Sam Darnold
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Sam Darnold had one thing not go his way from the Super Bowl win.
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold proved that his 2024 breakout season was no fluke, leading his new team to a 14-win season and a division title before ending the year by raising the Lombardi Trophy.
But the Super Bowl win hasn’t earned Darnold much respect among oddsmakers, who believe he is still far from the league’s most valuable player. An early list of MVP odds for the coming season shows that Darnold barely registers, falling behind more than a dozen other candidates.
Sam Darnold Far Down List of MVP Candidates
As Josh Nagel of CBS Sports reported, the oddsmakers don’t believe Darnold will continue his improvement over the last two seasons, putting him low on the list of MVP candidates.
NFL odds from DraftKings put Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen at the top of the list, followed by Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes. There were then 11 other quarterbacks ahead of Darnold, including Jayden Daniels, Trevor Lawrence, and Brock Purdy.
Though last season’s MVP race came down to a two-man competition between Drake Maye and Matthew Stafford, who ultimately won, Darnold surged into contention for a few weeks around the midway point of the season.
But failing to make the list may not mean much for Darnold. As Nagel noted, both of this year’s MVP finalists were not on the radar for oddsmakers prior to the start of the season.
“Maye, who was heading into his second season on a Patriots club that went 4-13 in his rookie campaign, could be found with odds of +6000 or better at most sportsbooks,” Nagel noted. “Stafford, on the other hand, literally wasn’t even on the betting menu. He was an afterthought amid widespread speculation that lingering injuries could keep him out part or all of the 2025 NFL season. He first emerged in the NFL MVP odds about four weeks into the season and could still be backed at odds of +2200 or better midway through the schedule.”
Sam Darnold Thanked Those Who Believed in Him
Seattle’s resounding win over the Patriots in the Super Bowl capped off an unlikely ascension for Darnold, who was once written off after the New York Jets cut ties with him. The former No. 3 overall pick in the quarterback-heavy 2018 NFL Draft then bounced around the league, holding backup positions with the Carolina Panthers and San Francisco 49ers before being thrust into action with the Minnesota Vikings.
The Vikings had planned for rookie J.J. McCarthy to start in 2024, but his season-ending injury forced Darnold into action and he responded with a career-best season, leading the Vikings to 14 wins.
Despite his resurgence, the Vikings chose to turn back to McCarthy and allowed Darnold to leave in free agency, where he found his way to the Seahawks.
Speaking at the team’s Super Bowl celebration in Seattle this week, Darnold thanked the Seahawks ownership and fans for believing in him.
“I’ve talked a lot this last week about belief. A lot of people didn’t believe in me, but it didn’t matter, because the ones that were close believed in me, including y’all,” Darnold told the fans, via the team’s official website. “I appreciate y’all so much. That short list also includes Jody Allen, John Schneider and Mike Macdonald, I appreciate the belief y’all had in me signing me last year, and last but certainly not least, these players, man, for believing in me.”