Field Gulls on Sam Darnold
From the article
Sam Darnold has played poorly enough to justify talks about benching him... Darnold is 24th in EPA/play on play-action passes... and 25th in EPA/dropback on non-PA throws, right behind Bo Nix... When he's pressured, he is essentially a non-functioning quarterback... Dead last.
STACKED’s take
Darnold's 25th EPA/dropback and dead-last pressure rating justify benching discussions.
Sam Darnold has played poorly enough to justify talks about benching him. He ranks 24th in EPA/play on play-action passes (hampered by three interceptions and zero touchdown passes) and 25th in EPA/dropback on non-PA throws, right behind Bo Nix. His turnovers are described as absolute game-sinkers. When pressured, he is essentially a non-functioning quarterback, ranking dead last in EPA/dropback under pressure—a two-year trend of the same problem. He has been blitzed on almost 37% of his dropbacks (fifth-highest in the NFL), up from 34.8% last year. The source notes that his weaknesses in pure dropback situations were exposed late last season and have persisted into 2026, suggesting his long-standing weak spots may be structural rather than scheme-dependent.
Sam DarnoldQB · SEAPlayer page — value, ADP, projections, and every insight