It’s time for Sam Darnold to leave USC and declare for the NFL Draft.
Sam Darnold had an opportunity in the Cotton Bowl against Ohio State to alleviate any concerns about his being ready for the NFL. After he was sacked eight times, fumbled twice and threw a game-breaking pick-six in the loss to the Buckeyes, the consensus opinion seems to be that Darnold needs to return to USC for his redshirt junior season.
The argument for that is he will benefit from the extra time to work on his pocket presence, limiting turnovers and adding another layer of polish to a wildly talented player who has a few things to work out.
That’s all well and good and those arguments are valid, but they also apply to just about every quarterback prospect of all time. No college quarterback is ready to step into the NFL and be the face of a franchise from jump street. Darnold is no different. But it would be in his best interest to have his next year of development come in the NFL, not at USC.
As a college football fan, I would love to see Darnold, my 2017 preseason Heisman pick, return to USC for another season and see if he can get the Trojans in the College Football Playoff. Matt Leinart and Matt Barkley are former Trojans who returned to school when they could have been top picks, but it didn’t exactly work out for either.
It won’t be in the best interest of Clay Helton and USC for Darnold to declare for the NFL Draft, but there is a multitude of reasons for Darnold to make the leap.
Darnold needs to be coached up. That much is clear and the best way for him to have success in the NFL is by receiving the tutoring from NFL coaches, not Helton and offensive coordinator Tee Martin. It’s also been crystal clear that USC coaches have failed to develop the top talent they are able to recruit. Darnold will benefit from a quarterback coach, offensive coordinator and head coach devoting hours to their prized pupil. That same attention can’t be devoted on the college level where practice hours are severely limiting. Overall, the best coaching is in the NFL and that’s where Darnold needs to be.
I think Darnold, like most rookie quarterbacks, would be best served sitting behind a veteran as he begins his pro career. If Darnold lands with a team that already has or can acquire a veteran quarterback to hold the spot until he’s ready, that’s the ideal situation. It would be similar to what the Kansas City Chiefs were able to do with Patrick Mahomes as he sat behind Alex Smith after the team traded up to the tenth pick to take the former Texas Tech signal-caller.
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Now if you’re Darnold, you can sit behind a veteran and watch him operate the offense, see what reads he makes, see what plays he checks out of based on the defense he sees and what plays he checks into based on what he sees.
And while playing is the best way to develop, getting a paycheck as a top-10 pick to develop in the NFL is a much better alternative than playing for free behind an offensive line that had him running for his life in the Cotton Bowl and without running back Ronald Jones II there to hand the ball to.
Darnold wouldn’t really gain that much returning to USC for another season. The ones that really benefit are the fans, the receivers he’d throw to and Helton. Darnold would still face the same questions in 2019 as he would face in 2018. Returning to school would only delay his life-changing money and put him one year away from free agency. Not to mention the risk of injury is what ultimately proves to be the crux of his decision he’ll be mulling until underclassmen have to announce their plans by Jan. 15.
And when that time comes, the best decision for Darnold is to leave USC where he carried the team on his back for the last two years, and head to the NFL.