Seahawks’ Darnold lands just outside top 10 in ESPN’s QB rankings

With back-to-back Pro Bowl campaigns and a Super Bowl title, Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold has rewritten the narrative around his NFL career.

And in the process, he’s slowly but surely climbing the league’s QB hierarchy.

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The latest indication of that came Monday morning, when Darnold landed just outside the top 10 quarterbacks in ESPN’s annual position group rankings, which factor in surveys of league executives, coaches and scouts.

Darnold was officially one of seven honorable mentions on the list. But as ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler explained, Darnold was one of four quarterbacks in consideration for the No. 10 spot, along with Chicago’s Caleb Williams, Green Bay’s Jordan Love and Washington’s Jayden Daniels. Williams ultimately got the nod at No. 10.

“Four quarterbacks … were very close in voting for the 10th spot,” Fowler wrote. “So we took it to tiebreakers, gathering input from several general managers and executives. Why did Williams barely win out for the final spot on the list? He’s the hardest of the four for teams to prepare for and defend.”

Darnold wasn’t among the 18 quarterbacks who received votes in last year’s list, so nearly landing in the top 10 marks a considerable improvement.

Darnold earned his second straight Pro Bowl nod last season while quarterbacking the Seahawks to a franchise-best 14-3 regular season and a Super Bowl title. He fifth in the NFL in passing yardage (4,048), second in yards per pass attempt (8.5) and tied for seventh in completion rate (67.7%). He committed a league-high 20 turnovers, but closed with four consecutive turnover-free games from Week 18 through the Super Bowl.

Darnold had likely the best performance of his career in the NFC title game, making a slew of big-time throws while passing for 346 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions in Seattle’s 31-27 win over the archrival Los Angeles Rams.

“What a career bounce-back,” a high-ranking AFC team official told ESPN. “He’s been lights-out for two years. Deserves to be in the top 10.”

Buffalo’s Josh Allen was No. 1 in ESPN’s QB rankings, followed by Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes, the Los Angeles Rams’ Matthew Stafford, Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow and Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson. Dallas’ Dak Prescott, the Los Angeles Chargers’ Justin Herbert, New England’s Drake Maye, Detroit’s Jared Goff and Williams rounded out the top 10.

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