The Seattle Seahawks were faced with two paths this offseason: stick with Geno Smith... or go in a different direction with someone younger and less expensive. The Seahawks opted to go with the latter.

This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/seahawks as Sam Darnold is totally dominating NFL peers in most advanced stats.

Through five weeks, the Seahawks have the highest explosive pass rate in football, establishing themselves as one of the more pleasant surprises of the young season. Their success starts with Darnold, who’s playing as well as any quarterback in the league. Darnold’s talent has never been a question, but this is the cleanest he’s played.

The 2025 group of non-homegrown first-round passers ranks in the top five in all those categories when comparing all other seasons since 1970. In fact, the first-round QB retreads have never had a better season in terms of completion rate (68%) and TD-to-INT ratio (3.3) than they're having right now.

This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/seahawks as NFL insider: 'Resurrected' Sam Darnold playing best football with Seahawks.

In just five games, Sam Darnold has completed 73.1% of his passes and has produced 1,246 passing yards and nine touchdowns.

Mayfield signed with the Los Angeles Rams the day after being cut and started their Thursday Night Football game just two days after joining the team. He led them to a 17-16 comeback win over the Las Vegas Raiders, going 22-for-35 with 230 passing yards in a new offense, and sparked belief in his abilities once again.

Jaxon Smith-Njigba has become a lethal weapon for Seattle's passing game, but he hasn't done it all on his own.