Sam Darnold entered his sophomore season with the hope of perfecting his strengths and mitigating his weaknesses after a promising rookie campaign. The Jets expected to see a significant jump from their franchise quarterback, especially with new coach Adam Gase running the offense.
However, Darnold’s season went off the rails in the beginning after he missed three games with mononucleosis, and his season-ending stats weren’t all that impressive. Whether it was because of bad coaching, a bad roster or bad habits by the quarterback, Darnold didn’t perform as well as the Jets would have hoped. For every bright spot (remember the Cowboys and Raiders wins?) there were dreadful outings (lest we forget the Patriots and Jaguars losses).
All in all, Darnold turned in an admirable season despite the chaotic year, and there remain reasons to hope that he can continue to mold into a franchise quarterback.
Here are six stats on how Darnold both progressed and regressed in his sophomore season.