Anthony Herron

When you compare their highlights from college, the Sam Donald highlights are eerily similar to what Caleb Williams looked like for much of his run at USC in the Heisman Trophy season.

Sam Donald, when I called his games for the Pac-12 Network at USC, I called a bunch of his games in college.

I described him as an improvisational wizard.

where when the play would break down, and he didn't always have a great offensive line in front of him, so the play would frequently break down, or Sam just liked holding the football.

So the play would break down because he just wouldn't cut it loose.

But then as he began to run around and improvise, sometimes even the ball would dribble out of his hand, and he'd pick it up and keep running and scrambling to and fro, Fran Tarkinson style.

But then frequently, it would end up in these amazing plays that he would make during his college career.

The arm strength was there.

And beyond the arm strength, the arm talent was showcased as well for a guy who had the arm strength to hit every blade of grass on the field.

But also, he could layer his passes.

He could turn the nose of the football over in a really rapid manner to get it beyond the linebacker, in front of the secondary.

And that...

was why I thought the physical gifts, that whole draft class that came out, because when you think about it, like top to bottom where you throw Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson into that class that began with Baker Mayfield and Josh Rosen in that mix as well, a bunch of first-round QBs.

But Sam Darnold was the one who was –

the most total package with the skills that he brought to the table.

Because his arm didn't have the horsepower of Josh Allen, but he was also super mobile, and he did have a really strong arm.

But he could pass with more nuance, more touch, more focus to how the football was being delivered, throwing receivers open.

And he and Caleb are really evenly yoked in that manner.

Caleb has always protected the football at a higher level than Sam Darnold, though.

So that's why Sam Darnold wasn't number one, why he was number three, a bunch of turnovers in college, and why his NFL career got off to a slow start, part of it being with the Jets, but then getting to the point where he could balance that playmaking ability with more of the mundane skills.