After a disgusting 2021 campaign for the New York Jets there has to be a decision made at the quarterback position. The Jets have been looking for their franchise quarterback ever since Joe Namath was traded to the Rams, who won us Super Bowl III (1969). All the QBs since then have been either misses or just weren’t surrounded with enough talent. As many know, the NYJ hired former 49ers DC Robert Saleh and he is a franchise changing hire. He will change the spirit in the locker and he’s the Anti-Gase. The name Gase meaning as in our former Head Coach Adam Gase, who is the one that has us in this QB predicament because he couldn’t develop Sam. However, the Jets have plenty of options at the QB position. They currently hold the #2 overall pick in the draft and could draft Justin Fields (OSU), Zach Wilson (BYU), or trade down and draft Trey Lance (NDSU). If they don’t want to draft a QB, they could continue to develop Sam who can be fixable. If they want to make an ABSOLUTE SPLASH, they can trade for disgruntled and very talented Houston Texans QB, Deshaun Watson. Lastly, there have been rumors about Robert Saleh bringing in Jimmy Garrapolo (49ers) on a trade and Carson Wentz is now on the market. Those have been the popular rumors/options for the Jets. Let’s dig into Sam and Jimmy:

Jets QB, Sam Darnold:

Adam Gase was hired by the Jets to develop Sam Darnold and did the exact opposite. Sam showed major regression this year, these were his stats:
– 12 Games Played
– 2,208 Passing Yards (Career Low)
– 59.6% Completion Percentage
– 72.7 QBR (Career Low)
– 9 TDs (Career Low)
– 11 INTs

Now as bad as those stats are, I believe it is ALL fixable. People do not understand how terrible of a coach Adam Gase was for Sam Darnold. He wasn’t even likable or a good role model. The guy always blamed it on his players for not, “executing the plays correctly,” which is ridiculous! Coaches are supposed to coach around his players, and coaches aren’t supposed to blame their players in front of the media. Many agree with the belief that Gase was a problem in his time with the Jets. However, Sam is still 23 years old and last year we were gassing him up to be our savior. I understand he has a contract coming up soon and I do NOT want to pay him $28-35M, especially if he’s still playing horribly. If we were to keep we would have to make a decision to either trade down, stay at #2 and draft either Penei Sewell (Oregon, Tackle) or DeVonta Smith (Alabama, WR). We would need to surround Sam with as much talent as we possibly can. I personally believe he would excel in a Shanahan offense that Mike LaFleur (New Jets Offensive Coordinator) is bringing into town. It is similar to what Jeremy Bates ran in Sam’s rookie season and like Sam’s offense in USC. The Shanahan offense is known for getting the most out of a troubled QB. Keeping Sam is not a bad option, by any standard.

49ers QB, Jimmy Garoppolo:

As you know, Jimmy Garoppolo is the current quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers and he is a big reason why they are held back. I previously stated, “The Shanahan offense is known for getting the most out of a troubled QB,” and the main example of that statement is Jimmy G. After spending his first four seasons in the New England Patriots system, he showed sparks of potential. So, the 49ers traded for him and paid him the bag to be their franchise QB. I wasn’t a huge fan of this move because I felt like he didn’t prove himself as a NFL starting QB. In his first full season with the 49ers he suffered a season ending torn ACL injury and the 49ers finished 4-12. This injury became a worry to the Niners because maybe he was injury prone. Don’t forget they just gave him a 5 year, $137M contract that is worth $27M per year. That’s big money. Isn’t it crazy how Colin Kaepernick can’t even get a backup job after going to a Super Bowl but Jimmy played 8 games and is being paid $27M per year! However, this left people speculating what will San Fran do? They waited it out and in 2019, Jimmy blossomed and the Niners went 13-3. Here were his stats in 2019:
– 16 Games Played (Career High)
– 3,978 Passing Yards (Career High)
– 69.1% Completion Percentage (Career High)
– 60.8 QBR
– 27 TDs (Career High)
– 13 INTs (Career High)

After going 13-3, they won their division and were off to the playoffs. They beat the Vikings in the divisional round and then the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship game, which Jimmy only threw 77 yards in and was carried by the running game. Now, they face the best and most explosive offense in the league, the Kansas City Chiefs. However, San Francisco has a great defense led by defense coordinator and current Jets HC, Robert Saleh. The defense did it’s job in the big game, but Jimmy can’t say the same since he failed to complete this pass that would’ve won them the game.

This is why I don’t want Jimmy Garoppolo to be the “long-term QB of the future,” for my New York Jets. Not only did he miss Emmanuel Sanders big time on that play but they were down 20-24 with only 1:33 left on the clock, this proved he wasn’t exactly “PrimeTime”. If they get that completion/touchdown and Mahomes still scores on the next drive to win it, Jimmy can say he tried to win the game at the end. On top the incompletion he threw for 219 yards, 1 TD, and 2 INTs. The only way I’d welcome a trade for Jimmy is if it’s for a third rounder and he’s only the QB for one year to mentor a young guy like Wilson, Fields or Lance. Even at that I’m skeptical about it because he’s being paid so much money. I certainly would not be a fan of the trade and would consider it a disappointment when we have an opportunity to either keep Sam, trade for Watson, or draft a rookie. I understand that he’s worked with Saleh and LaFleur in San Francisco but I wouldn’t want him as my “long-term solution,” at the QB position.

Thanks for reading everybody. This has been Jose Calderon III with FiveBoroughDispatch, have a great day; everybody!