The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Darnold impresses at USC pro day Browns coaches, GM watch top QB’s workout
Sam Darnold chose not to throw earlier this month at the NFL Scouting Combine under ideal conditions inside Lucas Oil Stadium, so instead he put on a show on March 21 in a downpour at Southern Cal’s pro day in Los Angeles.
As the rain fell harder, some NFL scouts, general managers and coaches there to watch the top-rated quarterback in the draft next month ran for cover, but Browns GM John Dorsey continued to peek out from under an umbrella. And why not stick around? He and Browns head coach Hue Jackson, who, in a futile effort to stay dry pulled up his hood to shield the rain, might have been watching the Browns’ future.
“It’d be awesome to go No. 1, just because I think what the Browns are doing is really good right now and I think they have potential to be a really good team in the future,” Darnold told ESPN after concluding his pro day. “Just based on that, yeah, a part of me really wants to go 1.
“But at the same time, if they don’t want me and they don’t pick me, that’s the best
“It’d be awesome to go No. 1, just because I think what the Browns are doing is really good right now and I think they have potential to be a really good team in the future.”
— Sam Darnold
situation because I don’t want to go to a team that doesn’t want me.”
The Browns have the first pick on April 26, and with each throw, despite the conditions, Darnold looked more and more like he might the quarterback Dorsey decides to pick instead of Josh Rosen from UCLA, Josh Allen from Wyoming or Baker Mayfield from Oklahoma.
Dorsey and Jackson weren’t the only Browns representatives watching Darnold. Browns owner Jimmy Haslam was there. So was offensive coordinator Todd Haley and quarterbacks coach Ken Zampese.
Darnold, 6-foo-3, 220
pounds, said he met with Haslam and the Browns entourage over dinner on March 20.
“He’s a great guy,” Darnold said on NFL Network. “That whole staff is awesome. I was able to meet with the Giants as well. So just meeting with both of those organizations, like I said before, those people are at the top of the world right now, and I’m trying to impress them but at the same time be myself.”
The Giants have the second pick in the draft and were represented by head coach Pat Shurmur and others. The Jets pick third and were also well-represented at the workout.
“I knew I was going to come out here and do well,” Darnold said on NFL Network after the workout, which consisted of about 60 throws as orchestrated
by Jordan Palmer, his personal coach. “Having played games in the rain before, I knew I wasn’t going to have problems with it.
“It’s just a job interview to be honest with you and then just coming out here, I thought I showed them the best version of myself. I’ve been training really hard for this day, and I thought I did really well. Just like how I would train for any other game, so I thought we came out here as a bunch and we got the job done. The receivers did a great job, too.”
Darnold threw deep balls accurately and showed zip on crossing routes. He showed he could evade a rush and keep his eyes downfield.
Darnold said the pro day showed the same qualities he showed during games when he faced a pass rush and had to throw against
defensive backs. There was no pass rush in the pro day, and his receivers ran unguarded down the field.
“Going out and proving exactly what I prove on tape, that I can throw on the run, throw with accuracy,” Darnold said when asked by Mike Mayock of NFL Network what he wanted to show the NFL personnel. “I think I did a really good job of being aware of keeping two hands on the ball when I was in the pocket. I know some guys were looking at that.”
The Browns are one of the teams concerned about Darnold turning the ball over. He threw 13 interceptions and fumbled nine times in 2017.
The Browns have scheduled a private workout with Darnold and have invited him to Berea for another private session.