49ers
49ers director of player personnel Tariq Ahmad called third-round LB Nick Martin one of the “consensus guys” on their draft board.
“He definitely was one of our consensus guys,” Ahmad said, via The Athletic’s Matt Barrows. “We had him at that combine interview and everyone was extremely excited about him. He was a guy we were targeting.”
Ahmad said Martin’s being a two-time team captain while at Oklahoma State was an attractive quality to them.
“It’s important when we’re considering how the rookies are going to mesh together,” Ahmad said. “Who’s going to be the leader of that group? Who’s going to push guys to watch extra tape, to be on the field extra?”
Ahmad said they are hoping Martin can fill into the weakside linebacker role vacated by Dre Greenlaw.
“Body structure-wise, they’re a little different,” Ahmad said. “But the aggressiveness, physicality, play speed, the passion? There’s a lot of ways to compare those two guys. Everyone’s different, but we’re hoping.”
Rams
Rams QB Stetson Bennett is entering his third year of his career after being a fourth-round pick in 2023. OC Mike LaFleur has been impressed by Bennett’s growth since his rookie year and points out that veterans Matthew Stafford and Jimmy Garoppolo have done well mentoring him.
“A ton of growth, particularly from two years ago,” LaFleur said, via RamsWire. “A lot of credit to him, working on what he needed to work on to get himself into this situation. But a ton of credit that (QBs coach) Dave (Ragone) too and I’ll say even Jimmy and Matthew. I think they’ve done a great job of just putting arm around him, mentoring him. What awesome two quarterbacks to learn from that have won a crap ton of games in this league. Proud would be the wrong word but for lack of a better term, proud of where he’s at and he’s just continuing to go.”
LaFleur reiterated that he’s been pleased by Bennett’s effort to improve.
“He needs to play just football, right?” LaFleur said. “We’re out here again. We’re out playing flag football in shorts right now but I know this: He’s going about his process in a professional way each and every day to give himself the best chance when he inevitably gets his ops in August in the preseason.”
Seahawks
Seahawks QB Sam Darnold enters his first season as Seattle’s starting quarterback. Veteran WR Cooper Kupp said Darnold is proving to have a “mastery” of route concepts and how to attack defenses.
“We’re going to get there (as an offense) and because of the urgency of guys like Sam who see when it’s not right and can say, ‘Hey, this is how it has to be to make this thing go against this look and how we’re going to be able to attack this defense, this is where I need guys to be.’ Now, I love that,” Kupp said, via Curtis Crabtree of Fox Sports. “I love when your quarterback is taking that urgency into things and understanding and mastery of these concepts. So it’s real fun to play with someone like that and excited for the guys to come alongside him and learn and make those things come to life.”
Seahawks HC Mike Macdonald added that Darnold already has a “great feel” for their offensive system.
“Sam is doing a great job,” Macdonald said. “Sam is a great feel for the offense right now in terms of growing every day. So you can feel the growth. You can feel the improvement, the confidence that we’re doing on that side of the ball and that we’re growing. It’s exciting to work with. He’s a heck of a competitor.”
Kupp points out that Darnold already has an understanding of OC Klint Kubiak’s system based on their time together in 2023 when he was the 49ers’ passing game coordinator.
“He’s kind of been in this offense a little bit, so he’s got a little bit of a leg-up on a lot of the guys that are learning for the first time,” Kupp said. “You see there’s an understanding he knows what it takes to make this offense go. It’s the details. It’s all that stuff, precision, execution.”
The post NFC Notes: Sam Darnold, Stetson Bennett, 49ers, Rams, Seahawks appeared first on NFLTradeRumors.co.