Can Sam Darnold Shine as the New Seahawks QB?
Every football team has its ups and downs, between its offense, its defense, its coaches, and the plays that they make in every game from the preseason and beyond. Everything that goes into a football team needs to be a well-oiled machine. Without that well-oiled machine mentality, a team isn’t looking to get very far during the NFL season. What every team needs is that well-oiled machine, a foundation, a core, a spark that can get ignition going in that team’s engine from start to finish. Whether it’s making it to the playoffs or not, a team needs to have that A-Game mentality. Being able to just push on through every fault, every mistake, every error, marginal or not.
You need a quarterback who can be that foundation, being that team’s heart. Keeping the team afloat as much as they can be. While still being one piece to the overall puzzle. For the Seattle Seahawks, currently, that heart belongs to Sam Darnold, the current quarterback for the team. He steps in place of two QBs of the Seahawks legacy, those being both Russell Wilson, who went from the Seahawks to the Broncos, the Steelers, and now the Giants. As well as Geno Smith, who went from the Jets, the Giants, the Chargers, the Seahawks, before eventually landing on the Raiders for the upcoming 2025 season. Each of these teams that these players have joined has been the foundation for them. Even if they haven’t stayed with them forever, no player ever stays with one team for very long, mainly due to how contracts tend to work these days.
Here is the bigger question when it comes to someone like Sam Darnold as a player. It is whether he is the next foundational quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks going into the 2025 season, or if he is just the bridge gap between a different and potentially even better candidate on the horizon for the team itself. Frankly, looking at his stats from 2018 up until now, he seems to be heading in both directions for his career. Darnold has had a bit of an uphill battle, bouncing between teams like the Jets, Carolina Panthers, and San Francisco 49ers, to be exact. While also racking up a 21-35 record as a starter for each lineup combined thus far. Though a Hail Mary came during the 2024 season out in Minnesota with the Vikings. Darnold had thrown a combined 4,319 yards with 35 touchdown passes and 12 picks.
After all of that in terms of stats, Minnesota still let Darnold walk off the team, which, personally, I think is a bit shocking, especially looking at that record. The time did, however, end with a bit of a crumbling finish, where Darnold had only racked up about 53% of his passes and one single touchdown on a 14-3 season. Darnold also had the fourth-most sacks at 48 in the NFL in 2024. While also coming only in second for pocket time behind Jalen Hurts of the Eagles. There is a worry within the team that Darnold is holding onto the ball too long and is quaking in his boots, falling under the pressure that is put upon him as a player.
Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald had some positive comments to say on Darnold so far. “He’s getting the ball out fast. He’s accurate. He’s making fast decisions. Operationally, we’re still working through a couple of things. Yet, I was just telling him yesterday it’s a pain in the butt to pressure him, because the ball’s out. It’s hard to get to him.” Darnold can hopefully keep improving like this come Friday’s preseason game against the Kansas City Chiefs. I think that Darnold has the potential, because it’s still early on in the season, so there’s still time to fulfill that gap that has been emptied as Seattle’s QB foundation for some time.
