Fans of the Seattle Seahawks are well aware their quarterback, Sam Darnold, does not seem to get the credit he is due. This often leads to misinformed opinions at best, and at worst, outright negative bias from those who don't like the fact they've been routinely proven wrong about Darnold's status in the league. But no take has been as egregiously... nay, laughably... wrong as the one Bomani Jones just had. On his podcast, The Right Time, Jones was discussing the plight of the new Minnesota Vikings starting quarterback Kyler Murray. Given Sam Darnold's miraculous career-turnaround, going from bust-to-Super Bowl champion, teams around the league are naturally going to look for who they think could be the "next Sam Darnold" in terms of quarterback reclamation projects. However, Jones seemed to take umbrage with the idea Kyler Murray has to look up to Sam Darnold in this unique comparison. In fact, Jones went as far as to say "everybody who's like 'could Kyler Murray be the next Sam Darnold?' when the Hell did Sam Darnold get as good as Kyler Murray? I would much rather have Kyler Murray be my quarterback than Sam Darnold." When you've sucked in enough oxygen to resume breathing after your fit of hysterical laughter, and your eyeballs have successfully rolled back into their natural positions, you can see the claim for yourself in the tweet embedded below.
Let’s get real about Sam Darnold… “I would much rather have Kyler Murray be my quarterback than Sam Darnold.” pic.twitter.com/eQjZZcIxxX — The Right Time with Bomani Jones (@righttimebomani) August 13, 2026 There are... so many things flat out wrong in this opinion. Let's just start with recent history, since the NFL is a "what have you done for me lately?" kind of league. In the last two years, Sam Darnold has won 31 out of the 38 total games he's started in, which include winning Super Bowl LX over the New England Patriots and outgunning MVP Matt Stafford in the NFC Championship game (a game the Seahawks hosted, by the way, because Sam helped the Seahawks win the NFC West over the Rams). Kyler, during this same two-year span, went 10-12 and was cut by the team that once drafted him No. 1 overall. Looking at their career win/loss records, Sam Darnold is 49-41 while Murray is 38-48-1. "But Kole, quarterback wins aren't a real stat!" I hear some of you say. I also hear some say "Kyler had to play for the Cardinals" as if Sam didn't have to play for the Jets and Panthers himself. Fine, let's look at their production on the field. If we are comparing their careers overall, they actually have strikingly similar numbers. But we aren't looking at the totality. "What have you done for me lately?", remember? Sam Darnold has nearly double the passing yards when compared to Kyler Murray (8,367 to 4,813) and smokes him when it comes to passing touchdowns (60 to 27). It should be noted these are just regular season numbers. We aren't comparing playoff numbers because only Sam Darnold has those, as Murray has been to the postseason exactly once in his career, and that was all the way back in 2021 which was a blowout loss in the Wild Card round. (Also... Sam Darnold spent the better part of two full seasons, between Carolina and San Francisco, as a backup. Isn't it telling that a player with two years relegated to the bench, and a disastrous start with the Jets, has similar career numbers to a full-time starter who was a No. 1 overall pick?) "But Kole," I continue to hear folks say. "This isn't fair, Kyler Murray was shut down due to injury last season." Okay, sure, that was the official word from the Cardinals. But anyone with eyes could see that was a soft benching and an obvious ploy by the team to keep him healthy before releasing him. And even if it truly was a foot injury that kept him out, availability is an ability. Sam Darnold has started all 34 possible regular season games over the last two years. The other point I want to mention is what Bomani Jones said about "I know that people don't like him (Kyler)" and mentioned "good hang versus bad hang" with regards to how people perceive both quarterbacks. He said this without apparently realizing what a massive deal this is! Likability is kind of the whole point, here. Sam Darnold is a natural born leader, something that has never been used to describe Kyler Murray - a quarterback critiqued for poor body language on the sidelines. Wherever Sam Darnold goes, he is instantly beloved by his teammates. Just ask Ernest Jones IV or Devon Witherspoon. As for Kyler Murray, he once needed contractually mandated study hall hours from the Cardinals. Although that particular clause was removed from his contract, the fact the Cardinals felt the need to even include it says plenty. Perhaps Kyler Murray can turn it around in Minnesota. Ironically, that is where Sam Darnold was able to right the ship of his career! Murray has access to an elite corps of wide receivers, and one of the best offensive coaches in the game with Kevin O'Connell. If there were ever a place to begin a revival, he's in the right spot. But until we see something drastically improved, I think just about everyone would choose to have Sam Darnold (a player who was just named the 21st best player in the NFL out of the Top 100) as their quarterback over Kyler Murray. I know the Vikings would make the same choice, if given a do-over. This article originally appeared on Seahawks Wire: Bomani Jones makes outrageous claim about Sam Darnold vs Kyler Murray