Mike Maccagnan and the New York Jets make it official by selecting USC’s Sam Darnold in the three hole of the 2018 NFL Draft.
The New York Jets have slected Sam Darnold in the three hole of the 2018 NFL Draft.
Darnold, 20, is the first offensive player selected by the Jets in the first round since the 2009 NFL Draft. They go back to the USC talent pool with the Darnold selection as the last time they went offense, they went Mark Sanchez out of USC. Hopefully, this one works out better. Of course, the New York Jets were recovering after the Brett Favre rollercoaster and wanted a longer-term option.
The Jets were in a very similar situation this past offseason. They were willing to go get the big sexy name at quarterback (then it was Favre, now it was Kirk Cousins) and after both flopped for different reasons, the team decided to go to the college ranks to fill the void that has been empty since ‘Broadway’ Joe Namath hang it up.
Now that empty hole in our hearts has finally been filled and hope has been injected into the fan base for the future. That’s huge news because the team has been in the midst of some turmoil and front office changes. This team hasn’t been to the postseason since 2010, that’s the third-longest drought in the NFL.
While the Jets have been close over the years, 2017 wasn’t one of them. The consensus among the media was that the Jets were going to be terrible, they ended up being a notch above at mediocre at 5-11.
But the fans rationalized last season as a necessary evil to be able to get the franchise quarterback this team has been desperately searching for decades to find. Here’s the cold hard truth: the Jets gave up a lot to move up from No. 6 to No. 3. But at the end of the day, if the quarterback is a success, it doesn’t matter what the Jets gave up.
No one remembers what the Philadelphia Eagles gave up for Carson Wentz. What about Jared Goff and the LA Rams? Or the Houston Texans and Deshaun Watson? None of that matters if you’re right.
While we all have immediate rapid reaction opinions on all of these quarterbacks in the 2018 class, the true tale will be told in the next three years.
The Jets have an ideal situation at quarterback. Sam Darnold won’t have to start immediately. He can take his time and when he’s ready the team can be handed over to him. Or better yet, he wins the job outright from Josh McCown and Teddy Bridgewater in training camp and the rest is history. It’s really a win-win scenario for the Jets.
Although everything rides on this pick, that can’t be understated. If Mike Maccagnan hits, he’ll be with the Jets for the next decade-plus. If he misses, this entire regime is going to get blown up and everyone will be fired and the Jets will be, well the Jets back in mediocrity.
The reason why they won’t be is due to the idea Sam Darnold is the perfect quarterback for the green and white. He can fit in any system and throughout this entire process has been considered the consensus top quarterback in this class.
Jets fans should start using the hashtag #LuckForSam. This is the third year out of four years where the green and white got arguably the top player on the board. First it was Leonard Williams, then it was Jamal Adams, and now they continue to get the luck of the Irish with Darnold.
