The New York Jets fan base has suffered through many losing seasons and embarrassing moments. While the last few seasons have been no different, they finally think they have something they haven’t had since Joe Namath, a franchise quarterback. Sam Darnold is going into his third season. His second season, in 2019, was much better than the first statistically.
Darnold is not your typical quarterback. He is not a natural pocket passer, which exceptional arm strength and perfect mechanics. Though he does have his traits that made him the 3rd overall selection in the 2018 NFL Draft. Darnold is best when the play breaks down. He is able to make plays off schedule by extending the play and making throws from different arm angles. He has a talented arm, which sometimes forces him to throw with just his arm, resulting in some bad mechanical habits. He is mobile enough to get out of the pocket or scramble when he needs to. The next progression for Darnold, or most quarterbacks, is for him to be able to read defenses after the snap and limit turnovers. These two skills go hand in hand, because the more you understand defenses they better you will be able to know where the ball needs to go and make fewer mistakes.
The first game analyzed will be a loss against he Miami Dolphins in Week 9. On 3rd and 8 in the first quarter, the Jets line up in a 3 receiver set, with slot receiver Jamison Crowder as the #3 receiver. The Dolphins are showing a cover 1 look before the snap, with a safety dropping down to rob the first crosser that comes his way.
Coach Adam Game dials up a deep speed out by Crowder. Since it is a long developing route, Darnold needs to buy time to throw it. With the #2 receiver running vertical, there will be open space for Crowder to win 1 on 1. Darnold releases the ball of his back foot, sliding away from the pocket. Crowder makes a ridiculous one handed catch for a 20 yard conversion.
The second play happens later on this drive. It is 3rd and 3 from the dolphins 22. On 3rd and short, you are almost guaranteed to see man coverage. Instead, the dolphins rotate to a drop 8 Cover 2.
Darnold’s first read is Demariyus Thomas at the bottom of the screen running a hitch. He gets jammed up by the hard corner, and Darnold doesn’t see tight end Ryan Griffin wide open running a seam route, into the void in the middle of the field. It should be noted that Gase dialed up a quarterback friendly play. He has hitch-seam to the bottom of the screen, a single high beater, and then spacing to the top, a zone beater. Darnold reads 1 high pre-snap and chooses the hitch-seam side. The disguise by Miami freezes Darnold, and he takes a sack. The Jets go from makable field goal range to attempting a 49 yard field goal, which naturally Sam Ficken misses. As a young quarterback, Darnold needs to understand situational football if he is going to the next step in his development.
Later in the first half, the Jets are at the 2 yard line with 54 seconds left. The Jets have all 3 timeouts and it is 2nd and goal. Gase dials up a sprint pass designed to hit Crowder in the flat, with the #1 and #2 receivers blocking. The dolphins play it perfect, and Crowder falls down. Darnold backs up and is under pressure. Instead of throwing it away or at worst taking a sack, he carelessly throws it up. One of the worst decisions you’ll ever see by a quarterback.
Moving on to week 16 against the Steelers. In the first quarter, Darnold shows why he shook be considered a franchise quarterback. What he does here is something that you might see Brady or Brees do on any given Sunday. The Steelers are playing a single high coverage, with the Free Safety in the middle of the field. The Jets align Anderson by himself to the bottom of the screen, in a condensed split. This split is crucial to the play, because it forces the corner to widen and play outside of Anderson.
In the second image, here comes the mastery. Darnold holds the free safety with his eyes, forcing him to jump the curl route by the #3 receiver. Darnold knows the entire time that he is going to throw the go route to Anderson. He is doubled by the safety and Haden, but Darnold puts the ball out in front of Anderson and throws it high where only he can get it. Just an all around outstanding play by Darnold.
Later in the first quarter, Gase dials up a play action shot play for Darnold, against the Steelers base Cover 3.
Anderson runs a dig, which is jumped by the free safety. In Cover 3, when defending post-cross/dig, the free safety will jump the dig route, and the corner will replace him as the middle of the field player. Darnold doesn’t see this, and throws the deep post anyway. He is lucky it isn’t intercepted, as Vyncint Smith rips it out of Joe Haden’s hands.
While these are only 5 plays of Darnold’s season, they represent who Darnold is as a player at the moment. he shows flashes of greatness, but then follows that up with some bad mistakes. Sometimes it is protection, situations or reading coverages. Many will come to Darnold’s defense, saying that he has a bad offensive line, bad coaching and not enough weapons. I truly believe that if Darnold was coached by McVay or Kyle Shanahan, that he would thrive. The goal of a coach is to build a system around the strengths of the quarterback. It is too early to tell whether or not Gase’s system is a good fit for Darnold, but 2020 should answer the question. You can bet Joe Douglas will invest significant resources in offensive lineman and another weapon or two for Darnold. I think Darnold falls into the category of you can win with him but he needs a strong team around him to be effective. That is most quarterbacks in the NFL, so the Jets should continue to build around him and watch him continue his development as a franchise quarterback.
Talkin Ball 