Kyle Shanahan suggests San Francisco 49ers may have signed 'next Steve Young'
Kyle Shanahan thinks Sam Darnold has the potential to be as good as Hall of Famer Steve Young.
The San Francisco 49ers head coach welcomed the 26-year-old to the team this offseason after he signed a one-year contract in March. Alongside Trey Lance, he is in the position of a backup quarterback to Brock Purdy, who will start the upcoming season should he complete his recovery from elbow surgery.
Throughout this offseason, the question has been asked as to who will be the man to step up should Purdy not be able to start the season. But after Shanahan’s latest comments regarding Darnold, it may be an indication of who he is leaning towards. “You look at the history of the league, the quarterback is not dependent on one person,” Shanahan told the San Francisco Chronicle.
“You’ve gotta have good players around you, you’ve gotta be in a good situation, and that’s always tough. I mean, Steve Young took a while to get going, and he’s one of the best quarterbacks of all time. I don’t like to compare anyone to Steve, cause of how good he is, but why can’t Sam be like that? He’s got that type of ability. He is that type of person. And I’m just pumped that we could get a talented guy like him here.”
Steve Young is one of the best players to grace the NFL. He had an impressive 15-year career that included three Super Bowl championships, and a Super Bowl MVP award in 1995. He was the league leader in passer rating a record six times and his 43 career rushing touchdowns are the second-highest number for a quarterback.
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Like Young, Darnold is a very capable passer with impressive mobility, and he is more than capable of performing at a high level for the 49ers should the opportunity arise. Earlier in July, Darnold - who was the third overall pick in 2018 NFL Draft - commented on how he is adjusting to learning a new offence since joining the 49ers.
As he continues to be put through his paces, Darnold shed some light on the improvements he continues to make with his new team. “Yeah, it’s been a work in progress,” he told NBC Sports. “I thought I got better throughout camp and just got more comfortable with the system.
Shanahan thinks Darnold can have a career similar to NFL great and three-time Super Bowl Steve Young (Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)“So still got to study and go through the process of continuing to learn the system. But I’m excited for it, and it’s been really fun so far.” Darnold played just six games for the Carolina Panthers last season and missed the early part of the campaign after sustaining an ankle injury.
He did manage to complete 58.6% of his passes for 1,143 yards, to go with seven touchdowns and three interceptions. Ahead of reporting for training camp this past week, regarding his fitness Darnold said: “These last couple of weeks, I've been doing [physical therapy], working out a little bit.
"But going to start ramping it up here this next week and get going so I'm ready for camp." The 49ers will commence the new season against the Pittsburgh Steelers at the Acrisure Stadium on September 10.
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