Joe Kinsey
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Could Sam Darnold be the heir apparent in Pittsburgh to Ben Roethlisberger? JuJu Smith-Schuster, who was Darnold’s teammate at USC seems intrigued by the possibility of Darnold landing with the Steelers once Adam Gase gets both of them run out of New York where Sam is 11-18 and could be a victim of the Trevor Lawrence sweepstakes if the Jets manage the rest of the season correctly.
“That my guy, man. Sam Darnold, if we could get him to Pittsburgh, I would, but I love Ben [Roethlisberger] so it is what it is,” Smith-Schuster said on CBS Sports’ “All Things Covered” podcast. “I’m just saying he’s a great kid. I played with him so he’s one of my boys so I wouldn’t mind playing with him again.”
“There’s no doubt that he has that ‘it’ factor in him. The NFL’s a lot different now, schemes and all that other stuff so I think that it just takes time. I think his time is coming soon. Right now, I think it’s tough.”
Darnold would hit free agency in 2022 if the Jets decline his fifth-year option with a $9.7m cap hit in 2021. Currently, the Steelers have Mason Rudolph, Joshua Dobbs and Devlin Hodges around town in case Big Ben, 38, gets hurt.
The post-Ben era is around the corner and JuJu turns 24 in November. Darnold to the Steelers is something to keep your eye on down the road.
Why would the Steelers (or any decently-run team) want a QB whose biggest flaw coming out of college was being a turnover machine, and while being in the NFL has been a turnover machine? Yes, the Jets stink. But Darnold looks more like a contributor to the Jets awfulness vs. a QB like Peyton Manning playing on an awful Colts team
Perfect piece for ESPN …or CNN…but why Outkick?
Darnold came out of USC not a great history of turning out top national felon league QB’s