There is an argument to be made that Sam Darnold of the Minnesota Vikings was actually better than Sam Darnold of the Seattle Seahawks. The question is: can Sam Darnold of the Seattle Seahawks be better the second time around than the first?
Darnold is the poster boy of an NFL bust-gone-good. From failure with the New York Jets to a Super Bowl winner with the Seahawks, Darnold has walked a football journey unlike any other, and he may not be finished extending that incredible story just yet.
Darnold will enter his second season with the Seahawks in four months, and opening that season up against the team he just beat in the championship game, mind you. What a whirlwind of anticipation that should be.
Yet, last season wasn't Darnold's best, despite the big win, which begs the question: how can he be even better next season? Thankfully, there is one major element that can make Darnold better.
The Seattle Seahawks need Sam Darnold to reduce his turnovers
What made Darnold's one year with the Vikings look better than his first with the Seahawks was his statistics alone. In Minnesota, Darnold threw for 4,319 yards compared to 4,048 yards last year in Seattle. Additionally, his touchdown-to-interception ratio was also significantly more impressive with the Vikings (35-12) than with the Seahawks (25-14).
On top of that, Darnold's 102.6 passer rating was much better in Minnesota than last season's 99.1. In the grand scheme of things, at the end of the day, Darnold was still very good in Seattle; it's not as if he suffered some catastrophic drop in production; it only lessened a little. His numbers are the only reason why he was a better Viking than a Seahawk.
As far as winning goes, well, that's a no-brainer and non-discussion. Darnold won the Super Bowl with a pretty good season of production behind him, and he was a solid team leader along the way. All of that said, however, Darnold had one detractor last season with the Seahawks: turnovers, 20 of them, to be exact.
Paired with his 14 touchdowns, Darnold recorded 11 fumbles, losing six of them. He led the NFL in total quarterback turnovers. He had just 13 turnovers with the Vikings.
What will make Darnold an even better quarterback next season? Simply reduce the turnovers. He won't be perfect; Darnold isn't an elite quarterback, and despite the resurgence of his career, he will be a quarterback who turns the ball over, but it doesn't have to look like it did last season.
Darnold has much room for growth in this area, and thankfully, the Seahawks have had and still have the type of defense that can cover for offensive mistakes and miscues. If Darnold can decrease his turnovers next season, it should be expected that his numbers resemble those with the Vikings instead of his first year with the Seahawks.
Another full offseason with his offense and another season in the system should help, but this is how Darnold gets even better. And if he gets even better by keeping the interceptions down and cutting out the fumbles, the Seahawks offense can look even more dangerous next season, and even with Darnold's turnovers, they were extremely dangerous already.
This article was originally published on www.12thmanrising.com as Seahawks' future hinges on Sam Darnold rediscovering his Vikings form.
