Darnold throws for NFL teams
Southern California QB works out despite rain
LOS ANGELES – Sam Darnold knew the rain was coming, but he wouldn’t budge.
After bowing out of throwing drills at the NFL scouting combine this month, the Southern California quarterback knew he’d invited additional scrutiny for his pro day. With showers in Wednesday’s forecast, Darnold had to confront the fact that he might not enjoy the idyllic conditions most other prospects have at their school-specific showcases.
Yet rather than move up his session to the early portion of the morning, when it was dry, Darnold chose to hold firm and face the elements.
“I don’t think it would have been fair to change up the schedule for all the guys training for the pro day, so I just wanted my guys to be comfortable. That was first and foremost,” he said.
“But I also think it was the perfect opportunity to show teams I can throw in the rain.”
When Darnold began throwing, he faced the same overcast skies that had lingered for most of the morning. But after several minutes, a driving rain began and left the Trojans star to labor in a waterlogged hat and long-sleeve shirt. But though the slippery ball proved difficult to haul in for an assortment of receivers (largely made up of players other than Darnold’s familiar USC targets), he was consistently precise in his placement, including on several deep throws.
While maintaining a quiet confidence, Darnold has eschewed the kind of proclamations about his rightful place in this draft class that fellow quarterbacks Josh Rosen and Baker Mayfield have made. Yet with his pro day performance, Darnold reinforced that — five weeks out from the start of Round 1 — he looks like the front-runner to be the No. 1 overall pick.
Decision-makers from every team in the top three of the draft were on hand, including Browns coach Hue Jackson and general manager John Dorsey, Giants coach Pat Shurmur and offensive coordinator Mike Shula and Jets coach Todd Bowles, general manager Mike Maccagnan and offensive coordinator Jeremy Bates. Darnold said he met with the Browns and Giants this week, and Cleveland owner Jimmy Haslam, whose team selects first and fourth overall, spoke with the quarterback’s parents in the bleachers during Wednesday’s session.
It’s standard fare for top quarterbacks. Rosen and Mayfield commanded comparable contingents for their pro days last week, and Wyoming’s Josh Allen is likely to do the same Friday. But in a draft still short on certainty, Darnold seems to be entrenching himself atop the board by putting his winning yet unassuming personality and tantalizing play-making ability on display.
“Sam is not the kid you speed-date. He’s the kid you marry,” said Jordan Palmer, the former NFL quarterback who is training Darnold in the lead-up to the draft.
“As he goes through this process and gets to spend a bunch of time with Cleveland and some of these other teams, it’s very predictable for people — like myself — who are in his circle that people will fall in love the more they get to know him.”
Darnold’s self-admitted red flag is ball security. He tied for the Football Bowl Subdivision high with 22 turnovers last season and had 43 total (22 interceptions and 21 fumbles) in 27 college starts.
With both Darnold and Palmer deciding that his unconventional, elongated release is not problematic enough to overhaul, his biggest emphasis in the past few months has been keeping both hands on the ball until he’s ready to throw. He took that change to heart Wednesday, maintaining tight control of the ball, save for the occasional bobble.
Challenges await Darnold in any of his likely NFL landing spots, but none greater than the ones tied to the Browns. Since drafting Tim Couch No. 1 overall when the franchise returned to the NFL in 1999, Cleveland has had a veritable clown car of quarterbacks with 28 starters.
Tyrod Taylor, who was acquired from the Bills earlier in the month, is in line to be No. 29 as Jackson has already declared first stringer ... unless Darnold or another rookie can step in and seize the spot.
Said Darnold, who was complimentary of Cleveland’s array of offseason moves, which included the acquisitions of running back Carlos Hyde and receiver Jarvis Landry: “I think going there, being able to play the way I play, it would be a good situation.”
Sounds like he’s ready for another storm.