Sam Darnold Draws Strong Comparison to Former 49ers First Overall Pick

Getty Alex Smith throwing a pass for the San Francisco 49ers.

What is Sam Darnold‘s ceiling under Kyle Shanahan? This question has been one of the more popular topics of discussion among fans of the San Francisco 49ers since the former third overall quarterback signed a one-year, $4.5 million contract with the team back in March. In the opinion of Grant Cohn of All 49ers FN, the key to unlocking Darnold’s pro potential might be to take a page out of Jim Harbaugh’s book and make the USC product into a game manager like former San Francisco quarterback Alex Smith.

“Darnold and Smith have lots in common,” Cohn wrote. “Both were big-time recruit’s coming out of high school in Southern California. Both were top-three picks coming out of college — Smith was the No. 1 pick, Darnold was the No. 3 pick. Both were drafted to terrible teams with terrible coaches. Both were scapegoated and benched because they tried to do too much, committed lots of turnovers and failed to live up to unreasonable expectations.

“Then the 49ers hired Jim Harbaugh, who rebuilt Smith’s confidence, convinced him to play like a game manager and protect the football, and suddenly Smith became a winning quarterback. Now Kyle Shanahan is attempting to do the same thing with Darnold, and Shanahan just might succeed.”

Will Shanahan be able to unlock the potential that got Darnold drafted so highly out of USC in 2019? Or does John Lynch and company simply view the 25-year-old as a veteran backup to soak up snaps until Brock Purdy and Trey Lance are ready to take on the reigns full-time? Fans will find out soon enough, but by embracing a more “balanced” offensive approach as Smith did before him, Darnold may find his game similarly impacted.

Alex Smith Embraces Being a Complete Football Player

At the University of Utah, Smith built up his resume by making big throws with his arm, big plays with his legs, and amassing 42 total touchdowns with his arms and legs combined. But in the NFL, the former first overall-drafted quarterback had to adjust his game and take less risks in order to help the 49ers win. Though Smith didn’t personally call himself a game manager, at least in a 2012 interview with Tyson Langland of Bleacher Report, he did acknowledge that he took pride in running a balanced offense and the mindset that required.

“I consider myself a football player,” Smith said. “I’m an NFL quarterback and I’m trying to win games, nothing else. For people that look at me like that, it’s convenient for guys to look at fantasy numbers and things like that. We are different, we are a balanced offense and we take a lot of pride in that we can do both. We are not just this pass-happy team that is just concerned about stats you know—we don’t care about those things around here and it’s a different mindset you know? I’m not saying it’s right, but it’s just different, it’s the way we do things and I definitely believe in it.”

In 2011, Smith had his best success to that point as a pro because he he completed a career-high 61.3 percent of his passes and only threw an interception on 1.1 percent of his passes, which was a significant improvement over his interception percentage of 6.7 from his rookie season. While Smith’s run in San Francisco ultimately came to an end due to the emergence of Colin Kaepernick, he was able to parlay those lessons into a very strong run in Kansas City and even success in Washington during the final two seasons of his professional career. If Darnold can learn the same lessons, he too may be able to overcome a rough start to his professional career, as Cohn suggested.

Garoppolo Believed in the San Francisco 49ers’ Play-Calling

In November of 2022, Jimmy Garoppolo was asked about his improved play after some early-season struggles and credited Shanahan for helping to design an offense that played to his strengths and didn’t ask him to do too much.

“When Kyle is calling plays like he is, and just letting me get the ball out, and letting the guys run with it, it makes for an easy style of offense,” Garoppolo said via NBC Sports Bay Area. “When you tie that to a good running game, it’s hard to stop.

“Me and Kyle got a ways to go obviously, we are nowhere near perfect, but it’s just moving in the right direction, and we are talking the same language right now, which is good.”

Could Darnold find himself the beneficiary of a Shanahan-crafted offense that allows him to make quick decisions while paired with a good running game? If so, he, too, might be in high demand when his contract with San Francisco comes to an end, as Garoppolo is currently set to make $72,750 million on a three-year contract with the Las Vegas Raiders.