LOS ANGELES – Every day speculation swirls about what will happen to Sam Darnold. Will he still be playing with the Jets in 2021? Will it be traded? Everyone wants to know.
Meanwhile, the topic of that endless sports radio discussion quietly turns to his off-season affairs around home in Southern California.
According to confidants, Darnold, who has been pursuing a Jets career for three years that has been anything but a success since he was drafted as No. 3 overall in 2018, has treated his career uncertainty with the same level-headedness he dealt with. adversity on the field.
Jordan Palmer is a longtime friend of Darnold and he is also his off-season quarterback coach, the founder of the QB Summit, a widely announced training program that has helped develop the likes of Patrick Mahomes, Deshaun Watson and Josh Allen.
In an exclusive interview with The Post during a break from one of his beach workouts last weekend in Dana Point, California, Palmer remains highly optimistic about Darnold’s career.
“I’m as biased as it gets, but I’m going to keep it [bleeping] really here: I have more confidence in Sam at this point in his career that he will reach his potential than I did three years ago, ” said Palmer. “He’s been hardened by how difficult his first three years have been and by some of the challenges he’s faced. I’ve watched him grow a ton with the way he handled it.
“These are new situations for him. He wasn’t on a team that doesn’t win. He has always been a very good player on a very good team. And that’s not how the first three years with the Jets turned out.
“I believe Sam is one of the most talented young quarterbacks in the league, and like all good, talented quarterbacks, he needs to have a big off season and improve.”
Palmer praised how Darnold has finished the past two seasons, 6-2 in the last eight games of 2019 after the team started 1-7 and 2-1 last season after starting 0-13.
“My logo is a peak, a mountain range,” said Palmer. That is your journey. I haven’t seen a quarterback go from bottom to top yet – perfect, great, at the end you get the championship and all the money and the congratulations. What guys have to do is navigate their journey. ”
Former Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez is another confidant of Darnold’s who has also been trained by Palmer and still works with him from time to time. Sanchez said his interest in the Jets remains strong “because of Sam.”
“He’s my neighbor, I love the kid and I want him to do well … and he’s in the thick of it,” Sanchez told The Post. ‘I’ve literally been where he is – shrugging, trying to fight through injuries, playing, not playing? We have some eerily similar situations – two kids who grew up just down the street. ”
The arc of Sanchez’s career was the exact opposite of Darnold’s to date, as Sanchez had his best success early on and struggled later. Sanchez hopes Darnold’s career is a reverse of his.
“We entered the competition for two very different teams,” said Sanchez. “Sam was in a high position because the team was not good the year before. I was ranked high because they traded for me and they were 9-7 the year before I got there. So I had to go to a team with a lot of talent and a great line of attack. ”
Sanchez said he constantly “gives my advice” to Darnold, reminding him, “Dude, I’m here for you.”
Sanchez, like Palmer, is convinced that Darnold’s best football is ahead of him, but he believes that the best thing to do with a change of scenery. Sanchez has lived in a Jets world where perceptions among fans are cemented and cannot be survived.
However, Sanchez believes Darnold wants to stay with the Jets, get his fresh start with the new coaching regime, head coach Robert Saleh and offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur.
Palmer is torn on that topic.
“Part of me wants Sam to finish what he started and do it right, and part of me would like him to change environments because I’ve seen it work so well for others,” Palmer said. “This competition is a competition in the right place, at the right time and a competition in the wrong place. The right man in the right situation has the chance to be in the mix at the end.
“It just hasn’t happened to Sam, and it will. And I can honestly say the right place could be the right time this year with the Jets. Or it could be somewhere else. ”