2018 NFL Draft: Grading every first-round pick after rookie year

3. Sam Darnold, QB, New York Jets

2018 Stats:  2,865 passing yards, 17 TDs, 15 INTs, 57.7 completion %, 77.6 passer rating, 138 rushing yards, 1 rushing TD

Realistically, Sam Darnold wasn’t half bad for the New York Jets this season. Sure, he battled some injuries and had his fair share of bad games. As a whole, though, the Jets offense was better when he was under center.

There’s just a lot of progress that needs to be made before we can start talking about him as Gang Green’s franchise quarterback. I mean, A LOT of progress. Cutting down on the interceptions would be a good start, and then maybe honing his decision-making as a whole. The hiring of Adam Gase as the new head coach may help, but it’s not like he worked wonders with Ryan Tannehill.

Either way, there’s hope for the future. We saw the potential he possesses, especially during the Jets’ Week 1 destruction of the Detroit Lions. After that game, all of the buzz was about Darnold absolutely being worth the No. 3 overall pick. It was mostly downhill from there, but it gave us a glimpse of what can happen when the former USC star is slinging it.

The Jets weren’t good this year, and Darnold’s play often didn’t help their cause. However, we saw enough positive to assume a stronger supporting cast should yield much better results for the young signal caller. The jury is still out, which means there’s still hope for the future.

Grade: B