Content available exclusively for subscribers
Early in the season isn’t the time to pa-lay him . . .
When Joe Namath talks about the Jets, it always grabs headlines.
He’s like the Pope of the Jets.
He was in New York yesterday for some charity events, and I have to say, he made some very good points about Sam Darnold.
Jets owner Christopher Johnson, who is a good guy, and means well, probably got ahead of himself at a charity event this week when he said about the selection of Sam Darnold, “I think people are going to look back, honestly, look back 20 years from now and say this is the moment the Jets shifted to a new gear and they became a great team.”
It’s very rare for an owner to make that statement about a QB just drafted. Nothing like that has come out of Cleveland, Buffalo or Arizona, other teams that picked quarterbacks high in the first round.
I just don’t think it’s the way to go.
Namath knows this is going to take time.
“The players, the coaches have to be convinced [Darnold] gives them the best chance to win,” Namath said. “Twenty years old and not having seen the nature of the defenses he’s going to be confronted with — it’s going to take time.”
Damn straight.
Think about it. Darnold threw 20 picks in the last 20 starts. Todd Bowles feels it’s fixable by improving his reads. Fair enough. But it’s going to take some time. Especially when you consider that NFL defenses are a lot more complex than college defense. So if Darnold had some issues with some reads in college the last two years, what is going against the more sophisticated NFL schemes if you throw him to the wolves? It could be a disaster.
But I think if the Jets take this slow, and spend most of this spring, summer and this season, working like crazy with him on his reads and ball security, I think they could have something really special in time.
“Josh [McCown] knows what he’s doing and Teddy Bridgewater was playing well — well — really before he got hurt,” Namath said. “So between the three of them, you have to figure the [older] guys are ahead. But the future, no doubt, is lying with Darnold if he improves.”
Wow, Joe is a on a roll. That quote nailed it. McCown “knows what he is doing” and Bridgewater “was playing well before he got hurt.”
I don’t think some people realize how well McCown played last year. He would have had more wins if not for the Jets’ horrid pass coverage that turned some games into a ping pong matches. Jets should have beat Miami in Miami, but one cornerback was responsible for four touchdowns. That is tough for the QB to overcome.
I have said this many times – if you are a quarterback in your mid-late 30’s, and you still have arm talent, and your health, you can do some of your best work. Because the position is so mentally challenging, it takes a while to master it, and at this point, McCown is at the top of the growth curve, and a master chess player. He’s in a really good place right now.
Jeremy Bates wants McCown as his quarterback. That is pretty obvious.
I’m telling you right now, if the powers-that-be force Bates, who can be feisty, to start Darnold before he is ready, they are going to have a battle on their hands.
Don’t mess with Jeremy.
He knows they need to take it slow with Darnold.
And so does Namath.
May 9, 2018
Premium will return by 9:30 pm on Thursday.