Literally.
The New York Jets rookie quarterback was at his old stomping grounds of San Clemente High School in California last month, just a few weeks before being the No. 3 overall pick in the NFL draft , tossing "smart" footballs equipped with computer chips calculating his every throw.
It was high-tech training that Darnold and Jordan Palmer, his mentor and a former NFL quarterback, believe will help him 鈥?as well as other signal callers around the country 鈥?improve skills through unique and meticulous data.
Darnold and Palmer are serving as advisory staff members for Wilson, which makes the official balls used by the NFL. The Chicago-based company has been incorporating technology and performance-based data with its Wilson X Connected Football, which debuted two years ago. Now, Darnold and Palmer are helping develop the next-generation version that will enhance film sessions and, possibly, on-field production.
"I think it's really cool to come out here with Wilson and give them my feedback on what it really takes to be a quarterback and what I'm looking for in this data," Darnold said in a video provided by Wilson, "and help kind of build the prototype that is going to push this game to the next level."
Wilson hopes to have the 2.0 version of its Connected Football technology available for a wide release to college and pro teams later this year. In the meantime, the company is gathering feedback from some players and coaches at both levels, including Darnold and Palmer.
"Before this technology, it was really just based on the eye, the naked eye," Darnold said, "being able to look at the film and based on a throw, you might look at your feet, your hips or something like that, to tell you what might have happened Kevin Hogan Jersey Redskins , what might have gone wrong.
"Now with this technology, it gives us hard evidence, hard data to be able to look back on and figure out exactly what happened and what might have gone wrong and what we can improve on and keep improving as a quarterback."
Sam Darnold used "smart" footballs to address his elongated throwing motion. Now, the #Jets quarterback and QB guru Jordan Palmer are working with Wilson to develop the next-generation technology. More from @DWAZ73: s://t.co/0v8nP9rKO7 pic.j91sgQYv0Z
鈥?AP NFL (@AP_NFL) May 9, 2018
Darnold's involvement with the Wilson technology began over a year ago when he was working with Palmer, who played in the NFL for parts of eight seasons and has become one of the country's elite quarterback trainers. One of the biggest criticisms of Darnold at USC before last season was a glaring flaw in his mechanics: an elongated motion with which he'd drop his right arm a bit when he wanted to air out a pass.
After one of Palmer's buddies told him about the first-generation Wilson X Connected ball, he decided to use it 鈥?and it confirmed his theory.
"I knew kind of how to fix it because it's really just retraining muscle memory," Palmer said in a phone interview. "I knew that, but to try to get it to where it was digestible and understandable, where I could prove definitively that he shouldn't do that, I just needed data to back that up."
Palmer set up receivers in different spots on a field and had Darnold throw to them to see what distance Darnold lowered his arm more than normal.
"He didn't do it on every throw," Palmer said. "We determined around 32 yards was when he felt like he needed to rip it, so he would drop the ball a little bit lower."
Meanwhile, the Wilson football was gathering results from four data points: spin (RPMs), spiral efficiency, velocity and time of release 鈥?when Darnold's left hand came off the ball as he was starting to throw to when the ball left his fingertips.
"What we determined is that it's the same velocity, same spiral efficiency and the same spin, but the time of release was slower when he dropped it," said Palmer, whose older brother Carson played quarterback for 15 NFL seasons. "So, it was basically like Cardinals Authentic Jerseys , 'OK, so you have a slowed release and you're not gaining any velocity on this.' So, that was eye-opening to where he went, 'Wow. So, let's go ahead and fix this.'"
Darnold and Palmer kept training with the football and used the data to fine-tune the mechanics of one of the most highly touted players in the country . The two were then asked by Wilson to help the still-developing training system get even better. While it wasn't immediately certain if Darnold will use the upcoming advanced technology with the Jets during the NFL season, he and Palmer have continued during the offseason to give their thoughts and suggestions on the new product.
"It's really kind of a peek into the garage," Palmer said.
The chip inside the new Wilson Connected ball has higher-caliber sensors than the original, and the system is being designed to work within a team environment.
"You can record up to 18 balls at one given time and you go through practice like normal and you'll be able to download all of this data that goes to a spreadsheet," Wilson Labs engineer Dan Hare explained. "From there, they can choose to import it into their video systems or review it with an analytics group or on their own."
The new Wilson Connected Football System will also provide information based around play timing. That includes snap-to-release times and snap-to-target times, which will help perfect individual routes on offense.
"You look at this information and say, 'Hey, based on my quarterback and what he can do, this is what my wide receiver needs to do in order to be in the right spot at the right time to get the ball fluidly,'" Hare said. "If your starting quarterback goes down, your second guy comes up and they're all on Aaron Slegers and Jake Cave have been called up from Triple-A by the Minnesota Twins three times apiece this season, and the All-Star break is still more than one week away.
Their contributions to this struggling team on Thursday night were sure worthy of a longer stay.
Slegers picked up his first major league win with six smooth innings, Cave reached base all four times he batted, and the Twins stopped their six-game losing streak by hanging on for a 5-2 victory over the lowly Baltimore Orioles.
”I know that I think, and I know Slegers thinks the same thing, that we can play big league baseball Cheap Ryan Switzer Jersey ,” Cave said. ”We’re ready to go anytime the team needs us, and that’s just kind of how you’ve got to think of it.”
Logan Morrison homered and Cave drove in an eighth-inning insurance run with one of his two doubles for the Twins, who turned to Fernando Rodney in the ninth for his 18th save following two consecutive blown chances. Slegers (1-0) gave up only one run, on the first of two homers by Jonathan Schoop.
”It’s fun to have that in the stat column, to be a major league winner,” Slegers said. ”I can say that for the rest of my life.”
With eight right-handers in the Orioles lineup, except for Chris Davis, Slegers put his sinker to good use against the second-lowest scoring team in MLB. The Orioles managed just three hits against the 6-foot-10 Slegers, who was the latest to fill the recently revolving fifth spot in the rotation. Manager Paul Molitor stopped short of a commitment, but he indicated Slegers earned another turn after needing only 72 pitches to complete those six innings in his first major league start this season.
”Sometimes you make tough decisions to protect those young guys when they’ve had good outings and make sure they feel good when they come out of the game,” Molitor said.
The Orioles squandered another quality start by Andrew Cashner (2-9) and lost for the 10th time in 11 games. They have the worst record in the major leagues at 24-62, just the team the Twins needed to face to start a season-long 11-game homestand after a pivotal 1-8 road trip.
Trailing AL Central-leading Cleveland by 11 1/2 games, Minnesota has become a probable seller before the non-waiver trade deadline on July 31 with several accomplished players on expiring contracts. Baltimore has essentially been in that boat since April, with slugging shortstop Manny Machado widely considered the best asset on the market this summer.
CASHED OUT
Cashner, one of the offseason acquisitions by the Orioles that suggested their commitment to contending in the daunting AL East, has had more than three runs scored for him in only one of his 17 starts this year. He gave up three runs, two earned, and six hits.
”It’s not like we didn’t want to score for him,” Schoop said. ”I hope things start changing.”
Orioles starters have received the least amount of run support in the major leagues this season.
”I probably had the worst stuff I’ve had this season, but I thought I just grinded throughout the game,” Cashner said. ”When you’re not scoring runs Tyron Smith Jersey Womens , I feel like I keep my mind sharp on what I want to do out there and thinking pitch to pitch.”
WHOOPS
Cashner was charged with an error in the third, when he was covering first base on a chopper hit by Bobby Wilson to Davis and fumbled the relay toss to let Cave score from second. Wilson eventually scored on a single by Eddie Rosario.
WHIFFS
Rodney struck out Davis to start a perfect ninth, pushing the sputtering slugger into a first-place tie on the Orioles list for strikeouts with 1,305. He is tied with Cal Ripken Jr., who played 3,001 games for Baltimore. Davis has appeared in 972 contests.
MAN, CAVE
Cave, who was recalled from Rochester last week, made a fully extended catch at the wall in right-center to take a potential extra-base hit away from Davis in the fourth inning. Cave doubled twice, driving in one run, to go with a single and an intentional walk.
”He can really flash it out there,” Slegers said.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Orioles: RHP Darren O’Day (strained left hamstring) has been scheduled for his season-ending surgery on July 12. He’ll need six months to recover.
DOZIER’S DAY
Twins second baseman Brian Dozier, who has started 80 of 84 games and appeared in all but one this season, went 0 for 4 with three strikeouts. He’s batting .218.
UP NEXT
Orioles: RHP Dylan Bundy (6-7, 3.75 ERA) will come off the DL to start Friday night. Bundy has been sidelined by a sprained left ankle.
Twins: RHP Lance Lynn (5-7, 5.49 ERA) will take the mound in the second game of the series, coming off his worst turn of the season. He gave up seven runs in Chicago to the Cubs in just 1 2/3 innings.
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