Geno Smith far outdid Sam Darnold in respective debuts, analyst claims

It was a tale of two debuts for Seattle Seahawks QBs. First, former QB Geno Smith, who was traded for a pick that ended up being Jalen Milroe, made his Las Vegas Raiders debut in a win with former Seahawks coach Pete Carroll. Then, Sam Darnold made his Seahawks debut in a loss against the San Francisco 49ers.

Darnold struggled against a really stout 49ers defense, while Smith largely had his way with the lowly New England Patriots. At least for Week 1, it looked as if the Seahawks might've been a little unwise to make the swap, although the true judgment on this change cannot be rendered in just one game.

CBS Sports insider Jared Dubin graded the two players in their new homes. Darnold landed a C for his mediocre outing that ended with a red-zone fumble while Seattle trailed by four. Smith earned a solid B+ in the win.

As for Darnold, Dubin said he "did not have a strong debut." He went on to say, He finished 28th in EPA per play among the 30 quarterbacks who have played so far, as well as 26th in success rate and 30th in third-down conversion percentage."

Sep 7, 2025; Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA; Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Geno Smith (7) drops back to pass against the New England Patriots during the first half at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images | Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images

What's more, Darnold never had much of a chance at success. He was pressured on 41.7% of his dropbacks, so it was always going to be a struggle. Darnold actually did decently well, Dubin argued, in those spots, going 7 for 9 for 52 yards while pressured.

"When afforded clean pockets, though, Darnold was surprisingly unable to find any openings," Dubin concluded. "And this was against a defense changing over almost all of its personnel." It was not an inspiring showing.

It was, however, for the Raiders QB. "Smith led the NFL in catchable-throw rate, with only one off-target throw out of his 34 pass attempts, according to TruMedia. He was dropping dimes all over the field," Dubin wrote.

Smith's lone turnover was an ill-advised throw that got tipped and intercepted. It wasn't the worst throw, just not the wisest decision. "Were it not for the pick, we probably would have given Smith a higher grade here. But you've got to grade the entire performance and not just the good stuff, so we're dinging him very slightly for that throw here," Dubin concluded.

All in all, it was a bad week for Darnold and a good week for Smith. Time will tell if Seattle was wise to swap the two.

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