NFL analysis: Sam Darnold - From draft bust to Super Bowl-winning quarterback

Once labelled a draft bust, Sam Darnold sealed his NFL redemption by leading the Seattle Seahawks to a Super Bowl victory.

When the New York Jets drafted Sam Darnold, then just 20 years old, third overall in 2018, there were whispers of a new era at the long-struggling Met Life Stadium.

Darnold was actually considered to have fallen down the board, with most expecting him to be taken first or second overall. 

Jets fans were rubbing their hands with glee when the USC standout fell into their lap unexpectedly; finally a stroke of luck for their franchise. 

Three seasons later, Darnold was playing for the Carolina Panthers. The next two seasons he was a backup. 

Now, he’s a Super Bowl winner for a first-seeded team on a nine-figure contract. 

Sports News Blitz writer Freddie Thomas-Neher looks further into Darnold’s shock career shift. 

‘I’m seeing ghosts’ 

Sam Darnold will want to forget the above quote. 

Mic’d up in the first half of a Monday Night Football game against the Patriots, who Darnold was just victorious over in the Super Bowl, saw the sophomore quarterback utter the words rival fanbases refused to let him forget. 

He found himself losing 33-0, throwing just 86 yards and throwing a career-high four interceptions, with the quote epitomising his lacklustre tenure in New York. 

Still only 22 years old, the strength of his draft class had begun to weigh him down with the media catching on to his struggles in comparison to the four other first-round quarterbacks.

Darnold was, fairly, called a ‘bust’ at the end of his tenure in New York, which was just a season after he offered his infamous quote. 

The Jets had coughed and spluttered to just two wins and the ownership saw fit to cash in on Darnold, sending him to Carolina for a collection of picks. 

They disastrously drafted Zach Wilson second overall and the Jets have still not turned the ship around. 

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Quarterback battles and holding the clipboard 

Four wins, and more interceptions than touchdowns saw the pre-season going into Darnold’s second season as Carolina Panthers quarterback seem a foregone conclusion. 

Another struggling quarterback from the 2018 draft, the first-overall pick Baker Mayfield, had left the Cleveland Browns after a poor season, a string of injuries and a public disagreement with the front office. 

Darnold and Mayfield found themselves in a quarterback battle for the starting role in Carolina. 

The results of which seemed to have potentially spelled the end for both as starting quarterbacks, with Mayfield originally beating Darnold out for the role, but finding himself without a team after another poor start. 

Darnold took the reins in Week 8 and started six games, winning four, but again poor play saw him become a free agent at the end of the season. 

As the postseason rolled around the following year, he found himself holding the clipboard for 2022’s ‘Mr. Irrelevant’ (a term given to the player drafted last: 262nd) Brock Purdy in the Super Bowl, which they lost to the Kansas City Chiefs. 

He started one game that season to the relief of Purdy, who was to be rested ahead of the postseason, and his status as a solid backup for franchise quarterbacks seemed to be cemented. 

The Vikings and an unexpected reversal of fortunes

With the former USC Trojan unassumingly taking a one year, $10 million contract with the Minnesota Vikings, the widely acknowledged idea was that Darnold would compete with Vikings first-round pick, quarterback J.J. McCarthy and offer him guidance as a veteran of the league. 

The Vikings were his fourth team in seven seasons. He had failed to find a team to offer him a long-term fit. 

At just 26 years of age, there was no longer a question about whether Darnold was the franchise quarterback that the Jets believed him to be when they drafted him. 

An injury to McCarthy in pre-season, which ruled him out for his entire rookie year, gave Darnold the chance to prove otherwise. 

Arguably up to this point the former college standout had not played in a well-organised team. 

The Jets have lost with and without Darnold, and the Panthers were, at the time of his tenure, widely considered an utter mess. 

This allowed for a unique pocket of opportunity; in his seventh season Darnold was finally offered a competent supporting cast as a starting quarterback. 

He finished the season with a playoff appearance, 35 touchdowns, named to the Pro Bowl and nominated for AP Comeback Player of the Year. 

The ‘bust’ that the New York Jets had drafted seemingly had a little left in the tank when offered stability. 

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Franchise quarterback - Super Bowl winner

Even still, as Darnold entered his reportedly three year, $100million contract with the now-victorious Seattle Seahawks, the front office presented their doubts in monetary form. 

If Darnold played poorly, they could part ways with the quarterback after one season after paying him $37.5million. 

Once again, when offered a supporting cast that compliments his quality, the now-Super Bowl winner was given the capacity to show his skillset. 

After defeating the New England Patriots 29-13 in the Super Bowl this past Sunday at the culmination of his season, any doubts at this stage would be remiss. 

Darnold, in just the past two seasons, has more wins than the New York Jets have managed since his departure and is the only quarterback other than Tom Brady to record consecutive fourteen-win seasons. 

His stature as a now multiple time Pro-Bowler, is nothing short of a shock to any long-time NFL watchers, but a welcome one given redemption is a rare thing in such a cut-throat sport. 

Darnold’s shock shift in career trajectory has seen him become an inspiration to many; his persistence has allowed him to become the first ever USC Trojan quarterback to win the Super Bowl, just three years after he was considered to be an aimless backup.

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