Darnold was sleeper on National Signing Day

National Signing Day has been a long-standing tradition for the nation’s top college prospects to tell the world where they’ll be playing football for the next few years.

The first Wednesday in February has lost some of its punch thanks to the early signing window in December, but there’s still plenty of interest.

The kids who aren’t highlighted, however, often turn into the best players.

Consider Jets quarterback Sam Darnold, who was the 179th-ranked prospect by Rivals.com for the Class of 2015.

Darnold, who played at San Clemente High School (CA), wasn’t even the highest rated quarterback in that class to commit to USC for Pete’s sake. Those honors went to 127th rated prospect Ricky Town.

Darnold went on to star at USC for two seasons, including an epic Rose Bowl winning performance that turned him into a Heisman Trophy candidate.

FALCONS RELEASE BRYANT

The Atlanta Falcons released kicker Matt Bryant on Wednesday, ending the 10year run of the team’s alltime leading scorer.

The decision to not renew the team’s option on the 43year-old Bryant comes despite another strong season in 2018, when he made 20 of 21 field goals and 33 of 35 extra points.

Bryant’s only missed field goal was from 53 yards at Green Bay. He said the miss was “probably like a 60yarder on a normal field.”

Health concerns could have played a role in the Falcons’ decision. Bryant missed three games with a hamstring injury.

The former Giant insisted he is healthy.

“I’m not retiring and I feel fine and plan on feeling even better with some changes to my offseason program,” he said on Twitter .