Sam Darnold has silenced many of the doubters through his first seven games with the Seattle Seahawks.
After a resurgent 2024 season with the Minnesota Vikings ended with rough performances in a de facto division title game and the first round of the playoffs, there were questions as to whether or not Darnold’s year was a fluke.
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Two teams had already moved on from Darnold as a starter. Minnesota made it three. He had spent multiple years as a backup following struggles with the New York Jets and Carolina Panthers. And in Minnesota, he had the luxury of throwing to superstar receiver Justin Jefferson and other talented playmakers under touted offensive play caller Kevin O’Connell. Perhaps those weapons and a proven system were enough to mask deficiencies for most of the year.
The Seahawks, however, believed in the former No. 3 overall pick’s abilities, which has certainly paid off so far.
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Darnold has been among the league’s most explosive and efficient passers through the first half of his first year in Seattle. He leads the league with six passes of 40 yards or more, 9.1 yards per pass attempt and 13.4 yards per completion. He’s also in the top 10 with 1,754 passing yards and a 68.2% completion rate.
Made it look easy. 😤 Darnold to JSN for 53 yards.
📺: @NFLonCBS pic.twitter.com/aPg0aP9s9A
— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) October 5, 2025
His performance has helped the Seahawks earn a tie for first place in the NFC West at 5-2 and rank fifth in the league in scoring offense (27.6 points per game).
Darnold’s showing thus far has grabbed the attention of Matt Hasselbeck. The former Seahawks quarterback detailed what has stood out from Seattle’s signal-caller with Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk on Monday.
“I think the thing that’s been really encouraging is how well he’s protected the football this year. He’s got four interceptions on the year,” Hasselbeck said. “… He’s been protecting the football, protecting the team, protecting the ball and still (doing it) with this cut-it-loose mentality. He’s not little checkdown Charlie. He’s cutting it loose when the ball’s there.”
Protecting the football is something Darnold has had troubles with in the past. He threw 10 or more interceptions in all five seasons he started more than six games entering this year.
Fumbles have also been a part of that equation. Darnold has 49 of them in 90 career games, including three this year. Cleaning up that aspect is the next step in Darnold’s ascension, Hasselbeck said.
“I think like the last piece is just really protecting the ball in the pocket,” he said. “That’s the next level of really taking your game to kind of like an MVP-type level.”
Hear the full conversation with at this link or in the audio player in this story. Listen to Brock and Salk weekdays form 6-10 a.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.
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