Cleveland Browns: Final 7-Round 2018 mock draft (Vol. 7)
By Peter Smith
Round 1: Sam Darnold, QB, USC –- 6-3.375, 221 lbs.
- 64.8 completion percentage, 8.38 yards per attempt, 8.76 adjusted yards per attempt, 57 touchdowns, 22 interceptions (2.59:1), 295.5 yards per game in 22 starts. 332 yards at 2.42 yards per carry and 7 rushing touchdowns.
Age: 20 years old (Born Jun. 5, 1997)
40 Yard Dash: 4.85s
Broad Jump: 8’9″
Vertical: 26.5″
3-Cone: 6.96s
Shuttle: 4.4s
Hand Size: 9.375″
Radar Gun: DNP
If the decision was left to me, the Browns would select Baker Mayfield, but the team seems all but certain to select Sam Darnold, so let’s go ahead and talk about him.
Darnold is incredibly talented despite some potential fatal flaws, including lack of experience and turnovers. What he’s able to do in the quick passing game, his ability to make throws in tight paces and his sheer instincts for the position make it easy to understand why a team would bet it all on him.
Darnold doesn’t have the strongest arm in the class, isn’t the best athlete in the class, wasn’t the most efficient in the class. He didn’t lead the group in anything. Nevertheless, he’s got more than enough of everything to where the sum of the parts could be an All-Pro in the NFL.
The biggest issue with Darnold other than him getting up to speed with what he’s missing due to only having 22 college starts is that so much of it he will have to learn on his own. Obviously, coaches can work with him on continuing to firm up his footwork and diagnosing defenses to make smarter decisions with the football, but many of the turnovers, particularly with fumbles are a product of his attempts to make plays in spots that few other quarterbacks would or could.
He’s going to have to figure those things out largely on his own because there’s little a coach can do to instruct a player to do when a good amount of it goes against orthodoxy. When he’s effectively in a closet, he has his eyes downfield looking to make a play when most coaches would say go down to preserve the possession. Darnold is oddly comfortable in chaos, with bodies flying around him and it’s going to end badly at times, but he’s also going to be able to make plays that almost no one else could. And he’ll have to figure out how to moderate that, largely with a coach functioning as a sounding board.
The Browns have Tyrod Taylor, which is critical. Darnold will be allowed to sit and develop, allowed to get comfortable in the offense and operate from a position of confidence, strength, rather than being thrown in and basically told to try to make it work. Darnold comes with substantial risk and he will take time to figure things out, but the payoff could be enormous with the Browns finally getting their franchise quarterback and being able to take a huge step forward as a team.