SEA · QB

Sam Darnold

Sam Darnold is a quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks. Depth chart: QB1.

Scouting report

Sam Darnold: the full picture

Written automatically from Gridiron Value model data · updated October 20, 2026

Sam Darnold at a glance

Sam Darnold is a 29-year-old quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks, listed at 6'3" and 225 pounds. The New York Jets drafted Darnold 3rd overall in the first round in 2018, out of USC; this is year nine in the league.

2026 projection

Our season projection has Darnold at 266.5 PPR points for 2026, which ranks QB15 at the position and works out to 16.4 points per game over 17.0 projected games.

2026 season so far

Through 5 games of 2026, Darnold has scored 60.8 PPR points, or 12.2 per game. That is 22.8% of the full-season projection; at the current rate Darnold would finish with about 207 points, behind the 266.5 projected. The best week so far is 27.7 points in Week 3 against WAS, the QB2 finish that week. Darnold has cleared the 18-point mark we count as a usable QB start in 1 of 5 games, a 20% consistency rate.

Percentile profile

Measured against the 34 qualified quarterbacks of 2026, Darnold ranks in the 57th percentile in CPOE, the 54th percentile in td rate and the 51st percentile in yards per attempt. The softest mark is the 4th percentile in interception rate.

Career track record

By season-long PPR scoring, Darnold has finished as QB32 in 2020, QB28 in 2021, QB35 in 2022, QB54 in 2023, QB9 in 2024 and QB14 in 2025. One of those 8 seasons ended inside the top twelve. The high-water mark is 308.0 PPR points in 2024. Across 105 regular-season games on record, the totals read 21,464 passing yards, 130 passing touchdowns, 1,099 rushing yards and 14 rushing touchdowns.

Sam Darnold by the numbers

Darnold has finished in the weekly top five at the position 10 times and finished in the top twelve 30 times. The career high is 34.6 PPR points, set in Week 14 of 2024 against ATL. The game log also shows 2 games of 30 or more PPR points, 14 300-yard passing games and 18 games with three or more touchdowns. In all, Darnold has reached 20 points in 23 games, 22% of career appearances.

How the production happens

In 2026, Darnold threw 4.8 deep passes per game (15 or more air yards) and completed 50% of them, against 24.6 short attempts per game at 63%. About 10.4 passes per game fell incomplete. Average time to throw was 2.86 seconds.

Contract

Darnold is playing on a three-year, $101 million contract signed with the Seattle Seahawks in 2025, an average of $33.5 million per year with $37.5 million guaranteed. The deal runs through the 2027 season.

Dynasty market

In dynasty formats Darnold carries a GV stock price of 2,941, which ranks 100th overall and QB26 among quarterbacks out of 940 priced players. In redraft the same model ranks Darnold 95th overall. Value has moved down 9.7 since the previous model run. The closest profiles by the similarity model are Kyler Murray, Mac Jones and Mason Rudolph. See where Darnold sits on the trade value chart.

2026 projected stat line

Projected PPR
266.5
PPR / game
16.4

Sam Darnold fantasy outlook

Sam Darnold enters the 2026 season with SEA and ranks QB15 and #28 overall in the current Gridiron Value projection. The model projects 266.5 PPR points across 16.2 games, or 16.4 points per game, placing the expected outcome in a strong starter tier. The preseason depth chart lists Sam Darnold as QB1, so the opportunity forecast is tied to that current role rather than name value alone. In 2025, Sam Darnold produced 235.4 PPR points in 17 games (13.8 per game), giving the projection a recent performance baseline. Projection confidence is 59%, with a 67% modeled chance of a Top-24 positional finish. Availability is the main uncertainty because the current injury designation is Out.

Week 1 projection

Sam Darnold is projected for 16.5 PPR points at home against NE in week 1, with a likely range of 0.2 to 43.0.

Trade value

Gridiron Value prices every player from 0 to 100 within each league format. Value is down 9.7 since the previous model run (falling).

Redraft
36.2
Dynasty
28.5
Superflex redraft
76.2
Superflex dynasty
69.0
TE premium dynasty
17.2

Compare Sam Darnold on the trade value chart

Career stats

SeasonTeamGCmpAttPass ydsPass TDIntRush ydsRush TDPPR
2026SEA5901491,0337735060.8
2025SEA173234774,0482514950235.4
2024MIN173615454,31935122121308.0
2023SF1028462972115123.4
2022CAR6821401,14373106286.3
2021CAR122434062,5279132225157.3
2020NYJ122173642,2089112172134.0
2019NYJ132734413,0241913622189.2
2018NYJ132394142,86517151351168.1

Quarterbacks ranked near Sam Darnold

Seattle Seahawks fantasy players

Seattle Seahawks depth chart and projections

Projections are model estimates, not recorded results. Snapshot 2026-10-20.