Sam Darnold hasn't had a good season. Even when healthy enough to play, the Seattle Seahawks quarterback has at times put the team in a position to lose. This is why his position in FanSided's midseason quarterback rankings is still too high, even though Darnold fell a couple of spots from the preseason rankings.
The QB comes in at No. 18 in the NFL, but he hasn't played up to that level. He's gotten the snaps in six games and played on the first drive of Week 1 before he injured a glute muscle. When he hasn't played, his back, Drew Lock, has been better, though that comes with a catch.
Darnold is 26th in quarterback rating (79.5) and 22nd in total QBR (49.0). He has thrown nine interceptions in his six full games, and many of those have come at the worst parts of games. For instance, in Seattle's 17-14 loss to the Denver Broncos in Week 6, Darnold threw two late interceptions, basically handing the game to Denver.
Seattle Seahawks' Sam Darnold ranked too high in FanSided's updated quarterback rankings
Before that, he threw interceptions on his first pass of the game in two straight contests. He was immediately setting himself up for failure.
Is Sam Darnold the 18th-best quarterback in the league? Likely, he is better than that, but he isn't playing better than his current ranking in 2026, and that's what matters. He isn't even playing well enough for him to be assured of being the Seahawks' QB1 for the rest of the season.
That is where Drew Lock's catch comes in, though. Lock hasn't thrown an interception while taking all the snaps in two games, and most of them in Week 1. His quarterback rating of 116.0 would rank first in the league with enough snaps to qualify. The same goes for his total QBR of 84.3.
But the reason Lock, who is ranked 38th in FanSided's rankings, but second in the "high-ceiling backup" category, shouldn't automatically replace an ailing Darnold (he now has a cracked rib and a quad injury) long-term is that Lock's production has come against the New England Patriots in the first game of the season, and then only against the Arizona Cardinals in the other two.
Drew Lock's biggest test could come in Week 10 against the Las Vegas Raiders, but Vegas is statistically awful against the pass this season. To find out if Lock is truly ready to take QB1 reps, he would need to face tougher competition.
For the Seattle Seahawks to get back to the playoffs, though, the team needs Sam Darnold to rebound to his form in 2024 and 2025. Otherwise, Seattle will miss the postseason and could be looking at a new long-term QB beginning in 2028.
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