Sam Darnold Becoming the Next Nick Foles? How He Can Also Become a Super Bowl Legend

Sam Darnold is no longer a bust-turned-journeyman quarterback; he’s an integral cog on one of the best teams the NFL has ever seen.

Not convinced by the “hyperbole?” The 2025 Seattle Seahawks rank sixth in DVOA since 1978, which is as far back as the stat is measured. Darnold quarterbacked the Seahawks in all 17 regular-season games and through their two playoff appearances, the most recent of which easily ranks as the best performance of his career.

While the Sam Darnold rise leading up to the Super Bowl was widely unexpected, it is not without precedent. In fact, the former is only one game away from following in the footsteps of one of the NFL’s most unlikely heroes.

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Sam Darnold Career Arc

Darnold was drafted by the New York Jets with the third pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. In three seasons, he tallied 45 touchdowns and 39 interceptions while averaging 213 passing yards. He was then sent for a ride that included a two-year stay with the Carolina Panthers and a layover as the San Francisco 49ers backup before he settled with the Minnesota Vikings in 2024.

It was there that Darnold rebuilt his reputation in the NFL. He produced the clear-cut best season of his career, throwing for 4,319 yards, 35 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions, helping the Vikings climb to a 13-4 record. However, with their future tied to then-first-round rookie J.J. McCarthy, they allowed him to sign with the Seahawks in free agency.

Darnold picked up where he left off, racking up 4,048 yards, 25 TDs, and 14 INTs in his first season in the Pacific Northwest. 

Putting aside what he did in the regular season, the best moment in Darnold’s career came in the NFC Championship Game. Up against a Los Angeles Rams team that many expected to win the Super Bowl, he stared Matthew Stafford in the eye and torched the LA defense for 346 yards and three touchdowns.

Darnold controlled nearly every blade of grass when he was on the field and drove the Seahawks to clinching a spot in Super Bowl LX. 

Following the Nick Foles Arc?

Darnold’s miraculous turnaround is commendable, but also reminiscent of one Super Bowl legend: ex-Philadelphia Eagles QB Nick Foles.

Foles was the backup for Carson Wentz in 2017 until the former tore ACL in Week 14. On short notice, Foles filled in and quickly grew in confidence, eventually throwing for 352 yards and three touchdowns, nearly identical to Darnold’s last outing, in the NFC Championship Game.

As most football fans know, Foles stayed hot in the Super Bowl. He threw for 373 yards, three TDs, an interception, and caught a touchdown as the Eagles shocked, as fate would have it, the New England Patriots, 41-33.

Foles earned the highest QBR a quarterback has ever received in a Super Bowl in that game.

While the stories aren’t identical, they both involve underdog quarterbacks who rose and shone at the most opportune time possible. With Darnold now preparing for his shot at the Patriots, he has a golden opportunity to fulfill his Nick Foles-esque destiny with a win in Super Bowl LX.

He's currently the Super Bowl MVP favorite at the FanDuel Sportsbook with +115 odds.

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