Sam Darnold has strikingly similar numbers to both Mark Sanchez and Geno Smith through the first 30 games of his New York Jets career.
Sam Darnold’s performance has been strikingly similar to the last two young Jets quarterbacks that came before him.
Through 30 games, Darnold has a total quarterback rating of 46 and is averaging 6.7 yards per attempt. If those stats feel familiar, it’s because Mark Sanchez and Geno Smith put up near-identical numbers in their first 30 career games.
That’s a scary graphic considering Sanchez and Smith were not the prospects that Darnold was deemed to be. Sanchez was criticized by his college head coach after leaving USC following one season as a starter, while Smith never panned out after being a second-round pick in 2013.
Sanchez had the fortune of being drafted onto a playoff-contending roster before his supporting cast was stripped down to the bare minimum. Just last week, he said he lived through what Darnold is currently going through in his final two seasons in New York. Smith inherited the mess that was left for Sanchez and wasn’t propped up to succeed, either.
Darnold showed flashes of brilliance during his rookie campaign. He struggled early on, but after sitting and returning from a foot injury, he looked the part of a franchise quarterback. He again showed flashes last year after a bout with mono, but the consistency wasn’t there. Now, there are questions if his problems are beyond repair.
Under Adam Gase’s direction, Darnold has shown glimmers of hope, but his signs of progression have been few and far between. In Year 3, Darnold has proved to still be timid in the pocket, his footwork is a mess, he holds onto the ball too long, he doesn’t make the proper reads and he throws into double coverage.
At the end of the day, though, it’s not all his fault.
Darnold has been put in a similar situation as his predecessors. His brand new offensive line is the same as the old one, his receivers can’t get open and his coach has yet to put him a position to succeed.
After spraining his AC joint in Thursday’s 37-28 loss, Darnold could be robbed of more time that’s critical to his development. The verdict is still out on whether or not he has what it takes to be a great quarterback in this league, but he looks like more of a Sanchez or a Smith than a Joe Namath through 30 games.
