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NFL.com’s final post-Super Bowl LX “QB Index” just delivered a reality check Seahawks fans should actually appreciate: Sam Darnold is being treated like a legitimate top-tier quarterback now. Nick Shook ranked Darnold No. 7 out of 63 quarterbacks who started a game in 2025 (regular season + playoffs).
That’s not a “nice season” ranking. That’s a “your margin for error is gone” ranking.
Darnold’s placement also comes with an eyebrow raise: he finished ahead of Patrick Mahomes (No. 13), plus other big-name QBs in Shook’s Tier 2 cluster.
Seahawks News: NFL.com put Darnold in Tier 2, and the numbers explain why
Shook’s list is blunt about the résumé: Darnold’s 2025 line is 20 games, 66.7% completion, 4,720 passing yards, 8.3 yards per attempt, 30 TD, 14 INT.
That 8.3 yards per attempt is the kind of efficiency number that usually separates “good story” QBs from “this actually travels” QBs. And in Shook’s setup, it’s not just regular season inflation, the rankings are explicitly built off regular season and postseason play.
But here’s the part that makes this a real reality check, not just a victory lap:
Darnold’s same stat line includes 12 fumbles.
That’s the “fine print” Seahawks readers can’t ignore. When a quarterback is being ranked top-seven, the conversation changes from “can he do it?” to “can you survive the handful of negative plays that flip games?”
NFL News: What NFL.com actually praised and why it matters for Seattle
Shook didn’t frame Darnold as a QB who had to be Superman on every snap. In fact, he noted Darnold didn’t have to do “all that much” in two of Seattle’s three postseason wins, but credited him for powering the Seahawks to the Super Bowl with his NFC Championship performance and for winning “minor areas” in the Super Bowl itself (escaping sacks, extending plays, and scrambling in key spots).
That description is important because it highlights what Seattle should be chasing in 2026: not “Darnold has to be perfect,” but “Seattle has to keep the environment stable enough that his best traits show up on the biggest downs.”
In other words, the reality check isn’t “Darnold got exposed.” It’s: NFL.com just stamped him as a top-10 guy, so Seattle can’t build or coach like they’re still searching for one.
The real Seahawks takeaway: top-7 respect raises the standard
If your QB is being ranked No. 7, the offseason priorities get sharper:
- Protect the ball: 12 fumbles is a neon sign for coaching points, pocket management, and situational emphasis.
- Keep the offense on schedule: Shook’s praise centers on avoiding sacks and extending plays, which is often a thin line between explosive and disastrous.
- Expectations shift: a Tier 2 ranking means Seattle gets judged like a team that should be in the final eight every year, not a team “happy to be here.”
And yes, being ranked ahead of Mahomes is fun, but the more useful point is what Shook wrote about Mahomes: he slid amid late-season struggles and a season-ending ACL injury in Week 15, which underscores how quickly the QB landscape can change.
That’s the Seahawks reality check: Darnold just got top-7 respect. Now Seattle has to operate like it’s real.
Erik Anderson is an award-winning sports journalist covering the NBA, MLB and NFL for Heavy.com. He also focuses on the trading card market. His work has appeared in nationally-recognized outlets including The New York Times, Associated Press , USA Today, and ESPN. More about Erik Anderson
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