Incredible hearing this from a 20 year old. Not really a Cowherd fan but he's on the Darnold bus like the rest of us. Listen to Sams thoughts on leadership. His maturity...emotional maturity is just astounding. His mental makeup is more Chad Pennington than people think. https://www.foxsports.com/watch/the-herd-with-colin-cowherd/video/1229370947514
Thanks for sharing. I was wondering how it went. I think the kid has the mental fortitude and capacity to make great things happen. He sounds pretty darned smart and mature. BTW, I get the same vibes listening to our third pick Shepard, smart dude. I like the picks this year a lot. Let's hope we hit the bullseye.
Bingo yes. Shepard is a super smart dude as well. Definitely like how we seem to be picking up more high football IQ players. Dimitri Flowers was also always known to be a very versatile, intelligent playe at OU. These guys are natural leaders and great communicators. I have some contacts with OU and they are absolutely befuddled as to how someone this useful went undrafted. I mean he was lining up as a TE, FB, Hback, outstanding special teaner and even WIDE RECEIVER at times. We absolutely have something special in him. Everything they asked him to do he did well. Before the draft I was absolutely convinced Belichick would end up with him somehow someway. Thrilled we did People had him as the top rated FB in the draft. I realize the importance of the FB position has changed to say the least in the NFL these days. But you'd figure the best FB in college football is getting drafted...
Like Eli Manning, Montana, and others of those ilk, he's not going to care or pay one bit of attention to it
I guess what most excites me about Darnold is that despite how good he is already, his room for growth is still super high At 20 and 6'3 220 he's already got the perfect size. He may yet grow a bit and end up filling out at 6'4 230 or so. He has great natural athleticism and is already a pain to bring down when on the move and this will only get more difficult for the D. Despite the unorthodox delivery (not going to say bad because he still gets the ball out quickly) and inconsistent footwork he still has great natural accuracy. With some QB's yes this can be their downfall. With Darnold it doesn't hamper him from being a very good QB already. It sort of defies conventional thinking but the accuracy is there without the perfect mechanics. The great thing though is he's always working on it, refining it, trying to make himself better. No serious overhauls will occur but I truly believe he will only get better as his mechanics get fine tuned. Arms strength too. I don't think he's got a cannon but he makes all the throws. But he's still at that age where arm strength can be improved. What we're obsessively watching now on youtube is not going to be what he's launching in 2 years. It's good...but it's going to get better. What you can't teach though is the beautiful touch throws under heavy duress (or falling awkwardly) or putting the ball in the perfect spot so his receiver can just grab it and go and not behind him where he has to lay out or contort himself. His mistakes are usually as a result of trying to do too much. That will all be reigned in. I'm not the least bit concerned about the picks and fumbles. Heck even if they still sort of persist at the NFL level the plays he will make on his own will offset the turnovers.
Why not. He gets it. It shows the company trusts a 20 year old who's never taken an NFL snap with their brand. He also understands that (god forbid) an NFL career can end in a heartbeat and while you're here you have to get all you can out of it. Savvy kid
Great points about Flowers. I think he will be a great contributor in our West coast offense. He is probably a bigger threat off the back and for sure a better blocker than our TEs. I'm excited about the future.
Originally I was down on Darnold because of his elongated throwing motion, but after watching a lot more of him I'm not concerned. The bottom line is that it works for him. This is the same thing I saw in Mahomes last year. Some athletes - found in all sports - can have weird mechanics but be consistently great. I wouldn't tinker much with his mechanics - "If it ain't broke, don't fix it".
Our kids are taught how to market themselves, invest their money and to navigate the media and interact with fans. Two of the schools that recruited Sam were Harvard and Yale, Ivies do not grant athletic scholarships, you have to qualify for an academic scholarship to play a sport. Sam almost committed to Duke if USC had not offered. So yes, he may be a laid back beach kid, but he's smart.
Hey LA, Louisiana or Los Angeles? If L.A., you should come by and tailgate with us at the Coliseum, and check out our WRs and our linebackers that will be draft eligible after this season....Porter Gustin plays the predator position, and a beast!
