Sunday in New England marks the merciful end of the 2020 Jets season.
It is expected to be the end of coach Adam Gase, who is due to be fired before breakfast on Monday after two unsatisfactory seasons.
The list as we know it now will be very different in 2021. The biggest question is whether the quarterback will be different.
Before the Jets started winning games – two in a row entering the end of Sunday’s season against the Patriots – to ruin their chances at first place in the draft and a chance at Clemson’s quarterback Trevor Lawrence, the answer seemed somewhat clear . It would have been a big surprise if the Jets had not recruited Lawrence and left Darnold after three inconsistent seasons (record 13-24, 44 touchdowns, 37 interceptions).
But Lawrence is no longer part of the conversation of the Jets, who own the second choice – presumably after recruiting the Jaguars to Lawrence with the first choice.
So, now what to do with Darnold?
This is what it is: unless Jets general manager Joe Douglas has the same unmissable conviction about Ohio State’s Justin Fields, BYU’s Zach Wilson, North Dakota’s Trey Lance or another eligible quarterback for the April draft he may have had on Lawrence, he should keep Darnold and build a suitable team around him.
Douglas has nine options in the draft of 21 and about $ 100 million in salary cap. If he fails to place players with sufficient skill and ability around Darnold and an offensive sound line in front of him, Douglas does not deserve the six-year contract that Jets CEO Christopher Johnson gave him.
If the worst thing that happens to the Jets defender’s position is having Darnold back next season with a stronger support cast around him, that’s not a bad thing.
The debate over Darnold has been going on for the past two seasons and is centered on this: is his inconsistency the result of his own shortcomings or the shortcomings of those around him?
The answer, of course, is a combination of the two. The question is: which one has more weight?
Darnold, regardless of how bad his offensive line has been and how limited his skill position talent has been, cannot be completely exonerated by his many questionable turns and decision-making.
“It’s a matter of consistency and also consistency with the guys around you,” said Gase on Thursday, convinced that Darnold has what it takes to lead the Jets with a competent cast around him. “When you’re a young player, you need to have a core of important guys around you that you can grow up with, who can help you develop as a player. ”
Darnold has spent the last three games without ever hitting the ball, which is a significant step. It is no accident that he had his first three recipients – Jamison Crowder, Breshad Perriman and Denzel Mims – recovered from injuries in those games.
“The defender’s position takes a large part of the blame for everything [bad] it happens and it is often not with them, ” Gase said. “I think that we need to improve at certain points with [Darnold]? Yes, absolutely. Do I think he got to the point where everything should fall on him? No not me.
“If we can clean up a few things, it would help you a lot in decision making, accuracy and time. But we need to be consistent, as much as with the guys out there with him. ”
The counterargument, however, is that Darnold did not elevate those around him in the way that elite quarterbacks are capable of, despite the deficiencies of their supporting cast (see: Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers).
“The only thing I asked you is what quarterbacks are you talking about that didn’t have a good cast around them? Said Gase. “We can go around in circles about it. ”
These circles include Cincinnati, where rookie Joe Burrow, the No. 1 overall choice last spring, threw 300 or more yards in five of his 10 matches before a torn ACL ended his rookie season. But he was playing for a much better reception body than the Jets – Tee Higgins, Tyler Boyd and AJ Green.
They include LA, where Justin Herbert shot 300 yards or more in his 14 starts for the Chargers, but he is playing for Keenan Allen, Mike Williams and Hunter Henry, one of the best tight ends in the game.
Darnold completed passes for nine different receivers and six different running backs this season. Some of these players are not of the NFL caliber.
So, should Darnold have a better cast around him or should the Jets give up on a 23-year-old who they chose in third place in the overall draft just three years ago?
“I know we all like to think about what-if hypotheses, but I’m a jet now and I love being here,” said Darnold Thursday. “I absolutely believe that my best days are yet to come. ”
For the sake of him and the Jets, I hope those days will come while he dresses in green and white.