Comparing Sam Darnold and Geno Smith through 12 weeks of NFL season

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. Seattle traded Geno Smith, a quarterback who had guided the team to three-consecutive winning seasons, to the Las Vegas Raiders and signed Sam Darnold after his explosive season with the Minnesota Vikings.

This will be one of the more compelling side-stories the 12th Man will be following. It is only natural to be curious about the road not taken. Both quarterbacks have had an issue with ball security this season, especially Sam Darnold in recent weeks, but Darnold was able to clean things up in Week 12. Darnold completed 16-of-26 passes for 244 yards and threw a pair of touchdowns to Jaxon Smith-Njigba in a 30-24 win over the Titans. Meanwhile, his predecessor Geno Smith, was 30-for-44 for 285 yards and a touchdown in Las Vegas' 24-10 home loss to the Browns. Smith also fumbled twice, with one being recovered by Cleveland. Oh, and the Raiders fired offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, being the third OC fired with Geno Smith at the helm in both Vegas and Seattle.

Sam Darnold's 2025 stats:

• 2,785 passing yards

• 19 touchdown passes

• 10 interceptions

• Completion percentage of 69.5%

• 9.3 yards per attempt

• Passer rating of 106.2

Geno Smith's 2025 stats:

• 2,367 passing yards

• 13 touchdown passes

• 13 interceptions (tied with Tua Tagovailoa for most in NFL)

• Completion percentage of 66%

• 6.7 yards per attempt

• Passer rating of 82.4

This article originally appeared on Seahawks Wire: Comparing Seahawks QB Sam Darnold and Raiders QB Geno Smith