Seattle Seahawks’ fans know all about quarterback resurrection stories. After a couple of rough years with the New York Jets, Geno Smith had essentially been given up for dead. Between 2015 and 2021, he started a grand total of five NFL games. Then, he got a second life in Seattle, where he went to back-to-back Pro Bowls.
Then it was Baker Mayfield in Tampa. This year, it’s Daniel Jones in Indianapolis. Fans in the cities that drafted them were convinced these guys were bums. But maybe asking an athlete in his early 20s – many of whom do not have extensive high-level experience – to play the most complicated position in team sports doesn’t always work out instantly.
When they also have weak supporting casts and managerial infrastructure, the deck is truly stacked against them. Perhaps experience and better surroundings might turn a bum into a star.
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold is proving 2024 was not a fluke
2024 was that kind of career-altering season for Sam Darnold. He had certainly taken his lumps. Like the Seahawks’ QB he replaced, Geno Smith, Darnold began in New York, and left Jets fans certain he would never amount to anything. Experience, Kevin O’Connell, and Justin Jefferson changed all that in Minnesota last year.
Darnold led the Vikings to the playoffs and earned himself a Pro Bowl nod last year. He parlayed his fine play into a three-year, 100-million-dollar deal to become the new face of Mike Macdonald’s team.
Could he replicate his 2024 success, or was that a fluke? Some fans were convinced of the latter. When the Hawks selected the talented-but-very-raw Jalen Milroe in the draft, those fans swore the Alabama star would be starting for Seattle by midseason.
Those fans, as it turns out, were staggeringly wrong.
Darnold has been everything John Schneider and Mike Macdonald hoped for when they signed him. In fact, he has been more. The numbers tell the story very clearly.
Coming into Seattle’s Week 6 game against the 4-1 Jacksonville Jaguars, Darnold had completed 73% of his passes for the season. He had thrown nine touchdowns against three interceptions. He had the third-highest quarterback rating in the league and led all QBs in yards per attempt. He was in the top ten in almost every major passing category.
Geno Smith threw for more yards per game last season, but that’s partly attributable to Seattle's incomprehensible pass-heavy scheme in 2024. This year, they are better balanced. Fewer yards for the QB, but significantly better play across all other categories.
Most importantly, Darnold has Seattle at 4-2 and tied for first in the NFC West.
And if you need more encouragement, consider that the QB is getting better as he grows more comfortable in his new offense and with his new teammates. His worst game of the year was his first. It is the only game in which he failed to throw at least one touchdown pass. His first two games are the only two in which he had a rating below 100.
In his last four games, including his efficient win against Jacksonville, Darnold has tossed nine touchdowns and just one interception. He has completed 72% of his throws and is averaging an outstanding 10.4 yards per attempt. To put that in perspective, Lamar Jackson led the NFL last year in yards per attempt with an 8.8 average. Only two QBs had completion percentages above 72%
Darnold has already established a rapport with Jaxon Smith-Njigba that has the third-year receiver leading the league in total yards, and each week, he seems to be getting more and more comfortable with the likes of Cooper Kupp and AJ Barner.
It’s a long season, and Sam Darnold may not keep up the torrid pace he has set thus far. But after six games, Hawks’ fans should feel comfortable enough to believe in a couple of truths about their new QB.
First, 2024 was no fluke. Darnold is now a very good NFL QB. And two – with him under center, Seattle can compete with any team in the league.