Sam Darnold's stunning resurgence ignites Super Bowl dreams, silencing doubters and positioning him as Seattle's potential long-term signal-caller.
The Seattle Seahawks are back in their first Super Bowl since the end of the 2014 season, and this time they will be looking to beat the New England Patriots as revenge for what happened last time.
Seattle has many players that have contributed to them getting all the way to the big game, but perhaps none of them bigger than their surprise star signal-caller, Sam Darnold.
In a recent article by Pro Football Focus' John Kosko, he ranks every NFL team based on how badly they need a quarterback at the start of the 2026 season. And for the Seahawks, he has them ranked near the bottom of the list at No. 26 after the season that Darnold had.
"Last offseason, the Seahawks traded away Geno Smith and signed Sam Darnold coming off a career year, though one that ended with struggles when the Vikings needed him most. Now, Seattle is on the verge of a Super Bowl appearance, with Darnold playing at a level similar to his peak in Minnesota," Kosko writes. "Darnold still needs to clean up some of the negative mistakes that surface from time to time, but at just 28 years old, he’s shown that with the right coaching staff and supporting cast, he can succeed at a high level in the NFL."
Darnold was the third overall pick to the New York Jets back in the 2018 NFL Draft. And after going 4-9 as the starter in his rookie season, he was labelled one of the biggest busts ever over the next several seasons.
But the last two years, he has proven every hater wrong in dramatic fashion.
While he did lose to Matthew Stafford and the Los Angeles Rams in the playoffs with the Vikings last year, he was still able to come in and make his first Pro Bowl ever with over 4,000 yards and 35 touchdowns.
This year, he threw for 4,048 yards and 25 touchdowns on 67 percent completion. And while he could have limited the turnovers a bit more, he led Seattle all the way to the Super Bowl, which is something that no Seahawks' QB has been able to do since Russell Wilson in 2015.
Seattle was also up against the Pats the last time they made it all the way, and it ended with one of the biggest what-ifs in sports history and an interception on the goal line.
Now Darnold will be hoping that he can flip the script and lead the NFC West champions to their second Super Bowl win in franchise history.