon if you root against Darnold, if only for his story and football journey alone. He's earned every ounce of praise and applause for turning his career around to become the player he is today. He's found a home in Seattle and is a sure-fire franchise quarterback there, unlike he was with the New York Jets.
Is he elite, though? If he's not, is he at least one of the best quarterbacks in the league today? Is he in the top 15? Top 10? Did winning a Super Bowl vault him into a room that houses the likes of Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, and Lamar Jackson? Colin Cowherd has an answer for that that may surprise some and not others.
Colin Cowherd lists Seattle Seahawks QB Sam Darnold as a top-10 NFL quarterback
Darnold is forcing people to re-evaluate where he belongs in the quarterback hierarchy, a stark contrast to how people evaluated him even five years ago. In that time, the commentary ran along the lines of, "Where does Darnold rank among the biggest busts in history?"
This line of thinking is outdated now because Darnold has made people view him differently. But to go back to the question of Darnold's eliteness, he is, at least, much closer to being one of the league's best quarterbacks than he is elite, which is not a knock or a disrespectful stance to have.Â
Jared Goff is one of the best quarterbacks in the league, though not an elite one. The same can be said for Justin Herbert and even Drake Maye (but both still have an open runway to enter that elite stratosphere), whereas Goff’s window is all but closed. Darnold is more in this mix of players than he is with the likes of Mahomes, Allen, Jackson, and Joe Burrow.Â
What's great for Darnold here is that you don't have to be elite to be one of the 10 best quarterbacks in the league (ask Goff), and that is where he sits in Cowherd's list of the NFL's top-10 quarterbacks. According to Cowherd, spots 1 to 5 include Allen, Mahomes, Caleb Williams, Justin Herbert, and Matthew Stafford, in that order.
Cowherd completes the list from 6 to 10 with Burrow, Jackson, Maye, Goff, and Darnold, also in that order. Cowherd's list should immediately be up for debate, especially as far as the top 5 players listed, because there's no way Jackson or Burrow should be sitting outside the top 5, and Herbert and Williams inside.
That's neither here nor there, though; this is about Darnold, who should be somewhere between eight and 10, but perhaps not the very last spot. Cowherd explains his reasoning for Darnold's spot, though, and the praise he offers is completely valid.Â
"And No. 10, 35-10 in his last 45 starts, Sam Darnold. Highest win percentage by any quarterback last two years in the league. Big, athletic, risk-taking, no turnovers when it mattered in the playoffs. Still 28, five different teams, won a disaster," Cowherd said. "But if you go, remember he was benched in Carolina, came back, went 4-2. If you take his career starting then, winningest quarterback in the NFL with the second highest passer rating."
Aside from a championship, Darnold's best case for these rankings, or any quarterback ranking, is what Cowherd said about Darnold post Carolina. It's been a small sample size, but the winning percentage can't be denied. Now, he's winning consistently, and Darnold is expected to keep rising and keep winning.Â
Darnold may never be elite, but he can and should continue his career as one of the league's best quarterbacks. That's a win for Seattle and a win for him. It’s nice to see him on a list such as Cowherds, and Seahawks fans should be proud.
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