Sam Darnold Fantasy Football Outlook For 2026: A Reliable QB2 Option In Superflex?
Fantasy

Sam Darnold Fantasy Football Outlook For 2026: A Reliable QB2 Option In Superflex?

Sam Darnold led the Seahawks to a Super Bowl win in his inaugural season in Seattle. Will that success carry over to Fantasy Land in 2026?

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Sam Darnold experienced a career resurgence in Minnesota in 2024 before leading the Seahawks to a Super Bowl victory in his first campaign out west. While his production didn't necessarily translate to fantasy football success, is there room for Darnold to rack up more statistical production in 2026?

Ian Hartitz dives into Sam Darnold's fantasy football value ahead of 2026 as part of his overarching Seattle Seahawks Team Preview for the upcoming season.

SEA_seahawks-logo.svgJust how great was Sam Darnold last season?

Amazing—particularly in the first half of the season. Overall, Darnold posted objectively great marks in EPA per dropback (+0.16, 11th), success rate (53.3%, 4th), and completion percentage over expected (+5.2%, 4th), looking every bit like one of the game's best pure throwers of the football along the way.

Unfortunately, Darnold's real-life success didn't overly translate to fantasy land. His status as last season's QB25 (13.9 fantasy points per game) reflects the reality that there's a low ceiling for the relatively immobile veteran inside the league's seventh-most run-heavy offense in dropback rate over expected.

Sam Darnold Fantasy Football Outlook For 2026

The bull case here is that the team's new playcaller and backfield result in more of a pass-first approach in 2026; either way, Darnold is more of a one-QB league streamer option and mid-round superflex target than someone the majority of drafters should be going out of their way for.

Also note: Drew Lock is the next man up should Darnold miss any game action. … Jalen Milroe obviously doesn't have a realistic path to starting football games anytime soon, but the dual-threat Alabama product has the sort of skill set to perhaps enjoy a Malik Willis-esque career trajectory. I'm a fan of stashing these sorts of fantasy-friendly quarterbacks in dynasty when possible.

Players Mentioned in this Article

  1. Sam Darnold
    SamDarnold
    QBSEASEA
    PPG
    14.1
    Proj
    258.7

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