Darnold takes youthful act to Cleveland
CLEVELAND — Sam Darnold thought he was headed to Cleveland before the NFL draft. However, he was rerouted to New York when the Browns decided not to pick him and selected quarterback Baker Mayfield first overall.
On Thursday night, Darnold gets a chance to show Cleveland what it missed when the Jets visit the Browns. Darnold and the Jets (1-1) will try to extend misery for the Browns (0-1-1), who are riding a 19game winless streak.
Darnold, the former Southern California standout, is the youngest quarterback to start a season opener since 1970. He gets his second national TV stage in three weeks, this time at Firstenergy Stadium against a Cleveland team looking for its first victory since Dec. 24, 2016.
Heading into April’s draft, Darnold was considered the top of the deep QB class, and it appeared he would wind up in Cleveland, where over the past two decades quarterbacks have come and gone like restaurant busboys.
“Yeah, I thought I could’ve ended up there or several other teams,” Darnold said this week. “I was excited to go anywhere. “Whoever wanted me, whoever wanted to pick me as a top pick, to me it was a dream come true right when it happened.”
After the Browns nabbed Mayfield and the Giants grabbed running back Saquon Barkley, the Jets took Darnold and have been more than satisfied by his early development.
He rebounded from throwing an interception that was returned for a touchdown on his first pass attempt in the season opener against Detroit and led the Jets to a 31-point win.
Last week the 21-year-old became the youngest QB to pass for 300 yards.
Darnold insists he’s not seeking any revenge or trying to prove anything to the Browns.
“No,” he said. “I’m just going to go out there and play ball.”
The Jets and Browns are on divergent paths with their rookie quarterbacks. New York has chosen to start Darnold, while Cleveland is holding Mayfield out to watch and learn behind Tyrod Taylor.
It’s not a race and the Browns feel no need to rush their plan.
“We feel very comfortable with the guy that we selected in Baker, and I’m sure they do with him,” coach Hue Jackson said. “He’s a fine prospect and is going to be a fine player. I think they got a good one, but we feel we have a really good one, too.”
After facing Ben Roethlisberger and Drew Brees — two future Hall of Famers — in Weeks 1 and 2, the Browns aren’t looking at Darnold as any break.
“I don’t think that any game in the NFL is a breather,” linebacker Joe Schobert said.
“He’s got a big arm. He’s doing good things as their quarterback. The hardest thing to do is come into the NFL and play quarterback and be successful. And he’s so far shown himself to be pretty poised and good at it.”