How Does Sam Darnold’s Year In Minnesota Compare To This Year?

Minnesota Vikings fans overall seem pretty sore about watching Sam Darnold make his way to the Super Bowl just one year after helping propel Minnesota to a playoff season in 2024.

"We shouldn't have let him walk" is among the comments I've been seeing and hearing from Vikings fans as they compare what Darnold did with his new team compared to the 2025 quarterback situation in Minnesota.

That 2025 Vikings quarterback situation? It was pretty rough.

The 2025 Vikings Situation Was Bad: By The Numbers

The Minnesota Vikings and their combined quarterback efforts from J.J. McCarthy, Carson Wentz, and Max Brosmer combined for one of the worst passing offense performances in the entire league this last season.

In passing yards, for example, the Vikings were the third-worst team in the league, with a meager 3,208 yards, just ahead of the Browns and the league-worst Jets.

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Minnesota also ranked near the bottom of the league in passing touchdowns, passer rating, and completion percentage, and had the most interceptions among all teams of 2025, with a miserable 21 INTs thrown by Vikings quarterbacks.

Whether you live on the optimistic side of growing a young quarterback (who happened to be injured for a sizable chunk of the season) or not, those aren't good numbers. Looking fondly back at Darnold and the 14-3 record Minnesota enjoyed the year prior makes it easy to wonder "what if?"

Comparing Sam Darnold's 2024 Vikings season to his 2025 season with the Seahawks

Like it or not, football is very much a team sport. With 11 guys on the field at any given time, that creates a lot of variables. Would Sam have enjoyed the same success again in 2025 had Minnesota kept him?

We won't really know. One thing we do know is how his performances compare from a statistical perspective. Playing in all 17 games and getting into the playoffs in both seasons, here's how his last two seasons compare in key stats:

Statistics courtesy of Pro Football Reference 2024 / 2025

I highlighted the better statistic in each category in bold. As you can see, Darnold almost completely had a better season as a quarterback in Minnesota. The only places he did better statistically this season were with a slightly better completion percentage and (obviously) the playoff record.

The big stat that stands out to me is that he threw for 10 fewer touchdowns this year than compared to the season prior in Minnesota.

With a stout defense and a top-10 rushing attack in both yards and scoring, Sam wasn't asked to do as much in order to achieve a greater level of success.

Minnesota, on the other hand, had a middle-of-the-pack performance in the running game this season, and while the Vikings' defense was good, it still had holes and struggles in 2025. One of them, namely, was against the running game.

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Even with those statistics, games would have been played differently had Sam still been in Minnesota. That said, we'll never really know if he would still be going to the Super Bowl if he had stayed with the Vikings.

If you just plopped Darnold's 2025 stats into what was otherwise the Vikings' 2025 season, Minnesota probably would have made it into the playoffs. Heck, we were still somehow not that far out, even with how things went. Based on the rest of the team's performances and injuries and such, would we have made it all the way to the Super Bowl, though?

My gut says no.

Despite that, there's no arguing that while he statistically took a step backward in 2025 with the Seahawks, Darnold would have still been a considerable upgrade over what Minnesota saw in 2025.

Can't go back and undo it now, though. Best of luck, Sam! Hopefully, the Vikings can figure their stuff out and get back into the playoff mix for 2026.