Following the NFC Championship game, Sam Darnold and the Seattle Seahawks are going to Super Bowl LX. Every year, we see quarterbacks enter the NFL Draft and fail early in their careers.
Darnold was no exception to that. Proper development can change the course of a QB’s career, and it’s more important now than ever.
The New York Jets selected Darnold third overall in the 2018 NFL Draft. The other first-round QBs that year were Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Baker Mayfield, and Josh Rosen.
Darnold’s time in New York was nothing short of a disaster. In three years, he never exceeded 4,000 yards in a season and threw 45 touchdowns to 39 interceptions. Who could forget his famous “I’m seeing ghosts” game?
In 2021, after going 13-25 with the Jets, Darnold was traded to the Carolina Panthers. New York received a 2021 sixth-round pick, along with a second and a fourth-round pick in 2022.
Darnold struggled during his first year in Carolina before taking on a backup role in 2022. Following that season, he became a free agent and signed a one-year deal with the San Francisco 49ers. He finally had a head coach who could develop his talents.
The Niners’ head coach, Kyle Shanahan, worked with Darnold while the QB served as a backup to Brock Purdy. Expectations were gone for the former third overall pick, and now he could learn. He even cited Shanahan and Purdy in helping reshape his approach to the game.
Darnold signed a one-year, $10 million contract with the Minnesota Vikings in 2023. He was set to compete with then-rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy, but would lose the starting job. McCarthy suffered a season ending knee-injury in the preseason, and Darnold had his chance.
The Vikings went 14-3 in 2024 and narrowly missed the NFC’s number one seed. Darnold threw for over 4,000 yards for the first time in his career, and a career high 35 touchdowns. Minnesota’s head coach, Kevin O’Connell, won the Coach of the Year award as well.
The Vikings decided to move on from Darnold after the season and went with their first-round QB in McCarthy. Their 2025 season was an extreme letdown, with the QB being arguably their biggest weakness.
Darnold found himself signing a three-year, $100 million contract with the Seattle Seahawks. The team even structured the deal so that they could part ways after one season, if they desired. Even then, he wasn’t exactly trusted to be a franchise QB.
Darnold’s had another terrific year, throwing for over 4,000 yards once again, and leading a new team to a 14-3 record. This time, he even managed to take the NFC’s top playoff seed.
Too many teams struggle to look in the mirror and realize the problem lies beyond the QB. The Cleveland Browns moved on from Mayfield, and he’s become the face of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Caleb Williams went first overall to the Chicago Bears in the 2024 Draft. They went 5-12 under a terrible coaching staff and immediately found a new coach in Ben Johnson. Williams and the Bears went 11-6 in 2025 and made it to the Divisional round of the Playoffs.
Darnold’s Super Bowl opponent, Drake Maye, is another terrific example. The New England Patriots took him two spots behind Williams in 2024 and struggled immediately. They went 3-9 with Maye under center, and he threw 15 touchdowns to 10 interceptions. They fired head coach Jerod Mayo, hired Mike Vrabel, and now they’re heading to the Super Bowl.
It would have been easy for the Bears and Patriots to look at their quarterbacks and call them busts. They took the other route and looked at development. They, along with the Seahawks, now seem to be playoff contenders for the foreseeable future.
Darnold’s story should be a prime example of systematic failure. Just a few years ago, he was forgotten by NFL fans and was sitting on a bench in San Francisco. He’s now competing for a Lombardi Trophy. Leaving New York worked out for him, and the Jets are still an organizational mess. Sometimes the player isn’t broken, the system is.
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