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It's an ageless Indianapolis topic: Throw or not throw at the NFL Scouting Combine.
Each class of collegiate quarterbacks head to the combine with that very topic in mind. Most throw. Others opt to pass up on showcasing that golden arm. The 2018 variety brought one individual who opted not to throw and he's loving the strategy, via Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk.
“I just felt it was the best decision for me,” Darnold said. “Obviously I’m going to throw at my Pro Day. I think that’s a good opportunity for teams to be able to look at how I can spin it. I’m going to be throwing to guys I’ve played with. I think given all the information I had, I thought that was the best decision.”
Obviously, the kid on the other end of the “Suck for Sam” campaign has no obligation to explain himself. In fact, he could have skipped the combine all together, if he wished.
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Perhaps he's now discussing it based on recent criticism. NFL Network's Mike Mayock blasted Darnold's decision of declining, per Mike Florio.
“They want competitors,” Mayock said, referring to NFL coaches and executives. “That kid ought to want to get up before or after [Josh] Rosen, Lamar Jackson, all those guys, and show I’m as good if not better. . . . You ought to want to burr up and compete. And it just bothers me a little bit that he ought to override his trainer or override his agent or override his parents — whoever’s telling him not to throw — he should say ‘I’m a competitor, and I want to throw.’”
It's especially tough to take when Josh Allen is throwing 70-yard bombs on the turf that regularly fields the Colts.
Any bit of draft news will receive major attention from here on out. Darnold has found himself in the middle of a tense competition with the aforementioned Allen, UCLA's Josh Rosen and Oklahoma's Baker Mayfield as the first player officially called by Roger Goodell on the night of April 26, 2018, in Arlington, Texas.
