New York Jets: Moves to fix the franchise from top to bottom

Fixing the New York Jets: The Quarterback

Quarterback is the keystone to building a winning franchise. Though many teams have been able to win a Super Bowl with a less-than-stellar signal-caller, the clearest path to sustained success in the NFL is through the quarterback.

As things stand right now, the Jets seem destined to land the No. 1 pick in the 2021 draft. If this happens, the Jets could draft the most coveted quarterback prospect since Andrew Luck by selecting Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence. And assuming that Lawrence does declare eligible for the draft, then that is exactly what they should do.

So the question becomes, what to do with their current quarterback-of-the-future, Sam Darnold?

It’s safe to say that Darnold hasn’t lived up to his potential since being drafted third overall in the 2018 draft. However, I’m not convinced that even Tom Brady’s fate would have been much different playing under such circumstances.

Darnold has played for two head coaches, under two different general managers and with three different offensive coordinators and systems in just his third year! That is not exactly the type of continuity that a young quarterback needs in order to grow.

And if learning three systems isn’t enough of a challenge, Darnold has had to do it once as a rookie; once while missing time with mononucleosis and once during the COVID-19 pandemic. In light of the vast challenges he’s faced in such a short amount of time, I think it would be unfair to say he’s been a bust.

The best play for the Jets is to draft Trevor Lawrence. Redshirt him for a year or two and see if they can build something around Darnold. This would be similar to how the once-San Diego Chargers approached having two potential franchise quarterbacks following the historic 2004 draft. They allowed Drew Brees to play out his rookie contract while grooming Philip Rivers for future stardom.

Signing a savvy veteran like Ryan Fitzpatrick to serve as the backup quarterback to Darnold and as a mentor for Lawrence.

What we know right now is that, if the Jets try to trade Sam Darnold, they will not get much back in return. And if they try to play Lawrence right away without a supporting cast, they may derail his career before it even gets started. If quarterback truly is the most important position, why not have two of them?