Seahawks' Sam Darnold considered relatively useless in fantasy football

Quarterback may be far and away the most important position in real football, but fantasy football is a different story.

Sure, quarterbacks are usually the highest-scoring players on anyone's fantasy team, but as long as one starts and finishes a full game, they're likely to earn a good amount of points regardless. As such, running backs and wide receivers often get more attention due to the greater variance at those positions.

That said, quarterbacks can still make or break a fantasy player's season. So, that begs the question, how does new Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold stack up amongst his peers? If projections from Matt Brandon of Fantasy Sports On SI are anything to go by, not well.

Jun 11, 2025; Renton, WA, USA; Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold (14) passes the ball during mini-camp at Virginia Mason Athletic Center. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Brashear-Imagn Images | Stephen Brashear-Imagn Images

In a new quarterback ranking published by Brandon earlier this week, Darnold was placed in Tier 5 at No. 26 overall. Coincidentally, that means he's one spot ahead of the quarterback he's replacing, Geno Smith.

Last year was by far the best season of Darnold's career, as he threw for 4,319 yards with 35 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. That made him the No. 9 quarterback in all of fantasy football.

Before that, however, Darnold was pretty unspecial in fantasy. He was the No. 27 quarterback in both 2018 and 2019, No. 32 in 2020 and No. 28 in 2021. However, it's important to remember that he didn't play the full 16/17 games any of those times, so it's fair to cut him a bit of slack.

Still, these are all just projections. If Darnold plays like he did last season, he could very well be a top 10 or top 15 fantasy quarterback once again.

"The beauty of the QB landscape is its unpredictability—and every year, someone from the back half of drafts turns into a league-winner," Brandon wrote.

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