New York Jets: Will Sam Darnold start in Preseason Week 2?

It looks like the New York Jets may just be starting Sam Darnold against the Washington Redskins in their preseason Week 2 matchup.

The last time the New York Jets selected a quarterback with a top-five pick in the draft was when they selected Joe Namath No. 1 overall in the 1965 AFL Draft. Since Namath retired, the Jets have been looking for his replacement to finally bring them another Super Bowl. Richard Todd, Ken O’Brien, Boomer Esiason, Vinny Testaverde, Chad Pennington and Mark Sanchez are the most notable guys who tried, as all but Esaiason led playoff runs for Gang Green.

Then, in what may turn out to be great for both teams, the Jets traded their first-round pick this year, and their 2018-19 second-round picks in the NFL Draft to get the No. 3 overall pick in this year’s draft. In the surprise of the first round, they were able to land Sam Darnold.

Darnold had a good spring by all accounts, and after what seemed to be an eternity, he arrived in camp a little late after a contract dispute. He played in the majority of the first preseason game and, against mostly second and third string players, looked comfortable.

The Jets and Redskins are holding a joint practice before their Preseason Week 2 meeting. According to multiple reports, including ESPN’s Rich Cimini, Darnold got most of the snaps in practice to start the week. According to his ESPN Now excerpt, Darnold took 12 out of the 14 first team reps also.

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Is this a sign of things to come this week? Well, if the past is any indication, yes. Josh McCown and Teddy Bridgewater got most of the first team reps leading up to their game against the Falcons. So, if Darnold gets most of the reps this week, it may be safe to assume he’ll get the start Week 2.

That would be the right move for the Jets. There’s no need to dilly-dally in seeing if he’s prepared to start. Let’s see what Darnold can do against the top players, even if the game plans will be vanilla.

If he does well against the Redskins, then he can get the start in the “dress rehearsal” game, and get even more extended time with the starters — then it’s off to Detroit. As Michael Narnia told us via Gang Green Nation, since 1996, rookie first-round picks who start 16 games as rookies typically have better careers than those that don’t.

In the end, it could just be the beginning for Darnold. That said, it sure looks like things are looking toward a date with Redskins on Thursday.