GM hypes incoming QB class in trade
Douglas explains why he sent Sam Darnold to Carolina
NEWYORK— Jets general manager Joe Douglas is ready to draft a quarterback of his own. Douglas admitted the obvious a day after dealing Sam Darnold to the Carolina Panthers on Monday, saying NewYork is locked in on a QB in the draft.
“I think that’s a fair assessment to say based on the decision we made yesterday,” Douglas said after collecting a 2021 sixthround pick and second- and fourth-round picks in 2022 from Carolina.
“We’re excited about this quarterback class. So, we still have a lot of our process left in these three plus weeks leading up to the draft. Obviously, there is an unknown factor when you’re talking about rookies and young players. But ultimately, the amount of work that our coaching staff put into this draft class and the amount of work our scouts have put in this draft class, we feel good about the type of person we’re going to be able to bring in.”
Darnold had a tumultuous run in New York. In three seasons he threw for 8,097 yards, 45 touchdowns and tossed 39 interceptions with a dismal passer rating of 78.6. His record as a starter was 13-25.
But Douglas did say that the Jets would have kept Darnold if their first-round pick wasn’t the No. 2 overall pick the draft.
“I think it’s safe to say that, if our pick was a little later, we wouldn’t have been having this discussion right,” Douglas said. “We’d fully be comfortable moving forward with
Sam.”
There was also talk within the Jets organization about keeping Darnold and drafting a quarterback at No. 2. But the Jets decided against it.
“There was even discussion about us taking a quarterback at pick No. 2 and having Sam here for the season,” Douglas said. “Ultimately, we felt that that wouldn’t be the best situation for Sam, the rookie quarterback, coach Saleh and his staff, and the locker room. We felt like this was the best decision for the entire organization moving forward and hitting the reset button.”
Keeping Darnold and drafting a quarterback would have been a disaster, and Douglas clearly is smarter than that (although former GM Mike Mccagnan might have been foolish enough to attempt it).
Throughout the draft process, the Jets have been linked to BYU’s quarterback Zach Wilson. And a telling moment occurred during the news conference.
Douglas was asked about the comments Hall of Famer Steve Young — who himself was a star QBfor the Cougars in the 1980s — made last week that the Jets were “committed to Zach” and were “recruiting the family.” Douglas didn’t deny the reports.
“Steve is pretty plugged into BYU, I know,” Douglas said.