New York Jets: Sam Darnold and the “curse” of USC quarterbacks

We take a look and debunk the narrative about USC quarterbacks and why it is OK that the New York Jets drafted Sam  Darnold.

Admittedly, some New York Jets fans were hesitant when Sam Darnold was selected with the third pick of the NFL draft. Many had concerns with watching his film. After all, his turnovers did increase from 2016 to 2017. His footwork was inconsistent on the tape. Darnold has a lot of ability but having concerns is fair.

Some of us were concerned about the school he came from. To be completely transparent, my personal knee-jerk reaction was, “No, not other quarterback from USC”. That was an over zealous reaction to history. There is a narrative about USC quarterbacks being cursed, and that none of them ever make it.

The facts are the facts, there have been several quarterbacks from USC that haven’t become solid starters in the NFL. Here are a few:

• Rodney Peete
• Todd Marinovich
• Matt Leinart
• Mark Sanchez (one of our personal favorites)
• Matt Barkley

This isn’t even a complete list. There are other starting USC quarterbacks that have not been successful in the NFL. So while it is true that many USC quarterbacks have had difficulty in the pros, it’s short-sighted to blame that on coming from USC.

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Take Marinovich, for example. For young readers that are not familiar, he is one of the most talented quarterbacks, physically, to come out of that college. Take a read of this post from Esquire to learn about him.

The problem with Marinovich was a drug problem that landed him out of the NFL and eventually into jail time. That certainly had nothing to do with coming out of USC.

How about our good buddy, the “Butt Fumble” himself, Mark Sanchez? First of all, he did pilot the Jets to the AFC title game twice. Secondly, his weapons were changed on him almost annually. This is not to say that he was Tom Brady, though he beat him in the playoffs. It’s just more difficult to take strides forward without being able to establish a multi-year rapport with your receivers.

USC did not do that to Sanchez. Furthermore, then-coach Pete Carroll felt Sanchez made a mistake and left for the NFL too early. So USC tried to HELP Sanchez improve, they didn’t curse him into an unsuccessful NFL career.

Matt Leinart and Matt Barkley just weren’t very good. But that happens with any school across the country. That is not exclusive to USC by any means. Going by that standard, nobody should have drafted Baker Mayfield since Oklahoma quarterbacks aren’t successful either.

Next: Jets Madden ratings, defense and special teams

Is Sam Darnold guaranteed to be a success in the NFL? Of course not. He could be a bust like many of the others. He also could be great, like Carson Palmer was when he came out of college. The point is, going to USC has nothing to do with it, one way or the other.