Former New York Giants head coach Ben McAdoo had some interesting things to say about New York Jets rookie quarterback Sam Darnold.
Apparently, not everyone is in love with the partnership between Sam Darnold and the New York Jets. Of course, everyone is entitled to their own opinions but who could possibly be against Darnold and the Jets?
The name’s Ben McAdoo.
Wait, Ben who? Oh, you mean the bum former New York Giants coach with the goofy hair and mustache? McAdoo told Paul Schwartz of the New York Post.
“I think he’s special. He’s obviously a talented guy, he can make plays with his feet. I’d just have a hard time drafting a guy in the first round where you don’t necessarily like the way he throws.
He can overcome it, guys have, but that’s something that’s a challenge for me. I’m gonna be looking at that, trying to fix it, because it’s a fundamental flaw, and I believe in the fundamentals. The quarterback, his No. 1 job is to pass the football. If I don’t like the way he throws the ball, I have a hard time picking him, right?’’
Based off those comments, we might as well put Darnold’s bust in Canton right now. For context, Ben McAdoo had Josh Allen as his No. 1 rated quarterback, so yeah.
But in all seriousness, Darnold isn’t a perfect prospect and I think even the most biased Jets fan could agree. For example, the now 21-year-old had 22 interceptions in two seasons at the University of Southern California. In addition, Darnold has had well-documented fumbling issues which can be attributed to some pocket awareness and hand placement problems.
While turnovers can’t be tolerated in the pros, consider this: In three years of college football, Deshaun Watson had 32 interceptions. I’m not necessarily comparing Darnold to Watson, but it’s something to consider when you don’t put context around stats.
My one hope heading into this exciting 2018 season for the green and white is that they will demonstrate patience. If Darnold ends up starting Week 1 on Monday Night Football in Detroit and doesn’t throw seven touchdowns, let’s not jump down his throat.
There’s inevitably going to be growing pains, he’s only 21-years old. He also hasn’t been playing football for as long as some of these other rookies. The one thing he will have, however, is a pretty solid situation around him.
It’s not Mark Sanchez in 2009, but Sam has an underrated group of weapons around him offensively. Plus on defense, he has a few budding stars that hopefully can make some more leaps and bounds.
