WATCH: Three things to know about new Jets quarterback David Fales
It didn’t take long for the New York Jets (0-2) to find quarterback depth after losing Trevor Siemian for the season against the Cleveland Browns (1-1) on Monday night.
The Jets announced Wednesday morning that they've signed free agent David Fales to backup current starting signal-caller Luke Falk; at least until Sam Darnold’s possible return in Week 5.
A career backup with just 48 career passing attempts across three professional seasons, Fales is relatively unknown (outside of Northern California, anyway, but I’ll get to that in a bit).
However, Gang Green’s newest quarterback is more than capable and based on his career history, looks like a good short-term solution for New York.
Here are a few things that Jets fans should know about their new quarterback.
Style of play and measurables
Fales is an undersized (6-foot-2, 212 pounds) prototypical pocket passer that doesn’t particularly wow you with any one of his physical attributes, but he does a lot of things well and has all the tools necessary to be a viable backup.
The San Jose State product doesn’t have the most powerful arm and tends to struggle with the vertical passing game, but he has the football IQ, quick release and excellent short-to-intermediate accuracy needed to effectively run Adam Gase’s West Coast system.
The 28-year-old also displays excellent footwork in his drop backs and uses his legs to his advantage when the pocket breaks down. Fales has displayed on multiple occasions that he’s capable of extending plays with his legs, throwing accurately on the run and scrambling for extra yards if necessary.
Path to the pros
Fales wasn’t a highly sought after recruit coming out of high school and received just one Division I scholarship offer from the University of Nevada despite garnering interest from a few other D-I programs across the country.
Without other scholarship options, he signed with Nevada, but it would be a long time before he found success at the collegiate level.
Fales left the Wolf Pack after his 2009 redshirt freshman season and transferred to Monterey Peninsula College, where he found success at the junior college level.
Fales was a two-time All-Conference selection with the Lobos and, due to his performance, accepted a scholarship offer from San Jose State following the 2011 season.
Named the program’s starting quarterback heading into the 2012 college football season, Fales put himself on the map in his first season with the Spartans, passing for 4,193 yards and 33 touchdowns to just nine interceptions, all while leading the nation in completion percentage (72.5).
Fales would spend one more season at San Jose State before declaring for the 2014 NFL Draft, but he certainly left his mark on the program in his short time.
Fales graduated with 25 school passing records, including career yards passing (8,382), career touchdowns (66), and career passer rating (161.7) despite playing only two seasons for the Spartans.
History and success with Adam Gase
You’d be hard-pressed to find even one season in which Fales wasn’t connected to Jets head coach Adam Gase in one way or another.
Fales was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the sixth round of the 2014 NFL Draft and was further introduced to the professional game by Gase, who became the team’s offensive coordinator the following season.
Fales spent just one season under Gase in Chicago. Then when Gase became head coach of the Miami Dolphins in 2016, Fales was coincidentally cut before the season began.
After splitting the 2016 season between the practice squad of the Baltimore Ravens and the Bears, Fales signed with Gase’s Dolphins in 2017, where he was finally got his first major taste of game action.
Playing in relief of starting quarterback Jay Cutler during a Week 17 loss to the Buffalo Bills, Fales showed good command of Gase’s offense when pressed into action against the Bills, completing 69.1 percent (29-of-42) of his attempts for 265 yards passing and a touchdown.
He also added another score on the ground, for good measure.
Due to his Week 17 performance, Fales re-signed with Miami in 2018 and remained with the team until Gase was ultimately fired at the end of the season.
After a short stint with the Detroit Lions over the summer, Fales is once again reunited with Gase and the Jets are fortunate to have a reliable understudy in the fold.
