I think he sees the upgrade from Bates. Again, 5 years or so from now he'll have much more expertise and will be better able to judge. Right now, this is all new to him so yeah, its all good.
I still wanna know WHY BATES HASN'T BEEN FIRED YET. It's coming (it better be), but what is this pinky out tea cup etiquette shit? Probably Woody drinking too much P & G in the embassy. Bates should've been gone the day of or the day after Coach Bowles. Kick him in has ass already.
I did not hear Darnold gushing about Jeremy Bates much as the season wore on. I think Sam learned that there is a lot he does not know after Bates