Where Sam Darnold and Geno Smith ranked in 12 key stats last year

After all that controversy, Geno Smith only wound up with $20 more in his pocket than Sam Darnold is getting from the Seattle Seahawks. The details of Smith's new deal with the Las Vegas Raiders are out - and they seem to reinforce the early take that this is a lateral move the Seahawks are making at quarterback - as Richard Sherman has suggested, among others.

We still think Darnold performed significantly better than Geno did on film last season - and in any case getting seven years younger at the game's most important position plus an extra third-round pick is well worth the trade if they are indeed equals on the field.

Let's see what the numbers have to say about that. Here's how Darnold and Smith ranked in a dozen different key metrics for NFL quarterbacks.

Passing yards - Geno Smith: 4,320 (ranked 4th) - Sam Darnold: 4,319 (ranked 5th)

Completion % - Geno Smith: 70.4% (ranked 8th) - Sam Darnold: 66.2% (ranked 21st)

Touchdowns -Geno Smith: 21 (ranked 13th) - Sam Darnold: 35 (ranked 5th)

Interceptions - Geno Smith: 15 (ranked 3rd) - Sam Darnold: 12 (tied for 5th)

Sacks - Geno Smith: 50 (ranked 3rd) - Sam Darnold: 48 (ranked 4th)

QBR - Geno Smith: 53.8 (ranked 21st) - Sam Darnold: 60.4 (ranked 14th)

Passer rating - Geno Smith: 93.2 (ranked 19th) - Sam Darnold: 102.5 (ranked 6th)

Success rate - Geno Smith: 48.7% (ranked 16th) - Sam Darnold: 50.9% (ranked 9th)

CPOE - Geno Smith: 5.6 (ranked 4th) - Sam Darnold: 3.9 (ranked 7th)

EPA/play - Geno Smith: 0.075 (ranked 17th) - Sam Darnold: 0.127 (ranked 14th)

Y/A - Geno Smith: 7.5 (ranked 13th) - Sam Darnold: 7.9 (ranked 6th)

GWD - Geno Smith: 4 (ranked 5th) - Sam Darnold 5 (tied for 2nd)

As far as rushing numbers go, Darnold and Smith were about equally productive, each with under 300 total yards and two or less touchdowns.

Aside from their touchdown totals (which is significant) it's difficult to make much of a case in either direction based purely on these numbers - which of course are subject to all kinds of different contexts.

The Vikings admittedly had a better offensive playcaller and a better skill group than the Seahawks last year, but the gap is not nearly as great as it's being made out to be by some analysts. Minnesota's offensive line is also not the elite group it's been sold as - if it was they wouldn't have splurged to sign both Will Fries and Ryan Kelly.

Overall it seems Darnold is an improvement but only a modest one, at least statistically. For this move to really pay off Darnold will have to continue growing as he did last year with Minnesota.

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