After his season with the 49ers, Darnold went on to have the best season of his career, making his first Pro Bowl, throwing for 4,319 yards and 35 touchdowns.
"I think the biggest thing is that I've always understood what that time meant for me," Darnold said on his time in San Francisco. "Not only as a person, but as a player as well. I always really enjoyed my time in San Francisco, but being here now in Seattle, I'm excited to have that opportunity to go against them. It's a really good organization, great players, and great coaching staff over there. So, I'm just excited for the opportunity."
When Darnold signed with Seattle he said, "Learned a ton obviously going to San Francisco, and Klint (Kubiak) was a huge part of that," he said at his first press conference as a Seahawk in March. "Just kind of understanding, okay, like -- and I really thank Brock a ton, Brock Purdy, for just his style of play and how he described his style as like, we've got a ton of great play-makers on offense. Like my job is just to play point guard and get the ball in their hands and let them go do great things with the rock. When I changed my thought process as a quarterback to kind of just getting the ball in my guys' hands, that's really kind of where it unlocked for me a little bit."