Leonard Williams reveals how Sam Darnold has grown from early in his NFL career

There are ton of gifted players on the Seattle Seahawks' roster this year. That said, you can make a case that the two most-important players on the team are veteran defensive end Leonard Williams and starting quarterback Sam Darnold.

So, a whole lot is riding on the health of two guys who have been teammates a few times before. Both Williams and Darnold played their college football at USC, and then a couple of seasons together with the New York Jets.

That means Williams knows as well as anyone how Darnold has developed as a quarterback over the course of his career. Williams talked about that and several other topics in an appearance on The Insiders on NFL Network earlier this week.

From The Insiders on @NFLNetwork: #Seahawks Pro Bowl DE Leonard Williams joined the show to discuss reuniting with Sam Darnold, the play of his defense, and facing Baker Mayfield and the #Bucs. pic.twitter.com/pfUyT8pYrR
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 3, 2025

The intangibles might be the most obvious change that Darnold has made since he had a brutal beginning to his career with the Jets.

However, as far as his work on the field is concerned the biggest change is arguably a more understated approach. Darnold came into the league with a powerful arm and he was never shy about using it.

While you want your quarterback to be aggressive, Darnold definitely went over the top in this department. Over his first four seasons in the NFL he threw 54 touchdown passes, but he also threw 52 interceptions.

It wasn't until Darnold spent a season with the 49ers that he really had a break-through in his approach. Darnold credits Brock Purdy with helping him learn to move the chains a little at a time, take what the defense is giving him and not forcing deep throws so much.

Last season Darnold was able to put it all together, combining his athletic gifts with a newfound high football IQ, resulting in an incredible breakout season with the Vikings. Darnold threw for a career-high 35 touchdown passes to go with just 12 interceptions.

So far Darnold has thrown two picks in four games for Seattle, but one of them was more a great defensive play by Jalen Ramsey than anything Darnold did wrong. He's still being quite aggressive pushing the ball down the field, as well. Darnold currently leads the NFL with 9.1 yards per pass attempt and 12.9 yards per completion.

If Darnold can get into a consistent rhythm with any other pass-catcher aside from Jaxon Smith-Njigba, we should see him start to post some Minnesota-type numbers soon.

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