Darnold (year 7, first with Vikings) was pretty good in the RZ in ‘24
62 for 88 (70.5%), 395 Yards (4.5 yards/att) 26 TDs to 4 Ints
Compared to Geno (year 12, fifth with Seahawks):
27 for 56 (48.2%), 211 Yards (2.8 Y/A), 10 TDs to 5 Ints.
And I want you stress what is in parenthesis next to the names because Geno had 2-5 off-seasons/training camps/games of building chemistry and familiarity with most of his skills players.
Don’t know if it’s something in his film while he had better stats 18 TDs, 0 Ints in ‘22; 15 to 2 in ‘23 his accuracy nosedives within the RZ (53.9 in ‘22, 43.1 in ‘23, and the 48.2 last season). Not to say it isn’t to be expected but Smith has been one of the most accurate QBs in the league overall and I’m sure his accuracy numbers outside of the RZ are in the 70-80%. Just kind of weird that he becomes a different QB in the RZ, you’d almost wished he had turned up his athleticism and run with more authority to negate some of those flaws whether it’s reading defenses or executing on script.