While Sam Darnold was bouncing from the Carolina Panthers to the San Francisco 49ers and then to the Minnesota Vikings, no one from anywhere was signaling his name as a key quarterback to watch in the following season. Now, circumstances have changed dramatically, having moved to the Seattle Seahawks.
Darnold has come a long way from seeing ghosts in New York to graduating to a Steve Young look-alike with the 49ers. His situation as an NFL quarterback has changed after he had one solid season out of seven with the Vikings last year.
Of the great quarterbacks in the league presently, including some future Hall of Famers, as delirious and kooky as it may sound, Darnold is likely in the top five of those quarterbacks to watch in terms of expectations and simple curiosity—a sort of "I wonder what he will do this season" outlook—a thought no one cared enough to think about when he was a Panther.
Seahawks' Sam Darnold showing positive signs as questions continue to surround him
While the questions surrounding Darnold's ability to repeat his success last year are valid, what he's doing in Seattle at the moment is enough to have his new head coach and offensive staff feeling good.
In a new offense meant to look and feel revamped with the help of Klint Kubiak, the Seahawks' new offensive coordinator, Darnold's feel for the new scheme appears to be giving head coach Mike Macdonald something to smile about as NFL OTAs wrapped up another week.
Speaking to the media this past week, Macdonald spoke very highly of Darnold's ability to adapt to Kubiak's system while also praising the Pro Bowler for his competitive spirit.
"Sam is doing a great job," Macdonald said. "Sam is a great feel for the offense right now in terms of growing every day. So you can feel the growth. You can feel the improvement, the confidence that we're doing on that side of the ball and that we're growing. It's exciting to work with. He's a heck of a competitor."
With the NFL summer underway and a new season approaching in the fall, Darnold shouldn't be one of the league's top quarterbacks to watch, and yet he is. If only he had crafted a dud in Minnesota, the attraction and attention on his seemingly resurrected career wouldn't be such a storyline.
You have to give it up for Darnold, though, as he has made his name relevant again. How he fares with the Seahawks will either further that relevancy or falter it. For now, at least his new head coach is impressed, and that is a good sign in Seattle.