No. 4: Being “Pro Ready” Will Make Sam Darnold’s Maturation Quicker

Out of all the quarterbacks selected in Round 1 of the NFL Draft, none were as pro-ready as Sam Darnold.

Why is this important?

Well, without getting into the nuances and difficulties of transitioning from spread-style college offenses to the pros (many quarterbacks are more than effective at the transition), there are more than a few benefits being more on the pro-ready side.

For starters, Darnold possesses a fluid, natural throwing motion and has little trouble working through his progressions. You’ll rarely see him lock onto a receiver, and he does a good job looking off safeties on his throws.

Perhaps even more impressive is his poise within the pocket — one of the biggest tellers of a quarterback’s ability at the NFL level. He does a great job feeling the pressure and moves out of pass-rushing lanes without losing focus on his receiving targets.

You can get the idea by watching the DraftBreakdown.com video below, also seeing some of the issues he had with his receivers too:

Darnold’s pocket poise doesn’t mean he lacks mobility, however. His 250 rush yards back in 2016 is a testament to that, which leads us to the next reason why Darnold lives up to the hype.

Next Page: No. 3