Jets Country's Kristian Dyer and Arrowhead Report's Tucker Franklin discuss the New York Jets' use of quarterback Sam Darnold and if he has been given a fair opportunity.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00 Obviously, there's no secret the Jets have the number one pick as of now.
00:04 And with that number one pick, they'd probably take Trevor Lawrence.
00:07 It's hard not to pass on that guy.
00:10 What is Sam Donald's attitude kind of like?
00:12 I know that we saw Mark Sanchez make comments about it.
00:15 We've seen, you know, him even say, hey, I'm not dumb to the situation.
00:19 I have social media.
00:20 I see what people are saying.
00:21 So what do you think his attitude is kind of for the rest of the season?
00:25 Well, I think he's got to go out there and prove himself and make a case that if the
00:28 Jets do land the number one pick, if they go winless or one or two, and you know, they're
00:33 in that conversation for Trevor Lawrence or Justin Fields, that they want to instead use
00:38 that pick on the big offensive tackle out of Oregon, Pennsylvania or one or one of the
00:43 other names or potentially trade back.
00:45 I mean, there's a lot of reasons, Tucker, to think that the Jets can build around Sam
00:50 Donald.
00:51 Last year, he had, we all know the mono jokes and everything else he went through.
00:54 It can't be the Jets unless you have something ridiculous every year.
00:58 They're still waiting for that ridiculous thing to pop up this year.
01:01 So there's there's hope for an own seven chance to do something still really kind of ridiculous.
01:05 But, you know, after the the the mono incident and kind of the second half of the year, he
01:10 really turned things around.
01:11 Thirteen touchdowns, four interceptions, the Jets won six and two to close out the year
01:16 seven and nine.
01:17 And there was a sense that he was trending in the right direction.
01:19 And with good offensive line and some playmakers, there's a sense that maybe Sam Donald can
01:24 become that good, solid NFL quarterback that the Jets haven't had since Chad Pennington
01:29 15 years ago.
01:31 Right now, he doesn't have a good offensive line right now.
01:33 He doesn't have a whole lot in terms of playmakers.
01:35 I mean, way beyond Bell's leaving was one of the biggest playmakers and they weren't
01:39 even utilizing him the right way.
01:41 So do you believe that Sam Donald has the skill set that led the Jets six and two last
01:45 year and albeit it was against a weakened part of the schedule, but six and two last
01:49 year and can be a good, solid quarterback?
01:51 And if you trade back from that number one pick, but let's say a Jacksonville and you
01:55 get there to first round picks and you get there day two picks and you get some picks
01:59 moving forward that you can accelerate this rebuild.
02:01 The Jets are going into next off season with the largest salary cap space currently in
02:06 the NFL.
02:07 He landed a couple offensive line in a wide receiver to Ken Sandor will be a functioning
02:12 quarterback right now with that offensive line.
02:14 There's no functioning going on.
02:16 Yeah, that's another thing I wanted to ask you.
02:18 Do you think Sam Donald's had a fair shake in New York?
02:21 Oh no, not, not at all.
02:22 And I think that you can probably make the argument that Adam Gates hasn't had a fair
02:25 shake in New York either.
02:26 When you look at the numbers of injuries, I mean, last year the Jets led the league in
02:31 games lost due to injury.
02:32 I mean, it wasn't even close.
02:34 They said in all time records, it's hard to have a functioning team and yet he still finished
02:41 seven and nine.
02:42 Now a lot of that was Jamal Adams and the versatility he brought to the defense and losing him and
02:46 kind of the way that that played out maybe is the drama for the Jets in 2020.
02:50 I don't know, but at the end of the day, it's hard to say that Sam Donald, when you're throwing
02:54 to Rashad Perryman as your number two wide receiver, you were without your rookie Denzel
02:59 Mims for the first five weeks.
03:01 He was the second round pick out of Baylor, a great player in the big 12.
03:05 How you can actually go out there with some of the names that they had, Chris Hogan as
03:10 their number one target in week two, week three, it's not a recipe for success.
03:15 Also given the state of the offensive line and kind of what they've gone through and
03:18 even injuries to their big move on the offensive line.
03:21 They brought in four new starters on the offensive line.
03:23 This off season three and free agency one with Mekhi Bechtin, their first round pick
03:28 Bechtin's missed the last couple of games or left tackle and he's played very well in
03:32 the games he's been in and been helping.
03:35 Very difficult there to kind of look and assess Sam Donald and say that this guy's got in
03:39 a fair shape through his three years in New York.
03:41 And if you believe he's got the arm strength and the intelligence to do it, trade back
03:45 and build around Sam Darnold.
03:47 It's I think the argument can be made for it.
03:50 So another thing I want to talk about is the trade deadlines nearing November 3rd.
03:54 Do you think that there are any moves that the Jets make to kind of build their draft
03:58 capital for this next year to possibly, you know, build around Sam Darnold?
04:02 Yeah, I think we've already seen probably a couple of the moves that are coming to place.
04:06 They made a move this past week.
04:08 Jordan Willis, one of their linebackers, was sent to the 49ers along with a seventh round
04:11 pick to get a sixth round pick.
04:13 They traded Steve McClendon, their interior defensive lineman, who I imagine Kansas City
04:17 probably made a couple phone calls on him.
04:19 He's a good solid player, kind of doing the same thing, trading McClendon and a pick to
04:23 get a higher pick.
04:24 It's going to be a sixth round pick.
04:27 So I mean, you know, those were some of the moves we already see kind of a seller's mentality
04:31 for the Jets.
04:32 I'm not sure that, you know, I don't think Darnold would be someone they would move unless
04:35 they could get a first in return for him.
04:37 Maybe the Dallas Cowboys would view that as a good investment given their quarterback
04:41 situation, but I don't think that that's a really ideal scenario.
04:45 The one player I'm intrigued to see, Tucker, who they end up moving is Jameson Crowder.
04:49 He's had some injuries this year, but when he's played, he's produced triple digit receiving
04:53 yardage in each and every game.
04:55 And given the status of the Jets' offense right now, that's an accomplishment.
04:59 Let me tell you, he's probably one of the top two or three slot receivers in the NFL
05:04 when he's not injured and can stay on the field.
05:07 He's tremendous.
05:08 He was the Jets' leading receiver last year, again, with a pretty dour offense that they
05:11 had.
05:12 So Crowder, if they could end up getting maybe a day two pick for him, I think they'd be
05:16 intrigued by the same token.
05:17 I also think Crowder could be part of the building block for the rebuild.
05:20 It's not broke.
05:21 Don't fix it.
05:22 I don't know if he'd want to move Crowder at this point.
05:24 [BLANK_AUDIO]