Sunday in New England marks the graceful end of the Jets’ 2020 season.
The end is expected to be for their head coach Adam Gase, who will likely be fired before breakfast Monday after two unsatisfactory seasons.
The selection as we know it today will differ enormously in 2021. The biggest question is whether the quarterback will be any different.
Before the Jets started winning games – two in a row heading into Sunday’s season finale against the Patriots – to ruin their chances for the No. 1 overall draft pick and a shot at Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence, that answer seemed somewhat obvious. It would have been a big deal if the Jets hadn’t called up Lawrence and left Darnold after three inconsistent seasons (13-24 record, 44 touchdowns, 37 interceptions).
But Lawrence is no longer part of the talk for the Jets, who own the second choice – presumably after the Jaguars lined up Lawrence with the top pick.
So, what to do now with Darnold?
Here’s what: Unless Joe Douglas, general manager of Jets, has the same kind of indispensable belief about Ohio State’s Justin Fields, BYU’s Zach Wilson, North Dakota State’s Trey Lance, or some other eligible April quarterback he might have had Lawrence , he needs to keep Darnold and build a good team around him.
Douglas has nine choices in ’21 draft and nearly $ 100 million in salary cap. If he can’t put enough players in front of him with a skill position around Darnold and a good line of attack, then Douglas is not worthy of the six-year contract Jets CEO Christopher Johnson gave him.
If the worst thing that happens to the Jets’ quarterback position is Darnold coming back next season with a stronger supporting cast around him, that’s no bad thing.
The debate around Darnold has been raging for the past two seasons and revolves around the following: is his inconsistency the result of his own shortcomings or the shortcomings of those around him?
The answer is, of course, a combination of both. The question is which one is more heavily weighted?
Darnold, no matter how bad his offensive line has been and how limited his talent for skill position has been, cannot be completely cleared of his excess sales and questionable decision-making.
“It’s about consistency and it’s also about consistency with the guys around you,” Gase said Thursday, confident that Darnold has what it takes to lead the Jets forward with a skilled cast around him. “If you are a young player, you need to have a core of people around you that you can grow with, who can help you develop as a player.”
Darnold has played the past three games without flipping the ball once, which is an important step. It’s no coincidence that he’s had his top three receivers – Jamison Crowder, Breshad Perriman and Denzel Mims – back from injuries in those games.
The quarterback position takes a lot of the blame for everything [bad] that happens and often it isn’t on them, ” said Gase. “I think we need to improve in certain places [Darnold]? Yes absolutely. Do I think he’s gotten to the point where it should all fall on him? No, I do not know that.
“If we can tidy up some things, it would really help him make decisions, accuracy and timing. But we have to have consistency about the guys who are with him. ”
The counter-argument, however, is that Darnold hasn’t elevated the people around him the way the elite quarterbacks can, despite the shortcomings of their support cast (see: Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers).
“All I asked you is what quarterbacks are you talking about that didn’t have a good cast around them?” Gase said. “We can walk around in circles there.”
Those circles include Cincinnati, where rookie Joe Burrow, last spring’s No. 1 overall pick, threw 300 or more yards in five of his 10 starts before a torn ACL ended his rookie season. But he pitched to a much better receiving corps than the Jets – Tee Higgins, Tyler Boyd and AJ Green.
They include LA, where Justin Herbert has thrown 300 yards or more in his 14 starts for the Chargers, but he throws to Keenan Allen, Mike Williams and Hunter Henry, one of the best tight ends in the game.
Darnold has completed passes for nine different receivers and six different running backs this season. Some of those players are not NFL caliber.
So, should Darnold stay with a better cast around him or should the Jets give up on a 23-year-old to whom they issued a No. 3 overall draft pick just three years ago?
“I know we all like to think about hypothetical facts and what ifs, but I’m a Jet right now and I love being here,” Darnold said Thursday. “I absolutely believe my best days are ahead.”
For him and those of the Jets, hopefully those days will come while he’s wearing green and white.