Sports

Everyone wants the next Sam Darnold but the Seahawks already have their answer

12th Man Rising · Jul 21, 2026 14:00 · 3 min read

Everyone wants the next Sam Darnold but the Seahawks already have their answer — Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold celebrates with the Vince Lombardi trophy | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Seattle Seahawks found the quarterback that many other teams seemingly want. In other words, 12s can breathe a sigh of relief.

Who is the next Sam Darnold? He is the quarterback that many other teams appear to want, but they had their chances and didn't take the risk. The Seattle Seahawks did, and the team ended up winning a Super Bowl last season.

But many social media posts from podcasters like Theo Ash of the Stay Hot Pod try to pick out the next Darnold. In Ash's case, he believes the answer is Justin Fields, who currently plays for the team...? Well, who can keep track? (OK, he's with the Kansas City Chiefs.)

Like Darnold, Fields, a former first-rounder, has bounced around the league. Unlike Darnold, Fields is still trying to find success.

Justin Fields is very unlikely to be the same as the Seattle Seahawks' Sam Darnold

The truth is that Darnold and Fields are completely different quarterbacks. Darnold has good athleticism, but is more of a pocket-passer. Fields has elite athleticism, but he's never had the accuracy that Darnold had, and he doesn't have the arm strength of the underrated Seattle QB.

The connection Ash appears to be making is that Fields and Darnold were both high-round choices and took a while to find themselves. That's not completely truthful, though. Darnold was good before joining Seattle, as he spent one season with the Minnesota Vikings and proved he was a worthy QB1. Fields has never done that. He might not be able to.

None of this is meant to disrespect the former Ohio State quarterback. Ash's take is simply low-hanging fruit that doesn't take a lot of energy to completely formulate. Any first-round selection who hasn't found himself yet could be a candidate to be the next Darnold, and the person making that assertion needs to offer little proof why.

One could say Anthony Richardson of the Indianapolis Colts would be the next Sam Darnold. The problem there is that Richardson has as much in common with Fields as he does with Darnold. The Indy QB is athletically gifted, but not an accurate passer and not a good decision-maker from play to play.

In his eight-year career, Darnold has completed 62.3 percent of his passes, and in each of the last two, he has completed 66.2 percent or better of his throws. He also has 35 and 25 touchdown passes, respectively, over the last two years, one with the Vikings and one with the Seahawks. In each of his two most recent seasons, he's had a quarterback rating of at least 99.1.

Justin Fields' quarterback rating hasn't been atrocious, but his best in five seasons is 93.3. His completion percentage is 61.4, with a high of 65.8. He's never had more than 17 TD passes in a season. The issue is that instead of having a high ceiling, he seems bent on not offering much efficiency, and his ceiling is low. He might have already played as well as he could.

He's certainly been better than Anthony Richardson. The Colts quarterback is entering his fourth season and has more interceptions than touchdowns (13 to 11, respectively). His quarterback rating is an awful 67.8. His completion percentage is even worse at 50.6.

What makes a good NFL quarterback, other than being able to run around a bit, is standing in the pocket and delivering accurate passes that lead to wins late in the season. Sam Darnold has proven he can do that with the Seattle Seahawks and hinted at excellence the year before with Minnesota.

Fields and Richardson haven't come close. There is no "next" Darnold; there is only one, and he plays in Seattle.