Sam Darnold Pinpoints Run Game As 49ers Biggest Strength

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Sam Darnold is excited to play with a championship-caliber offense under head coach Kyle Shanahan.

Sam Darnold has returned home to California to compete with Brock Purdy and Trey Lance for a starting place.

It’s a step up for the USC product, having never played on a winning team. Two seasons with the Panthers and three with the Jets failed to yield even one winning season.

In contrast, the 49ers have won 10 or more games in three out of the last four seasons. As well as that, San Francisco has appeared in two NFC Championship games and a Super Bowl in that period.

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Sam Darnold didn’t play every game last season, but acquitted himself well in Carolina. In six games he generated 1,143 passing yards and seven touchdowns and just three interceptions. He was 4 – 2 as a starter.

The 26-year-old says the 49ers’ run game is the most exciting thing about playing in Shanahan’s offense.

“Guys are open, I mean, there’s a lot of guys open on dang near every play,” Darnold said.

“It just seems like there’s a ton of answers. Great run game. I mean, whenever you can have a great run game as a quarterback, that’s always a comforting feeling. I think just with the certain weapons that they have, you know, Deebo (Samuel), (Brandon) Aiyuk, George (Kittle), obviously Christian (McCaffrey), Juice (Kyle Juszczyk), Jauan Jennings, like there’s so many guys you can go on and on.”

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“But they’ve been there for so long, and Kyle’s been able to understand kind of what everyone does well, what they don’t do well, and I feel like every game plan he uses gets the most out of his guys,” Darnold said. 

“That’s a very good feeling as a quarterback, knowing that the [coach] is going to put everyone in the best position possible.”