New York Jets starting QB Sam Darnold has been feasting on weak secondaries the past three weeks.
The last three weeks Sam Darnold has played the New York Giants, Washington Redskins, and Oakland Raiders. Those three teams rank 28th, 26th, and 23rd in pass defense DVOA respectably. This wasn’t a murders row of defenses, but Darnold shredded them.
He has ranked top-10 in QBR each of the last three weeks. Only two other QBs have a similar active streak, Baker Mayfield who has also done it three weeks in a row and Lamar Jackson who’s done it five weeks in a row. The last Jets QB to do that was Mark Sanchez in 2011. The Jets went to the AFC Championship that year.
Over the last three games, Darnold has been responsible for nine TDs to just one turnover on 65.2% completion. Darnold is also setting records. After Sunday’s game Darnold has more games with at least 250 yards and a 100 passer rating before turning 23 in NFL history. He’s also the youngest player to throw for at least 290 yards and a 120 passer rating in back-to-back games. Lastly, Sam Darnold has tied Peyton Manning for the most games with at least 300 yards passing and 8 yards per attempt with four.
In short, Sam Darnold is one of the better young QBs this league has ever seen. He didn’t start his career as a top-10 QB like Kyler Murray is doing. He also isn’t an MVP candidate like Lamar Jackson. He’s basically just a league-average QB who has been up-and-down.
However, his age is important to keep in mind. Darnold is younger then Kyler Murray and Daniel Jones. The only starting QB in the league younger the Darnold is Lamar Jackson. Darnold was the youngest opening-day starting QB in NFL history. Patience has always been key for him, and it’s paying off now.
Darnold is set to face the two worst passing defenses in the NFL the next two weeks in the Bengals and the Dolphins. He could be on pace for five-straight weeks as a top-10 QB in QBR. Something only Lamar Jackson and Russel Wilson have done this year.
For those who don’t care about the stats I’ve provided because wins are all that matters, Darnold is turning it around there too. The Jets are 4-3 with Darnold in the lineup this year, and going up against arguably the two worst teams in the NFL the next two weeks.
Whatever metric is used Darnold is a QB on the rise who finally looks comfortable in Adam Gase‘s offense. Sam Darnold is finally showing off what many hoped he would show this year, a consistent stretch of high-quality games. Darnold is still the franchise QB of the future for the Jets, and that should excite Jets fans everywhere.