49ers quarterback Sam Darnold, 26, ranks among the NFL’s youngest journeymen. He struggled mightily after the Jets drafted him third overall in 2018, and was unceremoniously traded to the Panthers in April 2021.
With San Francisco, Darnold finds himself starting over for the second time in three seasons. However, he has something this time around he didn’t have with New York or Carolina: weapons.
“Guys are open, I mean, there’s a lot of guys open on dang near every play,” Darnold told Barstool Sports’s Pardon My Take. “It just seems like there’s a ton of answers. Great run game. I mean, whenever you can have a great run game as a quarterback, that’s always a comforting feeling.”
Darnold went on to list members of the team’s formidable group of athletes: wide receivers Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk and Jauan Jennings, tight end George Kittle, running back Christian McCaffrey and fullback Kyle Juszczyk.
“They’ve been there for so long, and (coach Kyle Shanahan’s) been able to understand kind of what everyone does well, what they don’t do well, and I feel like every game plan he uses gets the most out of his guys,” Darnold said.
Indeed, it’s hard to argue with the 49ers’ results under Shanahan: despite rarely getting great quarterback play, San Francisco is 52-46 with an NFC title since he took over.
Darnold will enter the 49ers’ training camp attempting to win the starting quarterback job in a heated competition set to include Brock Purdy, one of the best stories of 2022, and Trey Lance.
