Sam Darnold

Sam Darnold
refer to caption
Darnold with the Jets in 2018
No. 14 – New York Jets
Position: Quarterback
Personal information
Born: (1997-06-05) June 5, 1997
Capistrano Beach, California
Height: 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight: 225 lb (102 kg)
Career information
High school: San Clemente
(San Clemente, California)
College: USC
NFL Draft: 2018 / Round: 1 / Pick: 3
Career history
Roster status: Active
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics as of Week 6, 2018
Passing attempts: 179
Passing completions: 107
Completion percentage: 59.8
Passing yards: 1,346
TD–INT: 9–7
Passer rating: 83.7
Player stats at NFL.com
Player stats at PFR

Samuel Richard Darnold (born June 5, 1997) is an American football quarterback for the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at USC. He was drafted third overall by the Jets in the 2018 NFL Draft.

Darnold was a two-sport athlete at San Clemente High School, playing football and basketball. Considered a four-star recruit by Rivals.com, he was recruited to USC and joined the football team. After redshirting his freshman year, he served as the second-string quarterback in 2016 before being named the starter after three games. As a redshirt freshman starter, he set multiple USC freshman records, led the Trojans to nine consecutive wins that culminated with a victory at the 2017 Rose Bowl. Darnold announced he would forego his final two years of eligibility and declare for the 2018 NFL Draft at the conclusion of his redshirt sophomore season.

Early years

Darnold was born in Capistrano Beach, California on June 5, 1997. He started playing basketball when he was five years old.[1]

Darnold attended San Clemente High School in San Clemente, California. After playing baseball in his freshman year, he played football and basketball. During his high school basketball career, Darnold excelled, and was named South Coast League Most Valuable Player[1] twice, along with being named to the all-CIF team. Basketball coach Marc Popovich stated Darnold's basketball skills helped translate into football, being the "only guy [I've] ever had who could get a defensive rebound and launch a 70-foot pass on target, pretty much in the same motion, to a guy breaking out in the fastbreak. It was almost Wes Unseld-like." Popovich added that Darnold could have played college basketball in the Pac-12 Conference or the Mountain West Conference "at worst."[2]

On the football team, Darnold played wide receiver and linebacker, though he played quarterback as a sophomore after the starting quarterback was injured in a game against Tesoro High School. He threw a touchdown pass and scored the game-winning two-point conversion, but returned to playing receiver and linebacker a week later.[1] When he legitimately became the school's quarterback, Darnold broke the school record for the most touchdown passes in a game when he threw five on two occasions.[3] He missed much of his junior year with a foot injury.[1] In his senior year, San Clemente reached the CIF-Southern Section Southwest Division championship game, where they lost 37–44 to Trabuco Hills High School.[4] He ended his senior season with 3,000 passing yards and 39 touchdowns, along with 800 rushing yards and 13 rushing touchdowns.[3]

Darnold was rated by Rivals.com as a four-star recruit and was ranked as the eighth best dual-threat quarterback in his class and 179th best player overall.[5] However, he did not have much footage of him performing at recruiting camps, preferring to show his play in games. As a result, San Clemente head football coach Jaime Ortiz elected to provide video of his basketball career to football coaches.[1] He received scholarship offers to play college football from schools like Oregon, Utah, Northwestern and Duke. During a football camp, USC coaches Clay Helton and Steve Sarkisian were impressed by Darnold's performance,[6] and extended to him a scholarship to play for the Trojans.[7]

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Sam Darnold
QB		 San Clemente, California San Clemente 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Jul 18, 2014 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:4/5 stars   Rivals:4/5 stars   247Sports:4/5 stars    ESPN grade: 83
Overall recruiting rankings:
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

  • "2015 USC Football Commitment List". Rivals.com. Retrieved January 2, 2017.
  • "2015 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved January 2, 2017.

    College career

    2015 season

    USC defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox, who recruited Darnold to the school, wanted him to play linebacker before he declined.[1] In the 2015 season, Darnold redshirted for his freshman year as he was behind Cody Kessler and Max Browne on the depth chart.[8]

    2016 season

    Entering the 2016 season as a redshirt freshman, Darnold was the second-string quarterback behind Max Browne. In three games as backup quarterback, Darnold saw limited action, completing 14-of-22 passes for two touchdowns and an interception. After a 1–2 start to the season, Browne was benched in favor of Darnold.[9] In his first career start with USC against the Utah Utes, Darnold completed 18-of-26 passes for 253 yards and recorded a rushing touchdown as USC lost 27–31.[10] After the loss, Darnold's Trojans did not lose a game for the remainder of the season, including a 26–13 upset win over the #4-ranked Washington Huskies. The USC offense recorded an average of 37 points and 518 yards per game, while Darnold set the school record for most passing touchdowns by a freshman with 26, ten more than the previous record set by Todd Marinovich in 1989.[4] Against Arizona and California, Darnold became the first quarterback in school history to record five touchdown passes in consecutive games, while also throwing for multiple touchdowns in eight straight games, the first USC quarterback to do so since Matt Leinart did in 2004. On the ground, Darnold recorded 230 rushing yards, the most by a USC quarterback since Reggie Perry's 254 yards in 1991. Darnold was named the 2016 Pac-12 Conference Freshman Offensive Player of the Year in late November.[11]

    USC was invited to play in the 2017 Rose Bowl, their first appearance in the bowl in eight seasons.[4] In the 52–49 victory over Penn State, Darnold completed 33-of-53 passes for 453 yards, while also setting Rose Bowl records in passing touchdowns (5) and total yards (453). The 453 yards recorded ranked second in the bowl's history, only trailing Danny O'Neil's 456 in the 1995 game.[12]

    On January 4, 2017, it was announced that Darnold was awarded the Archie Griffin Award, which was awarded annually to college football's most valuable player to his team throughout the season, an award no other freshman had ever won previously.[13] Darnold was also named to the Football Writers Association of America's Freshman All-America team.[14][15]

    2017 season

    Entering the 2017 season as a redshirt sophomore, Darnold became an early favorite for the Heisman Trophy, and eventually a first round pick in the 2018 draft. The season did not start the way Darnold had expected. In six games, he had matched the number of interceptions that he had thrown the previous year. This was accredited to breaking in a new receiver group, numerous injuries, and questionable coaching decisions. Despite this, he led USC to a dominant victory over Stanford by a score of 42–24. He then led an overtime victory over the Texas Longhorns during which he drove the Trojans to a game tying field goal in the final 39 seconds of regulation. Additionally, he led USC to a Pac-12 Conference championship with a 31–28 victory over Stanford in the conference title game where he was awarded the game's MVP after throwing for over 300 yards and 2 scores. The win earned USC a spot in the 2017 Cotton Bowl where, despite 356 yards passing the Trojans were soundly defeated by the Ohio State Buckeyes 24-7.[16]

    Statistics

    Year Team Games Passing Rushing Defense
    GGSCmpAttPctYdsTDIntRtgAttYdsAvgTDSoloTotal
    2016USC 131024636667.23,086319161.1622504.0233
    2017USC 141430348063.14,1432613148.175821.1522
    Career272454984664.97,2295722155.61373322.4755

    Source:[17]

    Professional career

    On January 3, 2018, Darnold announced that he would enter the 2018 NFL Draft.[18]

    Pre-draft measurables
    Ht Wt Arm length Hand size 40-yard dash 10-yd split 20-yd split 20-ss 3-cone Vert jump Broad
    6 ft 3 3⁄8 in
    (1.91 m)    		 221 lb
    (100 kg)    		 31 in
    (0.79 m)    		 9 3⁄8 in
    (0.24 m)    		 4.85 s 1.67 s 2.81 s 4.40 s 6.96 s 26 1⁄2 in
    (0.67 m)    		 8 ft 9 in
    (2.67 m)
    All values from NFL Combine[19][20]

    Darnold was selected by the New York Jets in the first round, with the third overall selection, of the 2018 NFL Draft.[21][22][23] On July 30, 2018, Darnold signed a 4-year deal worth $30.25 fully guaranteed featuring a $20 million signing bonus with the Jets.[24]

    2018: Rookie year

    Darnold made his professional debut on August 10, in the first preseason game against the Atlanta Falcons, where he finished with 96 passing yards and a touchdown as the Jets won 17–0.[25] On August 29, the Jets named Darnold the starter for Week 1 of the season.[26]

    Darnold played his first regular season game on September 10, 2018 during Monday Night Football against the Detroit Lions. His first pass resulted in an interception returned for a touchdown by Quandre Diggs. However, he responded well and finished with 198 passing yards and 2 touchdowns as the Jets won 48–17.[27] During the Jets' home opener against the Miami Dolphins in Week 2, Darnold finished with 334 passing yards, a touchdown, and two interceptions as the Jets lost 20–12.[28] During a Thursday Night Football game against the Cleveland Browns in Week 3, Darnold finished with 169 passing yards and two interceptions as the Jets lost 21–17.[29][30] During Week 4 against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Darnold finished with 167 passing yards and a touchdown as the Jets lost 31–12.[31] During Week 5 against the Denver Broncos, Darnold finished with 198 passing yards, three touchdowns, and an interception, while the Jets combined for 323 rushing yards and won 34–16.[32] During Week 6 against the Indianapolis Colts, Darnold finished with 280 passing yards, 2 touchdowns, and an interception as the Jets won 42–34.[33]

    Personal life

    Darnold's mother is a physical education teacher at Shorecliffs Middle School. His older sister, Franki, is a college volleyball player at the University of Rhode Island.[1] His grandfather, Dick Hammer, was a former Marlboro Man actor and USC athlete.[34]

    References

    1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Helfand, Zach (August 8, 2016). "Stoic, confident Sam Darnold is making USC's quarterback decision difficult". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 4, 2017.
    2. ↑ Helfand, Zach (October 12, 2016). "USC's Sam Darnold's vision on the field makes a difference — so do his basketball skills". Los Angeles Times. latimes.com. Retrieved January 4, 2017.
    3. 1 2 Stella, Pete (January 3, 2017). "Before Sam Darnold made Rose Bowl magic, he was star at San Clemente". Foxsports.com. Retrieved January 3, 2017.
    4. 1 2 3 Kaufman, Joey (December 24, 2016). "Most Influential 2016: Sam Darnold helped save USC's season". Orange County Register. Retrieved January 2, 2017.
    5. ↑ "Sam Darnold". Rivals.com. Retrieved January 2, 2017.
    6. ↑ Myerburg, Paul (April 22, 2017). "How USC nearly missed out on signing quarterback Sam Darnold". USA Today. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
    7. ↑ Castillo, Michael (July 18, 2014). "Sam Darnold Commits to USC's 2015 Recruiting Class". Reign of Troy. Retrieved January 2, 2017.
    8. ↑ Wolf, Scott (September 7, 2015). "USC freshman quarterback Sam Darnold looks to 2016". Los Angeles Daily News. Retrieved January 2, 2017. More than one of |website= and |newspaper= specified (help)
    9. ↑ Helfand, Zach (September 19, 2016). "Sam Darnold in, Max Browne out as USC starting quarterback". Los Angeles Times. latimes.com. Retrieved September 20, 2016.
    10. ↑ Wolf, Scott (September 23, 2016). "USC QB Sam Darnold overcomes everything but poor coaching decisions". Los Angeles Daily News. Retrieved January 2, 2016.
    11. ↑ "Pac-12 Football Awards And All-Conference Team Announced". Pac-12 Conference. November 29, 2016. Retrieved January 2, 2016.
    12. ↑ Kirschner, Alex (January 2, 2017). "Sam Darnold breaks Vince Young's Rose Bowl record, and 18 more wild numbers from USC-PSU". SB Nation. Retrieved January 2, 2017.
    13. ↑ Trevino, Chris (January 4, 2017). "Darnold wins Archie Griffin Award". CBSSports.com. Retrieved January 4, 2017.
    14. ↑ "FWAA Names 2016 Sound Mind Sound Body Freshman All-America Team". FWAA. January 9, 2017.
    15. ↑ Jeremiah, Daniel (July 11, 2017). "First Look: Scouting USC QB Sam Darnold". NFL. Retrieved April 17, 2018.
    16. ↑ "Cotton Bowl: Ohio State smothers USC en route to 24-7 victory". FOX Sports. 2017-12-30. Retrieved 2018-10-02.
    17. ↑ "Sam Darnold". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 20, 2016.
    18. ↑ Parr, Dan (January 3, 2018). "Sam Darnold intends to enter 2018 NFL Draft". NFL.com. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
    19. ↑ "NFL Draft Prospect Profile - Sam Darnold". nfl.com. March 1, 2018. Retrieved March 1, 2018.
    20. ↑ "Southern California QB Sam Darnold : 2018 NFL Draft Scout Player Profile". NFLDraftScout.com. Retrieved May 12, 2018.
    21. ↑ Hanzus, Dan (April 26, 2018). "Sam Darnold selected third overall by New York Jets". NFL.com.
    22. ↑ "Jets GM: Sam Darnold will compete for starting QB gig". NFL. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
    23. ↑ Wesseling, Chris. "Jets CEO: Sam Darnold shifts team into new gear". NFL.com. Retrieved May 8, 2018.
    24. ↑ Patra, Kevin. "Jets sign Sam Darnold to rookie deal". NFL.com. Retrieved July 30, 2018.
    25. ↑ "Sam Darnold flashes starting QB potential in Jets' win". NFL. Retrieved August 11, 2018.
    26. ↑ Patra, Kevin (August 29, 2018). "Jets rookie QB Sam Darnold to start Week 1 at Lions". NFL.com. Retrieved August 29, 2018.
    27. ↑ Bergman, Jeremy. "Sam Darnold's resiliency shines through in Jets' victory". NFL.com. Retrieved September 10, 2018.
    28. ↑ Vasquez, Andy (September 16, 2018). "Instant analysis: Jets fall back to earth with clunker, lose to Dolphins 20-12". North Jersey. Retrieved September 21, 2018.
    29. ↑ Withers, Tom (September 20, 2018). "Jets' Darnold loses unexpected rookie duel with Mayfield". Washington Post. Retrieved September 21, 2018.
    30. ↑ "New York Jets at Cleveland Browns - September 20th, 2018". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2018-09-22.
    31. ↑ Long, Mark (September 30, 2018). "Bortles tosses 2 TD passes Jags handle Darnold, Jets 31-12". AP News. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
    32. ↑ Waszak, Dennis Jr. (October 7, 2018). "Crowell, big-play Jets romp past Broncos 34-16". AP News. Retrieved October 8, 2018.
    33. ↑ Waszak Jr., Dennis (October 14, 2018). "Myers kicks Jets-record 7 FGs in 42-34 win over Colts". AP News. Retrieved October 14, 2018.
    34. ↑ Feldman, Bruce (October 17, 2016). "Meet Sam Darnold, the star freshman QB who has saved USC's season". Foxsports.com. Retrieved November 26, 2016.
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