Sam Darnold: Product of his environment or NFL Draft bust?
By Dean Jones
Sam Darnold’s career so far
To say things haven’t gone according to plan for Sam Darnold during his career so far would be something of an understatement. The New York Jets were expecting big things from the quarterback after selecting him at No. 3 overall in 2018. But just three years after the move, they were willing to give him away in favor of BYU sensation Zach Wilson.
General manager Joe Douglas has freely admitted the Jets didn’t do enough to get Darnold the help he needed. The protection in front of him was nothing short of an abomination and although the player should have done better from a clean pocket, the lack of confidence in his offensive line is a huge factor that simply can’t be understated.
Darnold was sacked 98 times in 38 games with the Jets – an average of 2.57 per game. He was hurried 175 times and pressured on 362 occasions over his three-year stint at MetLife Stadium.
Couple this with a lack of prominent playmakers, no prolific running back to provide assistance, and a head coach in Adam Gase who was out of his depth from the moment he stepped onto the podium in his introductory press conference, the odds were clearly stacked against the quarterback.
What comes next for Darnold will be vital. But he can take great heart from the fact plenty of other former Jets are thriving elsewhere, including Robby Anderson on the Carolina Panthers.
Darnold has to hit the ground running, of that there is little doubt. However, he is walking into a pretty good situation with progressive young coaches and a significant amount of weapons to call upon.