Seahawks' Sam Darnold ranks highly in QB clutch factor grade

Justin Melo, Seahawks WireThu, July 2, 2026 at 1:01 PM UTC

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Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold was extremely clutch for the team en route to the organization winning Super Bowl 60. Darnold proved to be the steal of the entire NFL offseason as the Seahawks got him on a three-year, $100.5 million deal. He was among the more clutch quarterbacks in the league, and Pro Football Focus has a new analytics-driven metric that proves it.

PFF developed a metric that measures clutch quarterback play. It's designed to evaluate quarterback play by directly using player grades and a variety of advanced metrics. It focuses specifically on grading quarterbacks in clutch situations in hyper-specific moments that create high stakes.

Unsurprisingly, Darnold graded out well, ranking No. 4 among all quarterbacks, ahead of Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen.

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"The Seahawks quarterback posted just a 0.89% turnover-worthy play rate, generating seven big-time throws against just one turnover-worthy play across 103 clutch dropbacks," Mark Chichester wrote. "But his success wasn't simply about avoiding mistakes. Darnold ranked among the NFL's top five quarterbacks in several key efficiency metrics, including accurate throw rate (73.3%, third), negatively graded play rate (8.9%, fifth) and yards per attempt (8.4, fifth). The combination of accuracy, efficiency and ball security helped produce one of the strongest clutch seasons of any quarterback in 2025."

Darnold was consistently clutch for the Seahawks in 2025. It was endearing to see, because it was an area of his game that was questioned when John Schneider signed him to replace Geno Smith. The Seahawks will compete for another Super Bowl if Darnold maintains his clutch play in 2026.

This article originally appeared on Seahawks Wire: Seahawks' Sam Darnold ranks highly in QB clutch factor grade

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Source: “AOL Sports”