Jets use No. 3 pick on QB Darnold

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — The cool, calm and confident kid from Southern California is going from Hollywood to the Big Apple.

The New York Jets selected USC quarterback Sam Darnold with the No. 3 overall pick in the NFL draft Thursday night — and they didn’t have to endure a horrific season to get him, after all.

Since the glory days of Joe Namath nearly 50 years ago, the Jets have been searching for a homegrown QB to deliver a similar type of sustained success as the face of the franchise.

New York is counting on the athletic and strongarmed Darnold to be their man.

Many draft pundits projected several months ago that Darnold would be the No. 1 pick in this year’s draft, and still tabbed him as the best overall quarterback of this year’s class.

But after Cleveland kicked off the draft by taking Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield and the Giants selected Penn State running back Saquon Barkley, the Jets homed in on Darnold, who met with them for a private workout late in the pre-draft process.

It seemed unlikely for the last several months that Darnold would end up with the Jets, especially after their 5-11 season didn’t quite play into the “Suck For Sam” campaign pushed by some fans who preferred even more losses in the hopes that a year of misery would translate to a greater chance to land the star quarterback.

After striking out on luring Kirk Cousins in free agency, the Jets positioned themselves to be able to get one of the top available QBs in the draft by moving up three spots and acquiring the third selection from Indianapolis in a trade last month.

It cost New York the No. 6 pick, two second-round selections this year and a second-rounder next year — a steep price to pay, but one general manager Mike Maccagnan was comfortable with.