The smoke from outside the 49ers organization regarding Sam Darnold keeps growing.
From the moment San Francisco signed Darnold on day one of free agency, there has been speculation about his potential role with the team.
On Monday, Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated joined Colin Cowherd on “The Herd” to discuss the latest NFL news. Near the end of the conversation Breer was asked about the 49ers quarterback situation.
“I think if Brock Purdy were unable to take the first snap of training camp, and that’s certainly a possibility – he’s on a track to play Week 1, but they’re still building the strength in his arm back up – I think Sam Donald might take the first snap of training camp,” said Breer.
Darnold must outperform Trey Lance during training camp if he is to leapfrog the third-year quarterback on the depth chart. Here are the three areas Darnold must clean up for that to happen.
Stop turning the ball over
Saying that Darnold has struggled to hold on to the football is an understatement.
In 56 career games Darnold has thrown 55 interceptions. In addition to the fumbles Darnold has fumbled the ball a whopping 35 times, losing 13.
Darnold’s propensity to turn the ball over could spell doom for a 49ers team which has gone just 6-21 since the start of the 2019 season when they turn the ball over more than their opponents.
Get his completion percentage up
Sam Darnold may be one of the greatest throwers of the football in 49ers history, but that hasn’t translated into games.
Five seasons into his NFL career Darnold has completed just 59.7 percent of his pass attempts. In fact, Darnold has eclipsed a 60 percent completion rate just once in his first five seasons.
To put into perspective just how bad that is consider this, over the last five seasons an average of 30 qualifying quarterbacks per season have finished with a completion percentage of 60 or greater.
Improve his processing
A quarterback’s ability to process information on the field has nothing to do with their intelligence. Instead, processing is often used to describe the ability of the quarterback to react quickly during a play.
For Sam Darnold, the inability to process quickly is a big reason why he’s struggled with the turnovers and low completion percentages mentioned above.
Darnold must show improvement, and San Francisco is betting they have the pieces necessary to make it happen.
The ability of Kyle Shanahan to scheme receivers open is well known. Combine that with the most talented offense he’s ever played with and Darnold everything he needs to find success.
If he can’t turn it around in San Francisco, it’s unlikely to ever happen for Darnold.
Devastating summation of Darnold’s less than mediocre start in the League. It is very sobering. I do think Sam is a decent 3rd stringer backing up Trent and Brock. But not more at this point.
Jack,
Do you have a theory as to why Darnold fumbles so much. Does he hold the ball too low? Does he hold on to the ball too long? Is his fumblitis something that can be coached out of him?
OC, it would be nice to figure out why he fumbles. Maybe now that he has 5 years under his belt he has shed that uncertainty with his butterfingers. If not, I believe it takes 10.000 repetitions to change the pattern….
OC,
I think it has to do with holding it too long. This goes back to the processing. Not seeing it quickly enough.
Thats too bad because that is an area that is really difficult for a coach to improve.
I think it is a matter of awareness. Whether in the pocket or on the run. If you are not aware, the ball can’t be secured when you need to or thrown away.
Darnold has shortcomings. However, in a better organization (the Niners) he can master them and become a legitimate NFL quarterback. It is certainly not unreasonable to believe he would pass Lance and be the team’s number two quarterback. Look for him to display decent work when the training camp moves forward.
Jack,
this is a curious statement. “ A quarterback’s ability to process information on the field has nothing to do with their intelligence. Instead, processing is often used to describe the ability of the quarterback to react quickly during a play. “. Well obviously it has something to do with the brain. Processing occurs in a part of the brain. How do you know it doesn’t have anything to do with intelligence? Obviously something in the brain isn’t working as well as it should or does in some other people.
Obviously something in your brain isn’t working as well as it should or does in some other people…..
I assume the answer lies in the distinction between being smart and being intelligent. I think you need to be smart – quick on your feet, intuitive, insightful – to have quick processing speed. High intelligence in turn is found in someone who can pass every written exam and carries loads of knowledge around with them.
For example, Alex Smith was undoubtedly the most intelligent QB the niners have ever had. He pretty much aced the Wonderlic exam. But if we were to redo that draft, even if Aaron Rodgers wasn’t in it, we would not pick Alex again under *any* circumstances. The smartest QB we’ve ever had must have been Montana. Quick reads, quick decisions, and slicing and dicing a defense’s weaknesses with laser timing and precision.
Shemp,
I agree Game smarts and book smarts are completely different. I have coached kids with a learning disability who were the smartest player on the floor/field and I have coached valedictorians who consistently made dumb plays. Steve young mjght give A. Smith a run for his money when it comes to intelligence and Brodie was a Stanford grad.
Darnold was the worst starting QB in the league last season. He is a little better then AS11 and JG10 but not by much. Anyone who thinks he will beat out Lance needs to have there head examined
Oh..exactly…there’s no plausible way he’d beat out Mr Potential
I’m not a big Darnold fan. But if he can help the 49ers win in the event Purdy misses any time, I’m a happy man.
When it comes to Darnold and Lance, I lean towards Lance because SD has not advanced his play over his short career. Putting a nice string of games together for Carolina last season only gives me a little hope that he can continue on that level. But, given the numbers that Jack posted, it’s not a sure thing with Darnold based on past experience.
Lance on the other hand, only has a 4 games which does not validate him.There’s absolutely no way that I’m ready to put any label on him at this point.
Four games is not enough for any young QB to prove themselves in the NFL. Especially, after playing injured in his first two starts and missing nearly a full season due to a major injury.
Lance is finally healthy enough to show what he’s about in TC. I expect him to do just that.
AES,
I hope TL is able to beat out Darnold. I also hope KS hasn’t already made up his mind and is leaning toward Darnold. If his problem is processing it is very difficult to drill it out of a athlete. Reaction time is almost natural to an athlete. If it is a largely responsible for Darnolds terrible turnover rate I don’t think it will improve much and as Jack wrote TOs are the 9ers kryptonite.
I don’t view Shanahan as being impressionable to the point of favoring Darnold over Lance. Lance only threw 31 total passes last season and one of those games was during a heavy rain storm in Chicago.
Whereas, Darnold has played in more games and has yet to establish himself in the league. If Darnold can resurrect his career with the 49ers it would be great. But, his high turnover ratio is an issue that can rear it’s ugly head at the most inopportune time, and that gives me pause.
Even if SD beats outs Lance in TC, I’d still be a little quizzy with him at QB if he had to play in a close game, if Purdy is injured.
That’s why I lean toward Lance.
Taking a look back at the Chicago season opening game last year, Lance was playing very well in the 1st half. He was mostly on target with his passes and made some nice yardage on runs. The 2nd half was a different story, but it didn’t help when the 49ers defense gave up some big plays, either.
The pass to a wide open Dante Pettis across the field was a game changer. Then, the rains came and the 49ers offense played completely out of sync.
But Lance did look good.
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Its pretty comical how people parrot a narrative without actually knowing all the facts. Darnold is not even close to the train wreck that people make him out to be. His first two years in the league were actually Solid. One of the youngest Qbs to start an NFL game since the merger his rookie year was 2,865 passing yds 17tds 15ints and 57.7 cmp%. That’s actually decent for a rookie. Year 2 all numbers improve. 3,024 passing yds 19tds 13 ints and 61.9 cmp%….. Year 3 is where the sh#t hits the fan. During the covid season where lots of people struggled on and off the field the jets imploded with Darnold having2208 passing yards 9tds and 11ints and 59.6 cmp%….covid or not that season sucks. Year 4 was a new team 2527 passing yards 9 tds 13 ints 59.9cmp%…..sucks. Year 5 1143 passing yards 7tds 3ints 58.6cmp%….a good year and one game away from making the playoffs. Yep turnovers need to improve and cmp% should be well above 60% but 3 out of 5 years are actually solid and I’m sure that’s what Shanahan sees….and so do I.
You people are delusional, and how did Purdy get to be the second coming of Montana after starting a few games. I am pulling for Purdy but I need to see more. If Darnold were Black he would be out of the League by now.
Definitely need to see more from Purdy unfortunately he has spent his off season recovering from injury instead of working on his game and now everyone has game tape on him but im definitely hopeful. And don’t disagree on your Darnold take at all…..and I’m only slightly delusional