Is USC back? Depends on who you ask. However, they do have a a signal caller that shows promise to lead them back to greatness, as in a decade ago greatness. Sam Darnold, the redshirt sophomore from Capistrano Beach, California, has put the trojans back on the map in college football; an area where they have lived in mediocrity and not won anything significant, like the PAC 12. When Pete Carroll was running the show, USC put out great Quarterbacks like Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart, two quarterbacks that took USC to new heights not seen for almost thirty years. Now Darnold is looking to make a name for himself to be mentioned in conversation with these former greats. There are three key factors that can make him a heisman trophy contender. Let’s take a look.
- Arm Strength– If anything sticks out to me about Darnold, it’s his arm. It’s NFL caliber and you better believe scouts are licking their chops watching him sling the rock. Sam has a very gentle touch with the football and it looks effortless for him to throw the long ball. Last season, Darnold threw 31 touchdowns and 9 picks. He had a total of 3086 passing yards. That’s more than Carson Palmer’s freshman season at USC(1755 yards).
- Field vision– This is one quality that does not come easy for a lot of quarterbacks but for Darnold, it seems to come naturally. When he reads the field, he looks like a veteran, like Peyton Manning in his prime. Now I hear you saying “slow down trigger, he only played one season.” That’s correct, but look at the Rose Bowl game. He single handily put that game on his shoulders and helped USC beat Penn St. He threaded the needle like a true pro. Shoot, go look at all the games he started in last season- there were so many times where he could predetermine what the defense was going to do that he didn’t have to call any audibles. This kid knows how to read a defense!
- Decision Making- Not only does Darnold have a great arm and great eyes, he is incredibly smart. He knows his surroundings. Just from the few games I watched him, he has an uncanny ability to avoid pressure. Not to say he didn’t look like a freshman out there(because at times he did), it was very minimal. However when pressure would come, majority of time I see him extend plays and and make first downs(see rose bowl game). For a guy who only played one season, he could avoid taking many unnecessary sacks. Of course I could be Jon Gruden and show you some of his young mistakes he made, like in the Washington game where he threw two pics that really didn’t have to be pics. A minor blemish but it does stick out.
Darnold is far from a finished product, but there is no denying that he is special. He is eaten up with raw talent and he will only get better. If he continues to improve on strengths and work on his weaknesses, he could help launch USC into the playoff picture, and also, the heisman trophy.
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