Predicting the Pros
Predictions/Sam Darnold
Sam Darnold

Player breakdown

Sam Darnold

USC · 2018 Draft Class

6-3221 lbs1st round, 3rd overallAge at Draft: 21Age: ~29
High25+ Total TD
Major awards: 0Heisman votes: 0NIL Contract Value: --
Watch Highlights

Model confidence

Success Probability

65%

YearTeamGGSCmpAttPass YdsPass TDINTRush YdsRush TDTotal TD
2018NYJ13132394142,8651715138118
2019NYJ13132734413,024191362221
2020NYJ12122173642,208911217211
2021CAR12112434062,527913222514
2022CAR66821401,1437310629
2023SFO1012846297211513
2024MIN17173615454,3193512212136
2025SEA17173234774,048251495025
SeasonTeamConfGCmpAttPass YdsPass TDINTRush YdsRush TDTotal TD
2016USCBig Ten102133132,633268230228
2017USCBig Ten132774353,7872612100531

Model readout

Probability, context, and base score

XGBoost Prob

65%

ML model output

Context Prob

65%

Rule-based model

Suppression Signals

0

Depth chart context

SHAP Base

0.484

Average prediction

Top Positive Factors

Strong ascending production slope (+1154 yards/yr) — still improving at draft time+0.331
Improvement accelerating (+0.4) — getting better faster each year+0.312
4.40s short shuttle — average lateral quickness+0.277

Top Negative Factors

Physical upside: 0.87 — elite athletic ceiling-0.552
279.1 career ypg — elite WR1 college production-0.345
Height-adjusted speed: 4.66s — below average speed for frame-0.289

SHAP Feature Impact (Top 20)