Sam Darnold could force his way onto the NFL team he wants

Rumor has it, Sam Darnold is interested in returning to USC for one more season in 2018, but he could force his way onto an NFL team he chooses…

Until he’s officially not part of the 2018 NFL Draft group of prospects, Sam Darnold will continue to be one of the most coveted players this year in college football.

There have been reports that Darnold is likely to return to USC, and to be blunt, there’s really no reason not to believe them at this point. Darnold seems to really love playing for USC, and likely wants to win a National Title with his name on it.

Also, the life of the starting quarterback at USC is probably pretty great, even though there’s a ton of pressure involved with it.

That pressure seemed to get to Darnold a little bit to start this season after expectations were soaring high that NFL teams — specifically teams like the Jets, Browns, and 49ers — would tank just to have a shot at this kid.

Darnold, like any young quarterback prospect, is not without fault, and those flaws were fully on display in the first five games of the season. We all know this guy doesn’t like to let a play die, but he was trying to play the role of ‘hero’ far too often and was turning the ball over at an alarming rate.

But in the past six games, things have been really clicking for Darnold. He’s minimizing mistakes, making much more accurate throws, and really elevating the USC offense to new heights.

In four of the past six games, he’s thrown for over 300 yards. He threw for over 300 yards only twice in the team’s first five games.

Along with the increase in yards per game, Darnold is increasing touchdown numbers and significantly decreasing turnover numbers. Consider some of these statistics:

First five games: 9 touchdowns, 8 interceptions (two games with 0 touchdown passes)

Last six games: 15 touchdowns, 3 interceptions (all multi-touchdown games)

Darnold’s efficiency has once again brought people around to the fact that this kid is probably the best college quarterback prospect right now, even if opinions on him cooled off for the first month-plus of the season.

So, why do we say all this?

With rumors that Darnold could return to USC for another season (he could actually return for two more if he wants), I have another somewhat out of the box idea in mind.

Darnold should go to the NFL, and force himself onto the roster of his choosing.

If he doesn’t want to play for the Cleveland Browns (and he probably shouldn’t, to be honest) then he could take a page out of the Eli Manning and John Elway book, and get himself on the roster he wants to be on.

Would anyone blame him for that?

Ironically, the Giants (Eli Manning’s current team) and the Broncos (the team John Elway runs) could be teams that Darnold might consider forcing his way onto. Of course, that would mean the Giants or Broncos would have to make the Browns a trade, but the Browns’ recent attempt to acquire A.J. McCarron might be an indicator they aren’t really interested in this year’s quarterback crop anyway.

A move to get Darnold could be just what the doctor ordered for the Giants, Broncos, or any number of teams also picking in the top 10 of this year’s draft (subject to change).

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The San Francisco 49ers decided on Jimmy Garoppolo instead of the 2018 crop.

Maybe the Bengals will move on from both Andy Dalton and A.J. McCarron and offer the Browns a deal for the opportunity to draft Darnold.

Who knows?

In my opinion, Darnold is a prospect worth acquiring if you’re the Giants or Broncos. The Giants won 11 games last season, and the Broncos are one of the last two Super Bowl champions.

The Giants have a lot of issues, but the Broncos might just be a quarterback away.

If I’m Sam Darnold, the opportunity to possibly force myself onto one of those two rosters might be enticing enough to come out of school early. Otherwise, you face the risk of rolling the dice next year, getting hurt, going to a much worse situation, and missing out on a year of getting paid to play in the NFL in the process.

While returning to USC is definitely an enticing option and playing for the Browns is not, I don’t think those are the only two options in front of Sam Darnold at this point, especially if he keeps playing at such a high level.

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