USC Football: 5 bold predictions for the 2017 season

3. Sam Darnold won’t finish in top three of Heisman voting

Entering the year, it seems almost inevitable that Sam Darnold is going to be sitting at the Downtown Athletic Club in Manhattan on the second Saturday of December. The redshirt sophomore would have been one of the top quarterbacks in the 2017 NFL Draft. But he was not yet eligible to declare for the pros.

Thus he is back for one final season with the Trojans. Darnold’s Heisman campaign began when he led USC to a comeback victory over Big Ten champion Penn State on New Year’s Day. But Darnold is going to be working with a new group around him. He loses not only of the majority of the offensive line in front of him but also receivers like JuJu Smith-Schuster.

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Rarely does a player manage to live up to so much hype. Increased pressure will lead not only to more sacks but also more interceptions. Darnold will end up trying too hard to win games with his arm, and it will cost USC not only early in the season but later in conference play as well.

Darnold is still going to be good this season. But it might be wise to put the brakes on the heightened expectations. There is going to be an adjustment period for the second-year starter that will dampen some of his stats. As other players emerge in the Heisman race, Darnold will find himself relegated to second-tier status and outside the top three in voting.