Sam Darnold is a cautionary tale on why fit, not talent is the most important think when it comes to taking a quarterback in the NFL Draft. This is the story of how a promising No. 3 overall pick, written off as a bust and barely hanging onto an NFL roster spot, managed to turn everything around, get a huge contract in free agency, then lead the Seattle Seahawks to the biggest game in football.
It’s a lesson not only in perseverance, but how we write off players far too quickly when sometimes the reality is simply that they’re trapped in the wrong place at the wrong time.
In order to understand Darnold’s turnaround we need to go back to his scouting report ahead of the 2018 NFL Draft. A big-armed QB out of USC, the ability to make every throw — the knock on him was the ability to read defenses, suggesting he might be best served by sitting for a year or two to get experience.
We know that didn’t happen, with the Jets throwing him to the wolves immediately. This is critical to the story, because it never gave him the time to really develop as a quarterback. Being put in a starting role stunted his development, because Darnold needed to focus on trying to win games and develop chemistry with his teammates instead of better understanding the quarterback position in the NFL.
This continued in Carolina, where the Panthers also thrust Darnold into a starting role out of the gate. They made things worse, however, as the solution to “fixing” Darnold for Matt Rhule and Joe Brady was to shorten routes, and have Darnold throw mostly passes to the flat and slants, rarely taking a shot deep.
The idea might have meant well, by limiting turnovers and causing Darnold to regain his confidence — but what it actually did was kill the QB’s faith in his deep ball and arm. Diagnosing defenses was what he needed assistance with, not in-game performance.
The bench year and time in Minnesota
After a failed outing in Carolina we hit the stage in Darnold’s career where he was barely hanging on. The 49ers signed him as a backup quarterback for Brock Purdy. Landing in a spot where he didn’t need to play was a godsend for Darnold, who finally had the space to learn the position better — and do it in one of the best environments for quarterback development in the NFL.
What made the 49ers/Darnold time special is that San Francisco is all about diagnosing defenses and make smart decisions with the football. Brock Purdy is a physically limited quarterback, but it doesn’t matter because he’s able to make intelligent plays, developing an extremely high football IQ.
Darnold gained this football IQ, and when the Vikings signed him in 2024 as an insurance policy at quarterback he got the final piece of the puzzle: Pushing the ball downfield once more.
In 2020 and 2021 Darnold’s air yards plummeted below 5.0 per attempt. Kevin O’Connell needed someone who could make explosive plays with Justin Jefferson, and coaxed the athletic ability back out of Darnold, which had been subdued for much of his career. Now we had a quarterback who still had the same physical traits which made him a Top 5 pick, but also the knowledge he never got as a young player.
How it came together in Seattle
Darnold’s arrival in Seattle was overlooked, largely because there was too much of an emphasis placed on his time in Minnesota being indicative of his potential, rather than what the year in San Francisco did for him. Its for this reason there were valid concerns he was a flash in the pan, rather than a future franchise quarterback.
However, we now know that ever stop in his journey added something to Darnold’s toolbox, from dealing with adversity, to leading a team. What Klint Kubiak did to put it all together as the Seahawks’ offensive coordinator was pressure Darnold into making the same deep throws, but speeding up his release.
Darnolds time to throw went from 2.91 seconds in 2024, to 2.71 in Seattle. This timing jump meant Darnold needed to diagnose the play faster and be more decisive with his playmaking. It also naturally fir with the routes Jaxon Smith-Njigba thrives at running — making the offense leaner, and more efficient.
Now we’re at the Super Bowl. Sam Darnold has a chance to cement himself in his history books, and it all came about because people continued to believe in there being something special. Ultimately the Seahawks coaxed it all out of him, and turned him into the QB he is today.
It’s been an incredible journey, and something we can all learn from the next time we say a QB is a “bust” after the first year.
