Darnold is focusing on Buckeyes, not NFL
DALLAS — Sam Darnold, along with several Southern California teammates, walked into the Cotton Bowl media break room Wednesday morning, and he immediately jumped into a game of pool, drawing cameramen’s attention the breadth of which Minnesota Fats in his prime would have dreamed.
Not that Darnold shot pool to the high level of Fats. Nowhere close.
The attention was because of the third-year sophomore
quarterback’s rise in the last year and a half to be considered the first player taken in the 2018 NFL draft. That is, if he declares after the Cotton Bowl against Ohio State on Friday night at AT&T Stadium.
He was asked whether he had pictured himself in the uniform of the Cleveland Browns, who, winless with a game to go, already have the rights to the first pick. He chuckled at the question but did not dismiss it or the Browns as he scrambled to make the point that his mind is focused on the Buckeyes.
“Whenever I come out to go to the NFL, I’d be honored to play for any team,” Darnold said. “It’s been a dream of mine for such a long time to play in the NFL on any team that would want to give me that opportunity to be a part of their organization. It would mean the world to me.”
He has given no indication of his plans, but he didn’t try to convince reporters the possibility isn’t on his mind.
“I think about it every now and then, but really, (I'm) just trying to focus on this game because of the challenges Ohio State presents,” Darnold said. “They’ve presented them all year to teams, and it’s going to be a challenge, and we’re really excited for it.
“I can’t be thinking about other things. I have to be all in on Ohio State. And if I think about any other things than that, then I think I might be doing myself injustice in terms of preparing really hard for them.”
Coming off his stellar play as a redshirt freshman in a 52-49 win over Penn State in last season’s Rose Bowl, Darnold was considered one of the preseason frontrunners for the Heisman Trophy. A 49-14 loss to Notre Dame at midseason, along with throwing 12 interceptions compared with 26 touchdown passes, ended his hopes, though USC (11-2) went on to win the Pac-12 championship.
Headed into the Cotton Bowl, the 6-foot-4, 220-pound Darnold also has thrown for 3,787 yards, just 155 shy of Carson Palmer’s USC record 3,942 set in 2002. Darnold can hang in the pocket or maneuver around enough to keep plays alive and his eyes downfield.
That’s prototypical pro quarterback stuff. And it’s the reason he or crosstown rival quarterback Josh Rosen of UCLA could be the first player taken in the draft, should either or both declare.
Ohio State defensive coordinator Greg Schiano, who coached Tampa Bay of the NFL for two seasons, can see the attraction with Darnold. Even when crisscrossing America on recruiting trips this month, he said he’d steal looks at video snippets of Darnold on his tablet and was always impressed.
“I can only comment from what I see on tape, and that is important, but when you’re talking about a quarterback, it’s what’s in here (mind) and in here (heart) that to me are equally as important,” Schiano said. “And everybody that I know in the football world says he has that at a high level as well. Then you’re talking about a guy that has all the things that an NFL quarterback needs to be successful.”