Sam Darnold Accomplishes 2018 NFL Draft Class Feat Before Allen, Lamar With Seahawks' Super Bowl Win

For much of his career, Sam Darnold watched the other quarterbacks in his draft class thrive while he served as a backup.

Now, he's the first quarterback from the 2018 draft class to win a Super Bowl.

He led the Seattle Seahawks to a victory over the New England Patriots on Sunday, giving him a Super Bowl before star quarterbacks such as Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson and Baker Mayfield.

Darnold was taken third overall in the 2018 NFL draft after a strong career at USC, and expectations were high early in his career.

He struggled to meet those expectations, though. He never found consistency with the New York Jets and was eventually traded to the Carolina Panthers ahead of the 2021 season.

After more struggles with the Panthers, Darnold moved to a backup role in 2022 before serving as Brock Purdy's backup with the San Francisco 49ers in 2023.

Finally, Darnold had his breakout season. He earned the starting job with the Minnesota Vikings in 2024 and shocked everyone with the best season of his career, which helped lead the team to a 14-3 record.

Darnold had plenty of teams interested in him last offseason, but he chose to go to Seattle. That decision paid off as he put together another tremendous season to help lead the Seahawks to a 14-3 record that earned them the top seed in the NFC.

The Seahawks and Darnold downed the Niners in the divisional round and the Rams in the NFC Championship before a dominant win over New England on Sunday. Darnold finished with 202 yards and a touchdown in the win.

Darnold has long been chasing the kind of success former MVPs Jackson and Allen have achieved, but now he has something those two stars have yet to accomplish.