By Jordan Long
The New York Jets are 1-1 in preseason action. They are preparing to take on the New York Giants in a battle of New York teams on Friday. The Jets have a starting quarterback competition between 1st-round pick Sam Darnold, Teddy Bridgewater, and Josh McCown.
Bridgewater has been the better quarterback of the 3 in the preseason. He is 17 of 23 passing for 212 yards and 2 touchdowns. Bridgewater is able to run in the pocket, set his feet, and find the open receiver. He is not forcing into double coverage and is holding onto the ball but has tossed 1 interception. Bridgewater has been sacked 2 times but his quarterback rating is a stellar 113.0.
The Jets drafted Darnold #3 in this years’ NFL draft. They were hoping he would be the franchise quarterback of the future. In the preseason, he has looked like he could help the Jets win for years to come. Darnold is 21 of 29 passing for 158 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 interception.
The only downside is Darnold is holding onto the ball too long and teams are hitting him. That has forced 3 sacks. Darnold will learn from this but his quarterback rating is still 82.3.
McCown hasn’t played a whole lot in the preseason. He is 1 of 1 on passing for 4 yards. McCown has yet to be sacked. His passer rating is 83.3.
The Jets have seen enough to start Darnold in the season opener on the road against the Detroit Lions on September 10. There is the possibility Bridgewater might be traded before the preseason is over.
According to ESPN, General Manager Mike Maccagnan said, “There’s nothing to stop us from keeping three [quarterbacks], and there’s nothing to stop us from keeping two.”
The Jets could deal Bridgewater for a draft pick. That may help the Jets in the future. It wouldn’t be a lot of money for a team to take on since Bridgewater’s cap hit is $6 million this season. A team might want him as a backup because of what he can do on the field. Not only can he throw the football, but he is able to run for yards.
If this were to happen, the Jets would have 2 quarterbacks on the roster, Darnold and McCown. Darnold is a rookie so who knows what kind of play the Jets will have from him this season. McCown is an experienced backup with 12 years in the NFL.
Plenty of NFL teams start the season with 2 quarterbacks on the roster. The difficulty with this is if Darnold goes down for the Jets during a game, that leaves McCown as the only quarterback on the roster. They would need to pick one up in free agency for the next week.
The Jets may take phone calls on an agreement for Bridgewater. It doesn’t mean they have to take it. The wiser move is to keep 3 quarterbacks on the roster. This is more than enough in case an injury occurs. Of course the Jets will do what they think is best for the franchise moving forward. Hopefully, they will keep all 3 to start the year.
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