Sam Darnold's 49ers stint was short lived, but he made quite the impression on coach Kyle Shanahan during the 2023 NFL season.
Darnold is set to face his former coach when San Francisco squares off with the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, with Shanahan revealing Wednesday that he thoroughly enjoyed coaching the former No. 3 overall pick last season.
“Loved having Sam here, he was an awesome guy,' Shanahan told reporters. "He’s been that way everywhere he’s been. And we found it out personally here. But always liked Sam before he got here. Just his talent level from college and what you'd seen in NFL and was exactly as good as advertised.
"He's such a good athlete, so tough, can make any throw. And really enjoyed working with him. I thought he got better throughout the year. He was always ready to get more opportunities in the games if something bad happened. Fortunately for Brock [Purdy] we didn't have to do that till the last week. But it was really good having him here as a number two.”
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Darnold's lone start with the 49ers came in a Week 18 showdown against the Los Angeles Rams, as San Francisco rested many of its starters after securing the NFC's No. 1 playoff seed.
While Darnold didn't get much on-field work throughout the 2023 season, Shanahan still noticed plenty of growth during the quarterback's time in the Bay.
“Yeah, I did," Shanahan told reporters when asked if he saw Darnold make progress behind the scenes. "I think just, Sam had been in a lot of different offenses and a few different teams and stuff. I think just the more, he always could make plays and stuff, but the more he got used to what we were asking and it's hard when you ask some people to do stuff that they haven't done before, because sometimes you’ve got to get worse before you get better.
"But Sam came in with such a good mindset. He was so detailed in what he did, really never wavered and really tried to pick stuff up. I thought he came in really good and I thought he got better throughout the year.”
Shanahan joked that he had hoped Darnold didn't find a suitable landing spot so that he'd return to San Francisco, but conceded he was glad Darnold landed in a good situation in Minnesota.
San Francisco 49ers
“Yeah, I thought it was a real good spot for him," Shanahan said. "And I was happy for him. I was hoping he'd find no good spots and come back here. But I was happy for him. He got this opportunity because Sam more than deserves it. Sam is a starting quarterback in this league and he should run with it.”
"Sam's a starting quarterback in this league."
— 49ers on NBCS (@NBCS49ers) September 11, 2024
Shanahan is thrilled about Sam Darnold's opportunity with the Vikings pic.twitter.com/AU980hn7PZ
Darnold was solid in his Vikings debut, throwing for 208 yards and a pair of touchdowns with a 79-percent completion percentage in Minnesota's blowout win over the New York Giants.
However, he faces a much more daunting task against his former team, after the 49ers' defense limited four-time NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers to 167 passing yards in San Francisco's Week 1 win over the New York Jets.
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