Grading New York Jets QB Sam Darnold: Week 4 vs. Denver Broncos

Michael Nania grades every play from Sam Darnold's Week 4 performance against the Denver Broncos. How well did he really play? Each week this season, I will be grading every Sam Darnold play from the Jets' most recent game to get a 0-to-100 grade on the quality of his performance. Darnold Grades Week 1 at Buffalo Bills Week 2 vs. San Francisco 49ers Week 3 at Indianapolis Colts Nania's Darnold Grades home page (links to all 2019-20 games) Grades Explained Digging through the All-22 film, I went back and graded every play (pass attempt, sack, rushing attempt) Darnold logged in the game, scoring each on a scale of 0-to-10 (5 representing an average play). Anything and everything is taken into account. Ball placement. Accuracy. Should-be turnovers. Unlucky turnovers. Protection. Play-calling effectiveness. Impact of the route-running and ball tracking quality by the intended receiver. Down and distance. Field position. Game situation. Every layer of decision-making is considered. Did Darnold choose the best available option? Did he scan the field to check all possible options? Did he take an over-aggressive shot when a first down was available underneath? Did he check down too early and leave a potential big play on the field? Should he have run? Did he take a sack he should not have? Should he have thrown the ball away? Simple statistics do not account for any of those factors. Using a manual, play-by-play grading system, many crucial variables that usually go overlooked are being properly valued. Sprinkle in this essential context, and we get a grade that is much more representative of the quarterback's true performance level than standard box score numbers. Darnold's final scores are scaled from 0-to-100, with 50 representing the approximate league average (based on the analysis of other quarterbacks). Glossary Here is a glossary of my personally-tracked statistics, as well as some context to help you understand what good and bad numbers look like. Overall grade: 0-to-100 grade based on the average score of all plays analyzed. (Average: 50, Max: 100, Minimum: 0) Plays: Number of plays graded. Positive plays: Number of plays graded above 5.0: above-average efforts. (Average: 50%, Phenomenal: >60%, Awful: 40%) Positive/negative ratio: Positive plays divided by negative plays: a measure of consistency. (Average: 1.80, Phenomenal: 3.00+, Awful: <1.00) Average positive: The average score of all positive plays (scored above 5). An indicator of how high the quarterback's peaks were — a higher score indicates a great rate of splash plays, a lower score indicates a combination of few impressive plays, many easy throws, and teammates bailing out the quarterback. (Average: 5.90, Phenomenal: 6.00+, Awful: <5.80) Average negative: The average score of all negative plays (scored below 5). An indicator of how low the quarterback's valleys were — a higher score indicates few catastrophic mistakes/lost plays tending to fall more on supporting cast, a lower score indicates that mistakes were generally very bad and that lost plays tended to be largely the quarterback's fault. (Average: 3.80, Phenomenal: 4.00+, Awful: 12%, Awful: 12%) Let's dig in. We'll get into my numbers on Darnold's game against Denver, compare my findings to his advanced metrics and box score statistics, and break down his best and worst plays on film. To kick things off, here is my comprehensive 0-to-100 grade on Darnold's performance against the Broncos. Overall Grade I scored Darnold with a grade of 21.5. That is the sixth-worst grade I have given him out of 30 career games. Darnold started out hot and continued to make some flashy plays throughout the game, but for the second consecutive week, he made a boatload of egregious mistakes. Most of them involved him failing to see a wide open receiver and instead opting to scramble or take a sack. He is messing up in every way imaginable right now - sometimes too aggressive, sometimes too conservative, sometimes flat-out inaccurate on throws he used to complete with ease. There is no simple solution to pulling him out of this rut. Tracking Stats Here is a breakdown of my grading. Check out the glossary above for explanations and averages. Plays: 56 (Most of 30 career games) Positive plays: 26 (3rd) Negative plays: 22 (Most) Positive/negative ratio: 1.18 (18th) Positive %: 46.4 (17th) Negative %: 39.3 (13th-highest) Average positive: 5.91 (16th) Average negative: 2.94 (30th) Wow Factor: 8.85 (28th) 7+ plays: 2 (3.6% - 22nd) ≤3 plays: 13 (23.2% - Highest) Last week against the Colts, I scored Darnold a three or worse on more plays (9) and a higher percentage of his plays (23.1%) than any other game prior. He broke both marks just four days later, as I hit him with a three or worse on a whopping 13 plays, a career-high 23.2% of his career-high 56 graded plays. While Darnold was not awfully inconsistent, the mistakes he did make were as bad as any game of his career, hence his career-low average negative score of 2.94. He had some impressive plays as a rusher, but not nearly enough big-time plays with his arm to make up for the deep valleys. Advanced Stats For comparison, here is a look at how Darnold's performance was evaluated by a few of the advanced metrics out there. ESPN Raw Total Quarterback Rating (QBR): 78.4 Darnold career rank: 8th of 30 Week 4 NFL rank (through Sunday): 10th of 27 Pro Football Focus Grade: 66.3 Darnold career rank: 15th of 30 Week 4 NFL rank (through Sunday): 16th of 27 Adjusted completion percentage*: 60.0% Darnold career rank: 26th of 30 Week 4 NFL rank (through Sunday): 27th of 27 *- accounts for drops, throwaways, spikes, etc, league average ~75% ESPN's QBR massively overrated Darnold's performance. QBR tends to overvalue quarterback rushing, an area where Darnold was productive against Denver, while it can fail to take into account decision-making, which is where Darnold struggled mightily. Since Darnold did well in an area that QBR loves and struggled mightily in an area that QBR misses, he gets an overrated QBR score. Pro Football Focus also leaned too heavily on Darnold's rushing. PFF gave Darnold a rushing grade of 92.3, his career-best, while they gave him a passing grade of 54.6, his ninth-worst. I would argue his rushing grade should have been lower considering that Darnold passed up better options through the air on many of his runs. His passing grade also is a bit too high for my liking considering some of his easy misses in the game and lack of money throws. Darnold had an adjusted completion percentage of only 60.0%, his fifth-worst career mark, and worst since the 2019 Patriots game. After posting a mark of 69.2% against the Colts, this is his first set of back-to-back games under 70.0% since he did it in three straight games from Weeks 7-9 of his 2018 rookie season. Box Score Stats Here is a look at Darnold's box score stats. 23/42 (54.8%), 230 yards (5.5 Y/A), 0 touchdowns, 0 interceptions. 6 sacks for 54 yards. 6 rushes for 84 yards and 1 touchdown. Passer rating: 70.5 Darnold career rank: 25th of 30 Week 4 NFL rank (through Sunday): 24th of 27 Net yards per attempt (includes sack yardage): 3.8 Darnold career rank: 28th of 30 Week 4 NFL rank (through Sunday): 27th of 27 Darnold had his fifth consecutive game with a passer rating below 95.0, which beats his previous career-long stretch (games 7-10 of 2018). Darnold's raw yards per attempt average of 5.5 is bad enough, but the six sacks for 54 yards laid a huge dent in Darnold's net yards per attempt average. He finished with a mark of 3.8, third-worst of his career, and better than only his 2019 games against the Bills (Week 1) and Patriots. A couple of those sacks easily could have been avoided, as we will see later on. Stats without context tend to be misleading, but right now, Darnold's dry spell in the box score is matching up with his cold stretch in reality. Support Here is a look at some numbers regarding the support Darnold received in the game. Percentage of dropbacks under pressure (league average ~30%): 41.5% Darnold career rank: 15th-highest of 30 Week 4 NFL rank: 6th-highest of 27 The Jets missed Mekhi Becton in this game. Becton did not start due to an injured shoulder but suited up as an "emergency option" for some reason. Chuma Edoga started at left tackle. After Edoga went down on the fourth play of the game, Becton was erroneously thrown despite the availability of a healthy Conor McDermott. Becton gutted out 17 snaps until he was finally pulled for McDermott, who struggled to protect Darnold's blindside all night. George Fant did a great job at right tackle, allowing no pressures, but the interior trio was shaky, combining to allow 14 (Alex Lewis 5, Connor McGovern 5, Greg Van Roten 4). Kalen Ballage was also brutal in pass protection, allowing three pressures (one of those a sack) over just 11 snaps in protection. It's a small sample size, but Frank Gore and La'Mical Perine have done well in this area with no pressures allowed on the season over 14 and four protection snaps, respectively. Once Le'Veon Bell returns, the Jets can finally have the three-man stable that they envisioned, complete with three players who can each be counted on to pass-block. Average starting field position: Own 30 (2019 league average: 28.6) Teammate yards per rush attempt: 2.5 Drops, throwaways, batted passes: 1, 1, 0 The offense was finally given good field position, starting at least its own 25-yard line on every drive. However, the run game had its first truly abysmal performance, as Frank Gore and Kalen Ballage combined for just 45 yards on 18 carries. Once again, Becton was missed. This was probably the offensive line's weakest performance of the season, right there with the second half in Indianapolis (everything changes with Becton out), but as we will see when we get to the bad plays, Darnold continues to make the unit look worse than it actually is with his gun-shyness, jitteriness, and hesitancy in the pocket. Best plays There are a lot of ugly moments to get into later on, but Darnold did have his fair share of bright flashes throughout the night. 3RD & 7 AT DEN 46 (Q1, 11:37) - NYJ 0, DEN 0 Darnold records the longest and most impressive run of his career. He takes the snap and reads left. Immediate pressure comes through the right B-gap as Ballage fails to pick up the blitzing linebacker. Somehow, Darnold dodges the linebacker without even looking in his direction. He's thinking run as soon as he regains his footing. Darnold dashes through the vacated space and throws a nasty juke on All-Pro safety Justin Simmons. Next, he throws a very subtle fake slide, which gets the pursuing defender to dive and causes the safety downfield to give a lackadaisical effort in anticipation of the slide. Darnold keeps chugging and finishes off the 46-yard score with some help from Chris Hogan's downfield block. That was a terrible effort by the Denver secondary, namely the safety and cornerback to that side, but what a marvelous display of physical ability from Darnold! We have never seen such outstanding elusiveness from him as a rusher. This shocked me when watching it live. I am going to nitpick that play a bit. Bear with me! It is an amazing play. Absolutely, it is. I am not discrediting it. I am just wondering if it was the best decision. Pause it right here, after Darnold steps up from the pressure. It's 3rd & 7. At this moment, Hogan has his man beat down the field for a good shot at a huge gain or a touchdown. Meanwhile, Darnold needs to gain 15 more yards from his current spot to pick up a first down, with Simmons, one of the best tackling safeties in football, standing in his way. Which would you rather Darnold do at this moment in time? Try to beat the safety one-on-one in the open field, or plant his feet and throw to the open receiver deep? The odds of Darnold evading Simmons and reaching the first down marker are slim-to-none. He ended up doing just that, which is what makes the run so incredibly impressive, but just because the result was positive, it does not mean the decision was correct. Throwing to Hogan gave the Jets a better shot at converting than challenging the safety. Chris Herndon was also open near the first down marker. Tremendous play by Darnold - but an example of how his mentality has changed for the worse. Darnold has never been a tuck-and-run guy. He has always been all about extending plays to throw, not to run. Here, things worked out great, but we will see some examples later on where this new mindset cost the Jets dearly. 3RD & 9 AT NYJ 26 (Q1, 3:49) - NYJ 7, DEN 3 Darnold takes quick pressure from the left side as Herndon does an awful job in protection, appearing completely oblivious of his assignment at the snap. Herndon shoves his man to give Darnold a chance to evade him. Darnold extends to his left and gives Jamison Crowder a low ball on the comeback so he can safely grab it at the first down marker and avoid contact. 1ST & 10 AT NYJ 48 (Q2, 9:14) - DEN 10, NYJ 7 The left defensive tackle crashes down to allow the left outside linebacker to loop inside. With Greg Van Roten and Connor McGovern a bit late to pick it up, Darnold decides to extend the play to his right. Jeff Smith breaks open on a crossing route and Darnold hits him near the sideline for 21 yards. It's a bit high, but a plenty good throw on the move. Great job by Darnold anticipating the pressure way ahead of time and getting outside before it can affect him. 2ND & 10 AT NYJ 25 (Q2, 1:33) - DEN 17, NYJ 10 On-the-run throws and impressive scrambles are not what will prove that Darnold is taking the necessary steps to become a franchise quarterback. We know he is physically talented and capable of doing those things. What he must do to showcase true progress is rack up plays that are based upon good field vision, smart decision-making, and confidence/poise/toughness in the pocket - all of which are shown on this play. Darnold takes the snap and reads the three routes to his left. There's nothing he likes - and this is where things get good. Instead of dancing around, he steps up in the pocket and flips his head to the back side, where Crowder is open over the middle. Darnold confidently plants himself and fires in the face of the pressure, accepting contact. That's the big key right there. Darnold is usually afraid of contact, compromising the quality of his mechanics (and thus his accuracy) in order to avoid a hit. Here, he shows no fear and throws with proper mechanics despite knowing he is going to get rocked. Darnold hits Crowder in perfect stride for 27 yards while taking a big hit. 3RD & 6 AT DEN 44 (Q2, 1:16) - DEN 17, NYJ 10 Another good play from Darnold inside of the pocket. On third-and-medium, Darnold reads right, where he has Hogan running a short dig and Crowder running a deep comeback. Darnold looks first to Hogan, but doesn't like Hogan's chances of moving the sticks with the robber safety lurking over the middle. So he moves outside to Crowder. Darnold steps into his throw despite McGovern being pushed into his lap, and throws a good ball to Crowder from the opposite hash for a first down. 3RD & 6 AT NYJ 29 (Q3, 4:04) - DEN 24, NYJ 16 Another good in-the-pocket play. Darnold looks to Ryan Griffin in the flat and uses a pump fake to neutralize the free rusher off the edge - a great instinctive reaction, pulling out a savvy solution for the unblocked defender rather than panicking. He then steps up into the face of the pressure and throws a well-placed ball to Crowder, leading him away from the linebacker and towards the open area so he can turn upfield and gain some extra yards. A gain of nine yards on 3rd & 6 thanks to heads-up thinking, excellent poise, and good ball placement by Darnold. Worst plays Unfortunately, Darnold's handful of promising moments - both flashy ones and inside-the-pocket ones - were not nearly enough to make up for the massive number of excruciating mistakes. 1ST & 10 AT DEN 42 (Q1, 2:06) - NYJ 7, DEN 3 The Jets sell the play fake as the entire line slides right, leaving Lawrence Cager wide open on a dig over the middle from the left side. Darnold has a perfectly clean pocket and is starting right at Cager, but does not pull the trigger for some reason. The weak side linebacker has no assignment in coverage and pursues Darnold, who takes a 10-yard sack on a play that should have been a freebie first down. This is the play on which Darnold injured his shoulder. 2ND & 10 AT NYJ 40 (Q2, 10:41) - DEN 10, NYJ 7 Here is an example of a Darnold run that has a negative impact. Darnold does a nice job of navigating his way out of the pocket after just about every route is covered up well. He scrambles for six yards on 2nd & 7 despite limited throwing options. That seems like a great outcome, but watch Crowder. He improvises and breaks wide open downfield for a much larger gain. This is a throw Darnold would make nine times out of 10 over his first two seasons, but now, he's usually focused on putting his head down and running for whatever he can get, often ignoring better options available downfield. There's a time and place for scrambling. Darnold picked the right moment on a few plays throughout the Denver game, but this is the second consecutive game in which he passed on multiple potentially huge passing plays in favor of a short run. That never used to be an issue for him. On this particular play, Darnold does add some positive value as makes an impressive escape and picks up a chunk of yardage despite there being no good throwing options, but there were even more chunks of yardage available that a confident, dialed-in Darnold would have picked up. 3RD & 4 AT DEN 8 (Q2, 6:32) - DEN 10, NYJ 7 Darnold bails the pocket too early and misses an open Crowder for a surefire first down and likely touchdown. After reading right, Darnold feels pressure allowed by Van Roten. As soon as he feels the heat, he instantly goes into scramble mode, running backward out of the pocket to his left. He does this despite the protection up the middle being solid enough for him to hang in there and keep scanning. There is no reason for him to leave so early, but he does, missing the chance for an easy touchdown. If he had just hung tight and moved to his second read, he would have an easy delivery to Crowder for six points. Just one read and ditch - this is who Darnold is becoming. Darnold also stuck to the right side of the field a bit too long. Following the snap, it is quickly evident that Ballage and Herndon's out-breaking routes are not going to be there against the outside leverage of the cornerback and linebacker. Darnold should have moved to the left a tad quicker. Darnold eventually throws the ball into the turf. What makes this play even worse is that it looks like Darnold actually tried to throw the ball into the highly congested end zone rather than tossing it out of bounds. He's lucky that the defender hit his arm to force the ball into the ground. If he really was trying to throw that ball into the end zone, it is yet another example of Darnold taking a completely ill-advised shot outside of the pocket, a consistent problem that lingers for the third consecutive season. 1ST & 10 AT NYJ 25 (Q2, 1:37) - DEN 17, NYJ 10 Darnold steps up to his right after Lewis fails miserably to pick up the looping outside linebacker and lets him into the pocket unblocked. After dodging the defender, Darnold has enough space to station himself, scan for a bit longer, and deliver a fluid throw, but he keeps running and throws across his body to a blanketed Herndon underneath. The pass is easily deflected. Meanwhile, Crowder was wide open on a crossing route directly behind Herndon. 3RD & 10 AT DEN 20 (Q2, 0:24) - DEN 17, NYJ 10 Darnold takes a shot to Hogan down the left sideline. It's a smart decision, as the Broncos rotate from Cover-2 to Cover-1 Robber post-snap, leaving no safety help for Hogan's man. The offensive line does excellently against a four-man rush to give Darnold a spotless pocket. Hogan does not necessarily toast his man, but he does enough to create the chance for a play if Darnold can drop the ball in over the top. Darnold's throw is well short and nearly picked off. Luckily, Hogan breaks up the interception. Not only does Darnold fail to give Hogan a chance from a pristine pocket, but he misses short rather than long, which leads to the chance of a turnover. 3RD & 4 AT DEN 14 (Q3, 11:30) - DEN 17, NYJ 13 Adam Gase was chastised by fans for having Gore run a wheel route on a crucial third down in the red zone. While that is definitely a brutal miscasting by Gase that is worthy of criticism, Darnold could have easily moved the chains on that play if he were more patient. Denver loads the box with six defenders. Darnold, as lacking in confidence as he is right now, takes the snap and looks directly to Gore, tossing the wheel route with no interest in scanning the field against the blitz. As it turns out, Denver only brings five rushers, and Hogan breaks wide open over the middle on a dig from the left side. Darnold never looks for it as he focuses only on Gore. Missed opportunity in the red zone. A Gore wheel route is unenticing in almost any situation, but that was especially the case here, as Broncos linebacker Josey Jewell has it covered very well before Darnold even began his release. Darnold should have quickly looked that option off, seen Hogan over the middle, and picked up the easy first down, but he is very reluctant to stay in the pocket right now. 2ND & 6 AT DEN 48 (Q3, 1:55) - DEN 24, NYJ 16 Smith goes completely uncovered over the middle from the left side, as there is no middle linebacker and the outside linebacker on Smith's side blitzes. Smith becomes the responsibility of the safety over 10 yards downfield. Darnold reads directly in Smith's direction but bafflingly does not make the throw. Darnold instead forces a contested throw to Braxton Berrios that falls incomplete. A free first down left on the field. 2ND & 4 AT DEN 23 (Q4, 12:35) - DEN 27, NYJ 16 This one is hard to comprehend. Darnold takes the snap and quickly looks to Hogan's flat route. He's wide open for a first down with the corner giving a huge cushion. This should be one of the easiest quick-release first downs that Darnold ever throws. Instead, Darnold stares at Hogan and decides not to take it for whatever reason. Nobody else is open and Darnold throws it away. 3RD & 4 AT DEN 23 (Q4, 12:28) - DEN 27, NYJ 16 On the ensuing third down following the Hogan miss, Darnold missed another chance to move the chains. Darnold takes the snap and looks left to a post route by Herndon. Darnold tries to look off the deep safety to open up Herndon, but the safety stays disciplined and shuts down Herndon's route, so Darnold moves to the middle where Smith and Crowder are running intersecting drag routes. He fixates on Smith. He looks open initially, but Crowder's man passes off Crowder to the dropping safety and switches to Smith, leaving Smith concealed by his own man underneath and another defender over top. Darnold looks there too long and even winds up to throw, but pulls it down. After pulling the ball down, Darnold stumbles into a sack. Crowder was open after the switch while Hogan was open on the deep over route behind him - two potential first down targets go to waste. Stumbles and missteps happen to everyone once in a while, but it's Darnold's slow processing that has him bumbling on this play. He should have fluidly moved from Herndon, to Smith, to either Crowder or Hogan on the shallow or deep crossing routes for a confident throw from the pocket for a first down (possibly accepting a hit). Instead, he gets stuck on Smith. He recognizes too late that the throw to Smith isn't there, and it leads to him taking a sack from the turf monster. 3RD & 3 AT 50 (Q4, 2:09) - DEN 30, NYJ 28 The Jets are driving and close to getting within range for a field goal to take the lead. Darnold immediately looks to Smith on a 10-yard out route. It's not a very sharp route by Smith, and the corner plays it well, but Darnold places the ball too far inside and should be picked off. The velocity on that throw looks very lackluster - perhaps the AC joint injury came into play here? You could also argue the ball needed to be out a beat quicker if Darnold had his mind set on completing that throw. It also should have been placed much further outside. The ball comes in about halfway between the numbers and the sideline, only a couple of steps ahead of where Smith comes out of his break. That ball needs to be on the sideline for a toe-tapper where only Smith can get it. Finally, Darnold probably thought he had Smith man-to-man against the inside corner, which would have been much more favorable of a matchup, but Smith actually ended up being covered by the outside corner, as the two corners were pattern-matching and not in pure man-to-man. An out route against a corner already sitting outside is a tough throw to make. I would say Darnold should have looked that one off, but Lewis botched the protection, so Darnold would probably have been sacked if he did not attempt that throw. Despite the post-snap coverage wrinkle, Darnold still could have completed the throw with better location, more velocity, and maybe a slightly quicker release. 4TH & 3 AT 50 (Q4, 2:05) - DEN 30, NYJ 28 4th & 3, game on the line, five defenders threatening to rush against a five-man protection - Darnold has to get this ball out for the first down as fast as possible. The lone middle linebacker, aligned to the defense's left, blitzes rather than covering the middle. This is exactly what the Jets need. With the linebacker vacating the middle of the field, Hogan's drag route is open as he is covered man-to-man by a safety playing six yards off. Darnold appears to look at Hogan for a split-second but ultimately passes on him for Crowder, who is unable to separate from his man on the slant. Darnold winds up for Crowder but pulls the ball down, and is sacked by Bradley Chubb via McDermott (prime example of Becton being missed). Darnold's got to hit Hogan there. Even once he passed on Hogan for Crowder, that ball just has to come out. Crowder may not have created much separation at all, but there was enough of a window for Darnold to at least give him a chance. Obviously, McDermott did a brutal job there, but Darnold does not get contacted by Chubb until about 2.5 seconds after he catches the snap. That's far quicker than ideal, yes. But on a 4th & 3 play with two quick in-breaking routes against a defense with nobody in the middle of the field and only five blockers to handle five rushers, that ball should be in the air by the time 2.5 seconds pass. 4TH & 4 AT NYJ 31 (Q4, 1:08) - DEN 38, NYJ 29 The Jets were essentially buried at this point, but Darnold made such a bad throw in this key spot that I had to include it. Accuracy was a big issue for him in this game (hence his low adjusted completion percentage), but I mostly focused on his decision-making and field vision woes throughout the piece. This play is one example of Darnold's poor accuracy against Denver. Crowder sits down at the sticks and is wide open for a first down. A huge throwing lane opens up between Darnold and Crowder. Under no pressure and with a truck-sized throwing lane, Darnold misses high to a stationary receiver standing four yards beyond the line of scrimmage. Summary Darnold flashed with his legs and made some solid throws, but he racked up a ton of brutal blunders that probably did not pop out on television for being as bad as they actually were. His league-worst net yards per attempt average (of 27 quarterbacks in Week 4 through Sunday) of 3.8 was well-deserved. Two years of offensive line ineptitude and three years of the coaching staff failing to build around his strengths and weaknesses have broke Darnold down to a mere shell of his former self. While there are intermittent flashes of his raw physical ability and natural talent, he is making elementary mistakes at an abnormally high rate. While it is mostly not Darnold's fault that he has reached this point, this is the player he is right now, and deciding who deserves the blame is pointless. If Darnold fails to forge a major turnaround and finishes the season with his body of work looking the same as it does now, the Jets would not be wise to pick up his fifth-year option or go into 2021 with him as their franchise quarterback. Darnold can absolutely still find success in the league, even with the Jets, but it is far from guaranteed. Past quarterbacks who posted three consecutive unproductive seasons to start their careers have rarely gone on to succeed (see the final section here). Even Ryan Tannehill, a famed Darnold comparison because of the Gase connection, was far more productive in his early career than Darnold has been for the Jets. It is going to take patience, the perfect coach, and the perfect system to get him right. Regardless of how tantalizing he once was, Darnold is a reclamation project now, one who has a fifth-year option decision coming up and is currently on the third year of his rookie deal. That's much less promising than starting over with a moldable, unhindered quarterback prospect who would have a full rookie deal ahead of him. In addition, a new prospect would be paired on the same timeline with a new head coach and/or offensive coordinator, who would be able to build him from the ground up rather than trying to fix a broken Darnold. The Jets need to get their timelines at the key spots - GM, HC, OC, QB - on the same page. They have not had a well-synced group at those positions in a long time, constantly switching one position but remaining firm at the others, never getting an entire group that is on the same page. Hitting the reset button would be a huge positive. Forcing the new staff to work with a damaged Darnold - who may be gone after one year if he does not turn it around - would muddy everything up again. If Darnold flops in 2021, then in 2022, the second-year HC/OC would be pressed to win games, but they would have a first-year quarterback that they want to patiently develop, and so on and so forth. It would be a mess, the exact one the Jets have been battling for a long time. Get everybody synced. Plus, forcing Darnold upon HC/OC candidates would be a major turn-off. If a potential hire wants to work with him and believes he can turn him around, great! Go for it. But forcing him on candidates would probably lay a huge dent in the available options. Darnold has not done enough to prevent prospective new coaches from having the right to come in and get their own guy. It's sad that the Jets have allowed Darnold to tumble this far down the stairs, but it is the reality. Whenever he plays next - he may not suit up against Arizona on Sunday due to the shoulder injury - Darnold needs to get a phenomenal run going sooner rather than later. He has a long way to go on the road to securing his spot as the Jets' starting quarterback in 2021. Darnold Grades Week 1 at Buffalo Bills Week 2 vs. San Francisco 49ers Week 3 at Indianapolis Colts Nania's Darnold Grades home page (links to all 2019-20 games)