“Sam is a good player, and we still believe in him and believe he has a bright future.”
Those are the words of Jets general manager Joe Douglas, who joined the Boomer & Gio Show Monday to talk all things Gang Green. Darnold’s future was one of the big topics, especially given the Jets’ No. 2 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, but the GM seems high on the incumbent signal-caller.
“Obviously his play was impacted by injuries – his own and teammates’ – but if you talk to Sam, I think he’d say that he could’ve played a lot better,” Douglas said. “I think in the last month we saw really good play, and we were able to beat two good teams.”
Of course, what Douglas thinks may end up being moot, depending on what the opinion is of whomever the Jets hire as their next head coach – and Douglas understands that.
“The bottom line is that I won’t make a decision by myself, without counsel,” Douglas said. “Our task at hand is finding the right head coach, and we’ll have those discussions once that coach comes in. Once we find that person, we have a lot of big decisions to make.”
Quarterback will be a big one, and with Trevor Lawrence – who officially declared for the draft on Wednesday morning – expected to go No. 1, there are three realistic candidates for the Jets at No. 2. Douglas wouldn’t go into specifics about any of them, but did say he was impressed with Justin Fields’ play in the CFP semifinal last week.
“I thought that was a great performance, certainly an outstanding performance by a very good player in a high-profile game,” Douglas said of Fields, who played much of that game through obvious pain. “You have to be a tough guy to play that position in this league. I’ve been fortunate to be around a lot of tough guys – Sam is as tough as they come, never backed down through his shoulder injury this year – so that has to be one of the prerequisite; you have to be tough not only physically, but mentally.”
It’s tough to evaluate Fields in full, as well as many candidates, just off 2020, because of the flux that was the NCAA season – but that’s why, Douglas notes, the Jets’ scouting team really began vetting the 2021 potentials in earnest as soon as the 2020 draft ended.
“We started as soon as the draft was over. Our group of college and pro scouts have a great work ethic, and they dove in right after the draft,” Douglas said. “We knew it could be an odd year in football, not knowing if there would be a college football season, so there were a lot of deep dives on these top prospects looking at their 2018 and 2019 seasons.”
Case in point: North Dakota State quarterback Trey Lance, who played just one game this season (that was basically an exhibition) because NDSU canceled their season.
“North Dakota State is a tremendous program that has had a ton of success lately, and with a guy like Trey, with all the uncertainty coming up, our guys have to go through and watch every single play from every year,” Douglas said. “We have to keep doing as much work as possible.”
Whether the 2021 Jets QB is Darnold, one of those three prospects, or someone else, though, Douglas knows what he needs out of his long-term signal caller.
“This is the most competitive sport of all, so you better have guys that love the game, are dedicated to their craft and willing to put in the time – especially at that position, which in my mind is the toughest in pro sports to play,” Douglas said. “You have to be a leader, a coach on the field, and be a high-level physical specimen. You need it all, and if you don’t have dedication at that position, I don’t think there is a lot of room for success.”
Listen to Douglas’ entire interview with Boomer & Gio below!
Follow WFAN's morning team on Twitter: @7BOOMERESIASON, @GioWFAN, @Alsboringtweets, @JerryRecco, and @WFANMornings
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