Ranking AFC East teams by quarterback situation after Cam Newton signing

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Sam Darnold, New York Jets (Photo by Bryan M. Bennett/Getty Images) /

4. New York Jets

Projected Starting Quarterback: Sam Darnold
Backups: Joe Flacco, David Fales, James Morgan, Mike White

The New York Jets’ list of starting quarterbacks through the years is a who’s who of mediocre journeymen. The likes of Chad Pennington, Vinny Testaverde, Mark Sanchez and Ryan Fitzpatrick comprise the list.

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Now the franchise has young Sam Darnold. In the 2018 NFL Draft, the Jets selected Darnold with the third overall pick in the hope that he could become the franchise quarterback they’ve desperately been looking for. Unfortunately, that has not been the case through two seasons.

While at USC, Darnold was a bit of a gunslinger and that mentality has traveled with him to the NFL. The young signal-caller has thrown quite a few interceptions already, reaching double-digits in each of his first two seasons. However, the issue has been the lack of reward with that approach to the position as he’s not touched 20 touchdown passes either.

Perhaps Darnold’s worst attribute at this point in his young career is handling pressure. This was never more evident than the infamous “seeing ghosts” game against the Patriots in the 2019 season. New England pressured him 15 times in that game and it showed with the way the Jets quarterback handled it.

Behind Darnold on the depth chart is a group that isn’t the worst — but certainly isn’t the best. There’s a mix of youngsters (Morgan and White) and veterans (Flacco and Fales). One of the vets would likely be the starter in a situation where Darnold can’t play. But even with Darnold’s questionable performance to this point, at 23 years old, there’s still plenty of room to grow.

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