The Seattle Seahawks are currently 5-2 on the season, and Sam Darnold is a major reason why. Many believed Darnold’s success with the Minnesota Vikings was a flash-in-the-pan type of situation, but that is not the case. In fact, an NFL insider has made a bold claim about Darnold and his new team.
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Darnold is finding huge success with his offense, and he has thrown 1,754 yards, 12 touchdowns, and four interceptions. The Seahawks signal caller is No. 7 in total passing yards, No. 8 in passing touchdowns, No. 11 with a 68.2 completion percentage, and No. 7 with 250.6 yards per game.
Simply put, Darnold is a top 10 quarterback in mostly every passing category, proving his success from the Vikings was not a fluke. Even better is that he has the NFL-leading receiver that he can dish the ball out to.
Jaxson Smith-Njigba leads the NFL with 819 yards thus far. He has exploded with Darnold at the helm, and is a major reason why NFL insider Peter Schrager believes this connection is on the same level as it was with Justin Jefferson in Minnesota.
Schrager joined “The Pat McAfee Show” to discuss the success of the Seahawks with Darnold at the helm, and heaped praise on the team’s current situation. Also pointing out that Smith-Njigba and Darnold are on the same level as Jefferson was with the star quarterback.
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“Sam Darnold is absolutely the leader of this team. Yesterday, he and Jaxson Smith-Njigba looked as good as he looked with Justin Jefferson last year. It’s unbelievable the connection they had. Eight catches, 153 yards, maybe something less than that. But every time that JSN was open, Sam had an eye open and would hit him … this guy, not a diva, not a gimme the ball, just does everything right. The two of them are on the same exact wavelength,” Schrager said.
This is a bold claim to make, as Darnold and Jefferson rode their connection all the way to the playoffs. This could be the same for him and Smith-Njigba.
Schrager sounds like he might have been taking a subtle shot at Jefferson with the diva comment, but the bottom line is that Smith-Njigba and Darnold are fantastic with one another. The Seahawks receiver will easily go over 1,000 yards this season, and is on pace to shatter the 1,964 receiving yards record that Calvin Johnson set with the Detroit Lions in 2012.
The Seahawks are proving to be a force in the NFC West, but they are up against the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams, who are also both 5-2.
It is going to be wild to see what happens in the division come playoff time, but Darnold and the Seahawks may just be the dark horse NFC Super Bowl favorite, especially if they continue to play at the level they currently are.
For more on the Seahawks, head to Newsweek Sports.
