New York Jets: Sam Darnold’s experience behind bad offensive line
The New York Jets should start Sam Darnold behind “that offensive line,” right? Well, there is on issue with that idea, his experience.
When he was in high school, New York Jets quarterback Sam Darnold transitioned from linebacker to quarterback. He did attempt passes as a sophomore and junior, but he didn’t start at quarterback until he was a senior. Then, he enrolled at USC in 2015 and redshirted his first year there.
As redshirt freshman in 2016, he burst on to the scene. He completed 67.2 percent of his passes, threw for 3,086 yards, 31 touchdowns and only nine interceptions. His efforts led USC to the Pac-12 title and a win in the Rose Bowl. With that performance, he rose up many draft boards to become the top quarterback heading into the 2017 season.
In 2017, though, his numbers dropped. His completion percentage and touchdowns went down, and his turnovers went up. There was an underlying cause, however: the offensive line.
The previous season, the Trojans had one of the nation’s best and most experienced offensive lines. Then the 2016 campaign ended, and four of those experienced linemen were no longer a part of the team.
Subsequently, Darnold’s 2017 team lacked experience across the offensive line, and it led Darnold to be on the move a lot. He did develop some bad habits as a result, but even though he was moving a lot, his number didn’t precipitously drop, and his confidence and ability didn’t change either. Not only did he play well, but they won their second straight Pac-12 South title.
People fear that putting him behind the current Jets offensive line will drastically affect his career in the same way that the Houston Texans did when they put David Carr behind a terrible offensive line. There are two problems with that idea.
The first is that Carr wasn’t put behind a terrible offensive line for only one season. He was consistently put behind bad offensive lines, and was hit and sacked constantly for three seasons. Secondly, Darnold’s experience at USC behind the line last year should help him in playing behind the current Jets offensive line.
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So, when you combine his experience with his success despite a poor offensive line, we shouldn’t worry about putting Darnold behind this offensive line. It won’t be as big a deal as many expect.