Sam Darnold's NFL Top 100 Reveal Draws Strong Criticism

0 Share Newsweek is a Trust Project member See more of our trusted coverage when you search. Prefer Newsweek on Google to see more of our trusted coverage when you search. The NFL unveiled more of its top 100 players on Friday, as voted on by players, with the Seattle Seahawks ' star quarterback Sam Darnold receiving the No. 21 spot on the annual list.

A highlight video accompanied the announcement of his ranking, with various teammates and opponents commenting about what makes Darnold such a great player in the league.

"Nothing seems to rattle him, like if he has pressure in his face, it seems like he still somehow makes the right throw," Houston Texans cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. said. "If he has time, he has the arm strength to throw it down the field, and he just elevates players around him."

Those players include his Pro Bowl receiver, Jaxson Smith-Njigba, Cooper Kupp, and Rashid Shaheed, who Darnold threw to quite often on last season's push toward the playoffs, which culminated in winning Super Bowl LX.

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The NFL Top 100 Players of 2026 tends to bring debates about whether players are too high or too low on the list. Fans reacted in the X comments to the NFL's video, with more than a few suggesting Darnold's spot was too high on the list.

"I think 21 is too high This is Super Bowl recency bias, same thing that put Hurts at 9 last year," one commenter wrote.

"Sam Darnold over Lamar and Burrow time to take the players votes away," another commenter said, referring to the Baltimore Ravens' Lamar Jackson and Cincinnati Bengals' Joe Burrow.

"There's no way Sam Darnold was ranked the 21st PLAYER in the NFL before the playoffs happened. Something isnt right here," a fan suggested.

Other comments said, "Overrated" and "This list has never made less sense than it does this year."

Last season, Darnold threw for 4,048 passing yards, which was fifth-best in the NFL. His 25 touchdown passes ranked ninth-best among quarterbacks. He had a 67.7% completion rate, seventh-best among QBs.

His passer rating was just below 100, and his QBR was an above-average 55.6. That was lower than the much-better QBRs achieved by Stafford, the Dallas Cowboys' Dak Prescott, the Green Bay Packers' Jordan Love, and the Kansas City Chiefs' Patrick Mahomes.

Darnold's Super Bowl-winning season didn't include winning the NFL Most Valuable Player Award, which instead went to rival quarterback Matthew Stafford of the Los Angeles Rams. Stafford's spot on the NFL Top 100 list has yet to be revealed.

Seeing Darnold, who played for several other teams before joining Seattle, finally get that big Super Bowl win likely helped solidify him as a top quarterback in many players' minds. Still, he's not the top quarterback, as there are 20 more spots on the list, with Stafford and Mahomes still to be revealed.

Things could be a lot tougher for Darnold and the Seahawks' battle to repeat as champions this coming season. Their NFC rivals, the Rams, kept Stafford and added a lot to their defense with big offseason trades for defensive end Myles Garrett from the Cleveland Browns and cornerback Trent McDuffie from the Chiefs.

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