NFC Notes: De’Zhaun Stribling, Sam Darnold, 49ers, Rams, Seahawks

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49ers Despite the questions about whether the 49ers reached on second-round WR De’Zhaun Stribling , an NFC exec believes the Ole Miss product was bound to go early in the second round regardless. “He was going within the first five to 10 picks in the second round,” an NFC executive said, via ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler . “That was not a reach at all. He can really play.” Rams In all likelihood, the Rams will head into the 2026 season as the clear Super Bowl favorites after the blockbuster trade for Myles Garrett , bolstering an already elite roster on paper. Rams HC Sean McVay admitted they understand the external expectations because of their talent pool and need to focus on staying in the moment. “I think the biggest thing is that we want to be inside out,” McVay said, via ESPN’s Sarah Barshop . “The reality is that we’re not naïve to the things that are said, but that doesn’t affect us and we have to be humble. We have to stay connected.” “Inevitably, there is going to be some adversity that we have to be able to deal with, and the separator is going to be handling those storms and not allowing any of those external things to affect our ability to be in the moment right now, to be present, to be grateful and to continue to be courageous.” Seahawks Seahawks QB Sam Darnold was highly critical of his Super Bowl performance during a recent podcast appearance and gave some areas where he plans to improve ahead of next season. “Not to be a friggin’ douche,” Darnold said on the Bussin’ With The Boys podcast . “But I didn’t play great in the Super Bowl. I missed way too many throws. We still won. Our defense balled out. I didn’t turn the ball over, which helped. But dude, to win the Super Bowl that way, I was kinda bummed. I want(ed) to score 40 points, you know what I mean? I want to go out there and ball out, and it’s just, dang, I didn’t play my best football in the Super Bowl? That sucks.” “I think the biggest thing is continuing to build off of my weaknesses, understanding what I wasn’t great at this past year, which I think for me is continuing to hone in on the deep ball, understand how I can be better that way, quieting my feet in the pocket,” Darnold continued. “I feel like I’m a little twitchier — sometimes that wants to creep in a little bit when I’m in the pocket — so being able to calm my feet down, just going through my progressions. Another area to grow is the turnovers. I thought I had too many turnovers last year. So just continuing to — kind of like I did in the playoffs — continuing to have the right mindset on first and second down, keep the big boys happy and get the ball out of my hands.” Darnold also spoke about being drafted by the Jets and then later said he realizes why former Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah opted to move on from him. “I think the dream for a player is you want to stay with the same franchise for your whole career,” Darnold said. “Maybe not; at least that’s what I was kinda thinking. Even if we were trashing New York, I wanted to go and make it right. I wanted to go and win Super Bowls with the Jets. Obviously, that didn’t happen, that wasn’t in the stars for me, but it’s what I wanted; that was the dream.” “I get where the GM was coming from, I totally do,” Darnold concluded. “You see it with a lot of teams. … These rookie quarterbacks and their rookie deals, trying to strike hot while you have a rookie quarterback so that you can pay other guys around him to get the team really good. I get that part of it…