New York Jets: 3 Bold predictions for Week 1 vs. Lions

2. Sam Darnold shines

According to Bleacher Report’s Brad Gagnon, 20 NFL rookie quarterbacks have started Week 1 of their careers in the last 11 years, and it’s been a mixed bag of both Week 1 performances and how their career panned out. There’s no doubt that the best performance by any rookie Week 1 debut in NFL history was Cam Newton when he completed nearly 65 percent of his passes, threw for over 400 yards, had two passing touchdowns, and added a rushing score to boot.

Sam Darnold looked cool, calm, and collected under the lights in preseason. Even though it was against vanilla defenses, and sometimes against backups and the backups to the backups, when he was in those situations, he was also playing with No. 2 and No. 3 players. The fact that he stood in the pocket and took the licks with the Jets terrible depth at offensive line shows that he’s tough and willing to make the right throw rather than force the play.

Don’t expect Newton-like numbers for Darnold, because he doesn’t pose the same running threat. However, with his accuracy and downfield ability, Darnold will throw for between 290 and 310 yards and multiple touchdowns, because of all the weapons he has at his disposal.