New York Jets Select Sam Darnold: The initial reaction
Reaction to the New York Jets selection of Sam Darnold in the first round of the NFL draft.
The pick is finally in. The New York Jets have put in their pick and it is Sam Darnold. The guy ranked number one on many of the quarterback draft boards fell to the Jets and Mike Maccagnan made the call. The night has lived up to its excitement.
To be honest, the pick isn’t surprising. Once
went number one, the odds of this pick were very good. The Giants weren’t likely to take a quarterback. Dave Gettlemen was fairly up front about the fact that he believed
had football left in the tank. After
was announced to the Giants, this was probably inevitable.
I have made my opinion clear on Darnold in my previous profile of him earlier in the week. Darnold does not come to the Jets without flaws. His footwork is very messy. It’s inconsistent. Some of his throws are off of the wrong foot or no foot at all, but the error is masked by the fact that receivers break wide open in college. This won’t fly in the NFL.
Darnold also has some issues with ball security. He likes to run with the football in only one hand and that carrying style will lead to a great deal of fumbles. The Jets are banking on the fact that these types of problems can be coached out of his game. It’s hard not to be skeptical based on this team’s past history of developing quarterbacks, but we can all hope that this time things will be different.
Needless to say, Jeremy Bates will be a man with eyes on him in 2018 and beyond.
Next: It all comes down to this for Maccagnan
The fact is that Darnold has a lot of talent. It’s all there for him. He can make all of the throws and he can improvise when he gets in trouble. In today’s NFL, there is a premium on quarterbacks that can make plays with their feet and Darnold can do that. That has to be one of the traits that the Jets loved.
It will be an exciting training camp, that’s for sure.