Mastering the playbook and a new offensive line gives Sam Darnold a chance to be good in 2020
A second offseason in the same offense is paying dividends for Sam Darnold, the New York Jets franchise quarterback continuing to impress on the field and in the meeting room.
While 2019 was undoubtedly a year of continued development and growth for Darnold, there was still a learning curve for the Jets quarterback. A change in head coach and offense from his rookie season saw a period of struggles early in the year pave the way for a second half of the schedule where Darnold was greatly improved.
Now, he’s taken the momentum from the Jets 6-2 close to 2019 and into the offseason. And now into training camp.
“I think he’s got a lot more control of the offense this year. He’s not thinking when the play comes in, it’s just more of a reaction now for him,” Jets head coach Adam Gase said Saturday on his virtual conference call. “He’s able to just really process things so much faster. This is just typical young quarterback last year and you’re one, trying to put it all together, and trying to learn a bunch of stuff with a bunch of guys that we’re trying to learn as well.
“Now he’s got guys around him that are familiar with what’s going on. He doesn’t have to really worry about where everybody’s going because they know what to do.”
The big factor for Darnold was cutting back on mistakes and, in particular, on turnovers In the season’s final eight games, when the Jets won six times to finish 7-9, Darnold was dramatically improved in terms of ball security.
He had 13 touchdowns and three interceptions during that stretch, keying the Jets strong finish. He threw the ball away when things weren’t open and he made smart, safe throws when needed.
The Jets spent the offseason trying to balance and improve their offsense, this despite limited salary cap space. They added a talented wide receiver in Breshad Perriman and selected Denzel Mims in the second round, one of the most productive wide receivers in college football last year for Baylor. Frank Gore, a veteran running back, was brought in to add greater depth to the backfield.
Then there was the offensive line which they rebuilt, a unit that could well include four new starters. A season ago, Darnold was sacked 33 times behind a line that was among the worst in football.
Now with a rebuilt and revamped unit, Darnold should benefit from actual protection.
“The offensive line, especially this year is really, really sharp, I mean these guys are on it. They work well as a group,” Gase said.
“That’s something that I’m sure for him, he watches kind of what happens in practice and he hears those guys communicate and then you just look at the size of our offensive line, if you’re a quarterback, you’re feeling pretty good, thinking, ‘I got some time to throw.’ So, he knows he does a good job of understanding, really the concepts of what we’re doing week in and week out, whether it be pass protection, run game or route concepts. He’s just got to deliver the ball and I’m pretty sure you guys have all seen enough to say that he can do that.”
