New York Jets: Sam Darnold and the internet age

(Note: This article isn’t meant to be predictive, just a challenge to consider a change in the way of thinking.)

Could New York Jets Sam Darnold be a rare breed who’s really good really young, and should we be surprised by it if it happens?

When Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg became a self-made billionaire at the ripe old age of 23, he became the first person in his 20s to become a billionaire ever. He was soon followed by Evan Spiegel, the founder of Snapchat. In the internet age, we’ve seen a lot of young people become multi-millionaires as a result of being smart and using their ability to build through growth in technology. From a sports perspective, we’ve seen Bryce Harper and LeBron James become instant successes in their teenage years in MLB and the NBA. Could New York Jets quarterback Sam Darnold be on that same path?

I know sports is “different,” and among the sports, football is “different.” That doesn’t mean that sports (and in particular football) are excluded from the norms of society — namely evolution.

With advancement in technology, we’ve seen young people get smarter and smarter. They’ve also evolved to be able to do things we thought were impossible for people “that young” even just at the turn of the century.

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We should look at football the same way. I do understand that there is no experience for actually playing the game, but let’s look at the evolution of the quarterback position.

Until Peyton Manning came along, we didn’t see or hear much about quarterbacks controlling the play at the line of scrimmage. Now, it’s become almost a prerequisite for the quarterback position — 20 years after he was drafted. Pre-snap judgements and getting in and out of the right play is crucial to success. Now to look at Sam Darnold.

It’s just practice, but coaches and teammates are already raving about Darnold’s mental toughness. We keep hearing how mistakes don’t phase him, and he doesn’t make the same mistake twice. Todd Bowles was on ESPN’s “Get Up” and had this to say (per ESPN’s Rich Cimini):

"“He had great recall from the spring, so that was good. He has some catching up to do, obviously. He’s seeing a lot more defense installed than he had in the spring as well, but he’s learning from his mistakes and he’s got poise in the pocket. But we haven’t played any games yet. It’s only been a week, but we like what we see thus far, as we do with Teddy (Bridgewater) and Josh (McCown) as well.”"

Could this just be the next step in the evolution of the quarterback? Could they be better and more equipped to play younger as a result of technology? The answer is yes, not that they definitely are, but that the right people could be.

We’ve also seen a trend where starting early on in your rookie season is better for the player as opposed to being a hindrance. Since 1996, as Michael Nania of Gang Green Nation points out, quarterbacks win more when they play all 16 games as a rookie.

People are not expecting much from Jets. One reason is because of a lack of talent. The other is that they are likely starting a 21-year-old rookie quarterback (potentially Week 1).

Many people are taking Darnold’s age into account. Last season, with a team that lost a lot of talent to the NFL, Darnold took a USC team that lost a lot of talent to the NFL to a second straight Pac-12 title.

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College isn’t the NFL, but what if Darnold had the ability to elevate the play of others at a young age? He’s young, but to say he can’t simply because we’ve never seen it before is a little short-sighted.

Is it highly unlikely at his age? Yes. Is it impossible? No.

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