This quarterback is still at least a year away from the NFL, but it looks like NFL executives are already salivating at the chance of drafting him.
According to the NFL Network's Daniel Jeremiah, one NFL executive thinks USC's Sam Darnold is a "rare" talent, and that the sophomore quarterback is dominating talk at the Combine this week.
Related: Surprise team "very high" on Deshaun Watson, could be preparing to trade up to land him
Again, the intriguing part of all of this: Darnold is apparently dominating Combine talk and he's not even eligible for the NFL Draft until 2018 at the earliest. Because of that, things could get very interesting for the 2018 NFL Draft, as some teams that need a quarterback might consider passing on this year's crop of Deshaun Watson, Mitch Trubisky, and Deshone Kizer. While they may need to get a stopgap for this season, those teams might consider it more fruitful to target Darnold next year if they really do believe he is this "rare" talent.
In 10 starts as a redshirt freshman, Darnold dominated the Pac-12, throwing up 3,086 passing yards and 31 touchdowns for the season. Darnold was the common denominator behind USC's major turnaround last season, and he is already one of the top contenders for the 2017 Heisman Trophy.
