The first thing I really liked from Darnold was his anticipation on throws.
Here, he throws the ball before the receiver has made his break and hits him just inside the sidelines where he can make the catch before heading out of bounds.
Darnold also shows good vision down field, even when getting pressured.
Here, it looks like he is going to do a full bail out to his right, but he realizes that the rush has slowed and he has some space. He gets his eyes back down field, finds a receiver, and delivers a beautiful ball down the middle of the field.
An issue that you see repeatedly is how he immediately looks to bail out of the pocket when he feels any sort of pressure.
On the play above, he could have taken one step to his left and been free and clear to throw a ball anywhere in the field of play. Instead, he took 20 steps to his right and was forced to throw the ball away to avoid a worse outcome.
An issue that people have been bringing up a lot are turnovers. Both fumbles and interceptions were an issue for him in college. I feel like the former can be repaired, but his interception issues are very real. He would often miss high on passes which often will lead to interceptions. Other times, he would attempt to force a ball in, and sometimes it looked great, but when it failed, it did not look nearly as great.
One thing you do have to give the guy credit for is his leadership. He keeps his cool no matter what the situation is. It was the thing that got him national attention a year ago in the Rose Bowl against Penn State, and it continued this season. USC was down to Texas 17-14 with less than a minute remaining, and he just started throwing dimes. First, he threw a great pass to get his team in range to tie the game.
And he continued making great throws in overtime.
When the pressure is on, Darnold does not let it get to him.
You see that confidence throughout Darnold's game. He is unafraid to make make any pass no matter how tight the window.
Here, he shows incredible touch to put it right over the defenders in a place where his receiver can make the easy catch towards the back of the endzone.
Confidence is great and all, but occasionally confidence kills.
He again tries to lay the ball up for his receiver, but this time the double coverage is too much as Darnold underthrows the pass and the Stanford defender is able to make the interception.
Summary
Honestly, I just couldn't get excited about Sam Darnold.
There were some nice throws, some poor decisions, and yet despite never wowing me, it is pretty impressive how well USC did with him at quarterback.
It took me four games, but I finally found out who he was: Brett Favre, without a cannon for an arm. He isn't always accurate, scrambles better than his athleticism would make you believe is possible, and will make throws that make you scream, both good and bad. But without that cannon of an arm to fit into ultra tight windows, I'm not sure how exciting of a prospect you have at that point. In the wild west of the NFL, a gunslinger with a BB gun doesn't seem like much of a gunslinger at all.
The good news is that if quarterback doesn't work out, he could definitely have a future at the fullback position.
2018 Scouting Reports
Josh Rosen - Quarterback - UCLA
Josh Allen - Quarterback - Wyoming
Mason Rudolph - Quarterback - Oklahoma State
Lamar Jackson - Quarterback - Louisville
Baker Mayfield - Quarterback - Oklahoma
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