After the 2022 season, Sam Darnold seemed on his way out of the league. Now, he’s an MVP candidate. The Seattle Seahawks QB is playing the best football of his life, proving that his 2024 breakout wasn’t just a fluke. He’s somehow gotten even better, and he’s become not only a potential MVP but a cautionary tale for teams giving up on QBs too soon.
Sam Darnold is a true superstar
In 2022, the Carolina Panthers tried Sam Darnold as part of their never-ending cycle of attempts to replace Cam Newton. That didn’t really work, so the Panthers let Darnold, who had honestly shown very few signs of being a franchise QB before they traded for him, walk in free agency.
He was a top draft choice for the New York Jets in 2018, and he’d done virtually nothing since then to live up to that billing. He looked like a tried and true bust. The Panthers felt that a change of scenery could unlock his potential. It didn’t, although it’s clear now that the attempt was not entirely misguided.
Darnold would land with the San Francisco 49ers as a backup, and he played decently well when filling in for an injured Brock Purdy. That, however, seemed more due to playing in a good system with an offensive guru, Kyle Shanahan, calling the shots. It did land him another backup job with the Minnesota Vikings, though.
But when rookie JJ McCarthy went down with an injury, Darnold was forced back into starting action, and he ran with his opportunity. He looked like an MVP candidate at times, and he led the team to 14 wins and the playoffs. Things soured at the end, but he had broken out. That, however, was also attributed to his offensive coach.
Kevin O’Connell has gotten good QB play out of bad players routinely. The year prior, he got both Nick Mullens and Josh Dobbs to play pretty well in spurts. It seemed as if he’d just worked his magic on Darnold, but the Seahawks thought otherwise. They traded Geno Smith, ironically a former bust turned breakout star late in his career just like Darnold, away and signed Darnold to a three-year deal.
Questions persisted. Whenever Minnesota couldn’t protect Darnold, he struggled and reverted back to his old habits. And the Seahawks had a notably porous offensive line. He also was going to a team with a new offensive coordinator, which essentially meant his run of working with offensive gurus was over. Not being able to throw to Justin Jefferson was likely to hurt, too.
But in actuality, none of that mattered. Darnold has been otherworldly this year. He’s sixth in the NFL in passing yards. He boasts the sixth-best completion percentage among QBs with five starts or more this year. He leads the NFL in yards per pass. He’s second only to future Hall of Famer Lamar Jackson in QB Rating. He’s fifth in QBR. He’s also got 16 touchdowns and only five interceptions. He has been absolutely incredible.
How did this happen? Well, the NFL seems to understand better now that players who seem like busts might just need a different system, coach, or something to change. Sam Darnold, Baker Mayfield, Daniel Jones, Bryce Young, and Geno Smith were all considered horrible busts at one point, and they’re all competent if not good QBs now. So obviously, Darnold always had the talent.
It is highly likely, though, that working with Kyle Shanahan and Kevin O’Connell really did help turn him around. Clearly, he took what he learned and incorporated it into his new partnership with Klint Kubiak, but that coaching helped unlock something that was apparently hidden deep below the surface. And it’s turned a former afterthought into a true MVP candidate.
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