In a crowded quarterback class, don’t expect USC’s Sam Darnold to cement himself as the No. 1 pick at the 2018 NFL Combine. The star quarterback will not throw at the event, which begins Wednesday, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter (Twitter link). 
Though he will not take part in the throwing drills, Darnold will partake in athletic testing and interview with teams. Schefter notes that he does plan on throwing at USC’s Pro Day, which takes place on March 21. Other notable projected first-round signal-callers — Josh Rosen, Baker Mayfield and Josh Allen — all plan on throwing.
Top quarterbacks not throwing at the NFL Combine is nothing new. In 2012, both Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III did not participate in the drill and both were selected with the top two picks in the draft. Other notable QBs to not throw include Sam Bradford, JaMarcus Russell, Matthew Stafford, Johnny Manziel, Teddy Bridgewater and Matt Ryan.
Since his breakout performance in the 2017 Rose Bowl vs. Penn State, Darnold has been considered among the draft’s top prospects at the quarterback position, along with Rosen. Despite a disappointing redshirt sophomore season, the USC star still amassed 4,143 yards and 26 touchdowns while leading the Trojans to the Cotton Bowl.
Darnold has been pegged in most mock drafts to the Browns (No. 1 and No. 4), Giants (No. 2), Broncos (No. 5) or Jets (No. 6).
Sam: hi I’m here for the combine
NFL scout: great! Can’t wait to see you throw. Our team really needs a QB with a good arm
Sam: oh, I’m not throwing
I think you meant Cleveland Scout
NFL Scout: Oh! Well then we’ll just put you down for Fullback!
I thought bridge water did throw and performed poorly supposedly due to not wearing a glove like he did in game action. I remember a huge deal being made of it until he threw at his pro day with a glove and was much better…
Am I missing something here? Playing it safe by not throwing and avoiding the possibility of throwing poorly/hurting your draft stock seems to show a lack of confidence, does it not? I would want my quarterback of the future to want to be out there showing what’s he’s got and not being afraid of the critics
I believe you are missing a lot of things. It’s quite common for the top QB to skip throwing. He has absolutely nothing to gain. It’s not a game or even a competition. It’s a meat market. He is making a smart business decision, probably driven by his agent.
So he has a disappointing season…..with over 4,000 yards and 26 TDs?
Uh, my Browns could use that kind of disappointment.
In all honesty, he was not good by any means. Nothing special til his “breakout” game.
Not good? Bad doesn’t throw for that many yards and TDs, and help to win as many games as he did.
And he’s what, 20? That’s still very young.
These guys are so overhyped. Theres thousands of college quarterbacks who are the next tom brady and only 32 starting qb jobs. Im a Chiefs fan and as far as im concerned Mahomes is still just a good college quarterback until i see a full season ..
Hopefully you’re exaggerating, but if not then it’s crazy to say that thousands of college QBs (or 3-4 per D1 team) are capable of being NFL caliber at all, let alone the next Brady. I’m gonna assume that you’re trolling but it’s really hard to tell because there’s no sarcasm font.
(Also, not just any late round QB can succeed. Brady ended up in a good spot and has a tireless work ethic.)
I’m sorry man your completely right. I can’t wait to watch all these guys get inducted into the Hall of Fame. And what the hell is a troll?
There’s thousands of colleges so I guess some of them don’t have a quarterback
Nothing crazy about a QB not throwing at the combine. Until recently, most of the more highly touted QBs coming out of college didn’t throw at the combine. Might be off here, but I think it had to do with not having control of the setting (i.e. throwing to receivers they’ve most likely never thrown to before).
I think you’re right. I’m a Browns fan and really would have been curious to see him throw at the combine, but there are valid reasons for not doing it. He’ll throw at his pro day.
It’s gonna be a dumb move if the browns draft a guy and didn’t see his accuracy I mean they saw him throw in college but they didn’t see him grow up close