“I’m going to come in here and do my job and be very confident in myself,” Sam Darnold said back in 2018 after getting drafted. Since then, he’s been grinding to make a name for himself in the league. He hadn’t earned a Pro Bowl nod before, but his 2024 season flipped the script. Over 17 games with the Minnesota Vikings, the former No. 3 overall pick delivered a career-best 102.5 passer rating. He threw for 4,319 yards, 35 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions. That breakout year finally earned him his first Pro Bowl selection. And clearly, teams took notice, making him a mentor for young players.
Yes, in March 2025, the Seattle Seahawks signed him to a three-year deal. They banked on the veteran’s potential as both a starting option and a mentor for the future. So, it seems he has already started his mentoring job, as Darnold offered some advice to the young players in the league, including rookie Shedeur Sanders. Appearing on The Rich Eisen Show, the newly signed Seahawks QB didn’t sugarcoat what it’s like trying to survive in the NFL as a young quarterback. The show’s host brought up how rushed the expectations feel these days, and Sam Darnold didn’t hesitate to weigh in. There was no bitterness in his voice, just a calm, lived-in understanding of how brutally fast the league can turn on a player.
“I think there’s a timeline to everything,” Darnold said in the video candidly. “You’ve got guys like myself, Geno [Smith]… we learn a lot throughout our careers and play better later on. Same thing as Baker [Mayfield], Jared [Goff]… but also, you’ve guys like CJ Stroud who just go out there ball out..and also Jayden Daniels, like there are so many different situations around the league that you can point to that are so different.” His career arc mirrors others like Geno Smith, who didn’t fully blossom until year 10, or Baker Mayfield, who finally found a system that fit in Tampa. Their success wasn’t about overnight stardom, it was about surviving long enough to grow into the job.
So, no doubt, it was a refreshingly honest look at how development in the NFL isn’t one-size-fits-all. Darnold mentioned how today’s college offenses differ from NFL playbooks. Or, in fact, how young quarterbacks face a steep mental and strategic learning curve! For someone who was thrust into the spotlight at age 21, he knows what damage rushed timelines can do. For context, Darnold was the youngest quarterback to start an NFL season-opener since 1970.
Hence, he offered advice to the rookies and young players: “I think that’s kind of what I’m getting at, you can see the talent. Just meeting someone, I feel like you can get a sense of kind of their how their brain works a little bit. Are they personable? Can they hang out in a room with a bunch of different people? And I think that goes a long way as well. So I do believe that it can take some time as especially in college. These offenses that colleges are running now are a little bit different than some of the offenses that we’re running here in the NFL. And so I think there definitely is a learning curve when you get to the league for sure.” That’s a lesson the league and fans often forget in the rush to crown the next star or write someone off.
In fact, the timing of his message is especially striking, given that rookies like Shedeur Sanders are already facing some scrutiny from the league and the media. Everyone knows Sanders was a late-round pick, despite an early buzz about his potential in this year’s draft. Now, as he gets ready to make his NFL debut under the weight of his father’s legacy and sky-high expectations in Colorado, voices like Sam Darnold’s carry serious weight. As a veteran, Darnold is offering Sanders and other young players valuable advice on how to survive and grow.
After years spent as a backup or stopgap starter, Darnold revived his career in 2024 with the Vikes. He posted career-highs in passer rating and completion percentage (66.2 ). Besides, he also kept the team afloat through a rough stretch of injuries. Now paired with Cooper Kupp and Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Sam Darnold is surrounded by weapons he rarely had in the early years.
Despite that, Vikings HC Kevin O’Connell praised him publicly last December, saying: “It would be craziness not to have total confidence in Sam. He’s doing everything we ask and then some.” That quiet resurgence caught the eye of Seattle, which brought him in to compete with Geno Smith and possibly groom their next leader, hoping he would adjust in the system easily. But will he?
Expectations are high for Sam Darnold!
The Seahawks are risking big in 2025, and their biggest dice is none other than QB Sam Darnold. They chose to move on from Geno Smith, go younger and cheaper, and hand the keys to Darnold. Now, how far Seattle goes this season really depends on one thing. Whether that explosive 2024 run with the Vikings was the real deal or just a flash? But if we look at the present situation, at the team’s fourth OTA practice, things were… mixed.
Sam Darnold had some strong throws, but also threw a few red-zone picks, which is a red flag. Sure, it’s just June, and there’s a long road ahead before that opener against the 49ers. But here’s the thing: Geno Smith led the league in red zone interceptions (4) last year. And it cost them, especially in that heartbreaking OT loss to the Rams. So yeah, there’s time to fix it. But hearing about red zone picks again isn’t exactly what Seahawks fans want right now.
So, it remains to be seen how Darnold improves his game before the real run. But for now, the QB is just keeping patient and advising the same to youngsters. Well, patience isn’t a luxury in the NFL; it’s a rarity. And for quarterbacks like Sam Darnold, who’ve weathered the firestorm, that patience becomes wisdom. Whether or not his Seattle chapter becomes his breakout act, he’s already rewritten his narrative: from first-round flameout to veteran truth-teller — someone who, as he put it, “believes it can take time” to truly belong. And if rookies like Shedeur Sanders are listening, they may just be better off for it.
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