Sam Darnold vs. Drake Maye in Super Bowl LX Highlights Polar Opposite QB Success Stories

When the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks face off in Super Bowl LX, they'll be giving fans a thrilling quarterback matchup.

While a showdown between Drake Maye and Sam Darnold probably isn't the Super Bowl matchup anyone expected when the 2025 NFL season first began, it's an intriguing one for several reasons.

For starters, Maye and Darnold have both shown they're ready for the spotlight that the Super Bowl will bring. The latter played a nearly flawless game against the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday night, while the former had underwhelming stats against an elite Denver Broncos defense but made the big plays when they mattered most.

Regardless of which quarterback ends up holding the Lombardi Trophy on February 8, no one should view their campaign as a fluke.

Another reason why the QB matchup will be one of the top storylines over the next two weeks is the fact that Maye and Darnold navigated such different paths to get to this point.

One was in the Pro Bowl as a rookie. The other was initially viewed as a bust. In two weeks, one will be a champion.

Of course, while the success stories of Maye and Darnold look quite different, both started in a similar fashion. Both quarterbacks entered the NFL as top-three draft picks and elite prospects.

Darnold, who was drafted third overall by the New York Jets in 2018, was widely viewed as a "safe" prospect coming out of USC.

AP Photo/David J. Phillip

"His floor is solid starter, but he has the ceiling to be one of the top tier quarterbacks in the game as he gains more experience," NFL Media's Lance Zierlein wrote of Darnold in his pre-draft profile.

Maye wasn't widely considered as pro-ready as the top pick in the 2024 draft, Caleb Williams, but the North Carolina product was still viewed as a future NFL star.

"Maye has the skill set to fit in any system and develop into a star," Derrik Klassen wrote for the Bleacher Report Scouting Department ahead of the 2024 draft.

Maye, of course, was a near-instant sensation. Though last year's Patriots team wasn't good, winning only four games, he overcame a lackluster supporting cast to earn a trip to the Pro Bowl as an alternate.

AP Photo/Ashley Landis

Darnold also played on a four-win team as a rookie. However, his Jets teams never got markedly better, winning just 13 games in his first three seasons. By 2021, New York decided he was a bigger part of the problem than the potential solution and jettisoned him in a trade with the Carolina Panthers.

Zach Wilson, the No. 2 overall pick in 2021, fared no better than Darnold and was also out after three seasons. Roughly eight years after drafting Darnold, the Jets are still looking for their franchise quarterback—and they again hold a top-three draft selection.

Darnold wasn't a success in Carolina, either. He struggled through two difficult seasons before getting an opportunity to reset his career as a backup with the San Francisco 49ers.

He spent the 2023 season as Brock Purdy's understudy in San Francisco, learning under head coach Kyle Shanahan, passing game coordinator Klint Kubiak, and the most stable franchise of which he'd been a part to that point.

AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack

In 2024, he was signed as veteran insurance for the Minnesota Vikings, who subsequently used a first-round pick on Michigan's J.J. McCarthy.

However, McCarthy suffered a season-ending knee injury during the preseason, giving Darnold a chance to establish himself as a top-tier starting quarterback.

This past offseason, when Kubiak took over as the Seahawks' offensive coordinator, Seattle identified Darnold as a free-agency priority.

Maye, who won't turn 24 until next August, is set to be the youngest quarterback to start a Super Bowl since Dan Marino in 1985. Like Marino, he will do it in only his second season. Darnold will turn 29 in June, and it's taken him eight seasons and five teams to get his Super Bowl opportunity.

Yet, the paths of Maye and Darnold share another similarity: They made their way to Super Bowl LX only after being surrounded by the right supporting casts.

Maye was extremely fortunate to land in his situation by Year 2. New England found the right head coach to lead its franchise in Mike Vrabel, added a terrific play-caller in Josh McDaniels, and added difference-makers like Stefon Diggs, Milton Williams, Garrett Bradbury, and Will Campbell during the 2025 offseason.

Winslow Townson/AP Images for Panini

For Darnold, finding a quality situation took longer. While he showed flashes of elite upside early in his career, he didn't have the chance to consistently shine until he landed with a QB-friendly head coach in Kevin O'Connell and with an elite Vikings receiving corps.

In his only season as Minnesota's starter, Darnold won 14 games and made the Pro Bowl. He did the same after joining a playoff-ready Seahawks roster and another wonderful situation.

The Seahawks found the right head coach for their organization in Mike Macdonald, and they have a splendid play-caller in Kubiak. They also have arguably the best receiver in the game in Jaxon Smith-Njigba.

Now, here comes the hard truth that fans of the Jets, Las Vegas Raiders, Cleveland Browns and other franchises that can't seem to find a quarterback might not want to hear: The stories of Maye and Darnold aren't dramatically different because of the quarterbacks themselves. They're different because New England got its situation right quickly, and New York did not.

AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson

Not only did the Jets fail to find the right staff and roster to support Darnold, but they also gave up on him well before his rookie contract even ended—which should now serve as a cautionary tale.

"We decide in this league very quickly whether a guy can or can't play quarterback like it's a simple yes or no: This is the guy or this isn't the guy; let's either have a parade in the streets or let's move on and try and find another one," O'Connell said over the summer, per The Athletic's Zak Keefer.

The Jets decided Darnold couldn't play. The Vikings, and eventually the Seahawks, decided he could.

Teams hoping a 2026 draft prospect like Fernando Mendoza or Ty Simpson can change their franchise's fortunes must remember that a quarterback alone might not do the trick. If they can put a great cast around a young QB by Year 2, fantastic. If it takes longer, patience will be important.

Imagine if the Jets had used the 2021 draft to pair Darnold with Ja'Marr Chase or Penei Sewell instead of drafting Wilson, adding Sauce Gardner and Garrett Wilson the following year. New York might just have found the stability that its spinning QB carousel has prevented it from having.

We can't pretend the Patriots have always gotten it right, though. They also used a first-round pick in the 2021 draft on a quarterback who was traded after three seasons. Perhaps ironically, Mac Jones got his own chance to revitalize his NFL stock with the 49ers this season.

But New England did get it right when it chose to draft Maye in 2024 and when it made the series of moves it did this past offseason. The Seahawks also got it right when they decided to sign Darnold and trade former starter Geno Smith this offseason.

AP Photo/Jeff Roberson

Making the correct decisions has led both franchises to Super Bowl LX while giving Maye and Darnold the opportunity to play for a championship.

And as Darnold noted during a Fox postgame interview, proving himself to any doubters isn't as important as performing well for his current team.

"That doesn't matter to me," he said. "I just come to work every single day with these guys. These guys in the locker room, that's what it's about to me, man."

This leads us to perhaps the biggest commonality the two share despite their dissimilar career arcs: Maye and Darnold are both Pro Bowl quarterbacks who have delivered in the playoffs and who have found themselves in the right situations.

For one of them, their situation will help deliver the ultimate NFL success.