The Seattle Seahawks are taking a big risk this coming season in replacing quarterback Geno Smith with Sam Darnold. Smith wasn't the best quarterback in the NFL, but the team knew what they were going to get from him, and he was mostly solid. The team doesn't know what it will get from Darnold.
Seattle's new QB1 has spent seven seasons in the NFL, but only one was good. In some others, he didn't play much because he was a backup. To begin his career, he was thrown to the wolves with the New York Jets and failed badly.
In fact, one thing that happened in his second season in New York, the quarterback might never be able to live down. Darnold's greatest sin was that he was too honest in what he was seeing during one specific game. Many NFL pundits and fans will never let him forget his words.
Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold might never live down being brutally honest
In a 2019 33-0 loss to the New England Patriots, Darnold had five turnovers. In the second quarter, after committing his third turnover, the quarterback said on the sidelines, "I'm seeing ghosts." Broadcast cameras caught him saying it, and it's something no one ever wants to hear their quarterback admit.
But it was honest, though it was probably something Darnold shouldn't have confessed. His teammates wouldn't want to hear that either. Those words mean a quarterback is lost, and any hope of winning the game is likely gone.
That was six seasons ago, however, and lots has changed. Like Geno Smith, the Seahawks' former starting quarterback, the hope is that Darnold was a backup long enough to sit and learn. That is something he never got the chance to do at the beginning of his career on a bad Jets team.
If Darnold does have his second straight good season, there is a chance that no one notices. The Seahawks tend to get overlooked generally because Seattle is so far away from the large media centers of New York and Los Angeles. While the NFL has a massive reach, fans and pundits are unlikely to keep a close eye on how Darnold does.
More probable is that Darnold could have a good year in which he tosses 28 touchdown passes and 11 interceptions, and many people will still think of him as the quarterback who once saw "ghosts." Ultimately, that could help the Seattle Seahawks. People might overlook the team until late in the season when they realize how dangerous the team is.