By Jordan Long
The New York Jets are taking a risk. They traded quarterback Teddy Bridgewater to the New Orleans Saints for a 2019 3rd draft pick. This leaves 2 quarterbacks on the roster, rookie Sam Darnold and veteran Josh McCown.
Sam Darnold was selected 3rd overall in the 2018 NFL Draft. The Jets are hoping he is their franchise quarterback for years to come. With this move Darnold is now going to be the starting quarterback for the Jets when they face the Detroit Lions in week 1 on September 10.
Darnold’s stats are average in the preseason, throwing for 244 yards and adding 2 touchdowns but has been picked off 1 time. His quarterback rating is 83.9. Darnlold has been sacked 3 times.
Darnlold is able to find his open receivers. The problem is he is holding onto the ball way too long. Defenses are keying on that and blitzing him which equals sacks. Darnold must learn to throw the ball away quicker to avoid a sack. He can’t force the ball downfield when he is being rushed. If Darnold is forcing the ball downfield when he is blitzed, those will often lead to interceptions.
The backup quarterback for the Jets right now is Josh McCown. He hasn’t seen a lot of action in preseason to this point with a total of 4 passing yards. McCown has 16 years of NFL experience to back up Darnold. In those seasons he has a total of 17,168 passing yards with 97 touchdowns and 78 interceptions.
McCown can control the offense if Darnold is struggling. His problem is fumbles. He takes chances running in the pocket and can’t protect the football. That allows defenses to knock the ball out of his hand for a total of 61 fumbles in his career, far too many.
The Jets are taking a chance. They can start the season with 2 quarterbacks on the roster. If, for whatever reason, Darnold is hurt in a game and is out for the season, that leaves only 1 quarterback. The Jets will need to pick up one once cuts are made this weekend. For the Jets, hopefully trading Bridgewater was the right move for them.
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