Things have been trending toward the Jets taking BYU quarterback Zach Wilson second overall for a while now, and if that happens it’s been widely assumed Sam Darnold would be traded somewhere. But is it possible the Jets could draft Wilson and keep Darnold around as well? Maybe so.
“Can it be done? Absolutely,” Darnold’s former teammate and mentor Josh McCown, who has stayed close with the USC product, told Rich Cimini of ESPN.com. “In my mind, if you can’t get the value now for him, that’s absolutely how you go about it. I wouldn’t even call it a competition. I would just say, ‘We’re going to go with Sam as the guy and bring Zach along.’ If Sam knocks it out of the park, we’ll re-evaluate where we are a year from now.”
McCown doesn’t think Darnold would shy away from the drama. “Sam would embrace it and be helpful, but he’d also go out and work hard and try to make the most of the opportunity to play this year — and put it back on them and make them have to make a tough decision at the end of the year. I think, if that happens, really and truly, everybody wins.”
While that’s fun to think about, it might be wishful thinking on McCown’s part. McCown’s scenario isn’t “crazy,” Ian Rapoport of NFL Network says (Twitter video link), but most people he’s spoken to still believe Darnold will be traded.
That being said, Rapoport does believe it’s realistic the Jets could keep Darnold to try to get a better draft pick for him later, rather than settle for something now when his value isn’t at its highest. Rapoport doubts New York could get a first-rounder for him, which isn’t surprising considering there was a report earlier that suggested they might not even be able to get a second-rounder for him. We already know the Broncos don’t view him as worth a second-rounder.
We had heard back in February that the Panthers weren’t overly interested in Darnold, but after striking out on other options Rapsheet interestingly highlights them as a team to watch here. With the draft rapidly approaching, we should know a lot more soon so stay tuned.
Teams are too afraid of drama. Bring them both in and make sure that you get one good QB out of these two picks. If you dump Darnold for a 2024 fourth round pick you lose a lot of potential to get it right.
Exactly right. Washington took RG3 and Cousins in the same draft and that worked out for them. Well, at least until they let him go for nothing.
What if Zach Wilson is as bad or worse than Darnold? You can’t ‘make sure’ that you get one good QB. Darnold was as highly touted as Wilson coming out of college.
Why do you need Wilson? If you deal Wilson and build a team around whoever is QB what’s the worst that happens? Your back in the top 4 again and can draft a “Franchise QB”
People seem to forget plenty of “Franchise QB” were found in the end of the 1st rd to 6th rd picks.
Prescott, Rodgers, Brady to name a few
Jones may be that player this year.
Besides, they still have a fourth round pick QB they redshirted last year in James Morgan. They should at least see what they have in him this preseason.
Wilson will be better off sitting most of his first year anyway. The Jets are still garbage. Don’t ruin his confidence right off the bat like they did Sam.
I feel like that gets forgot about too often. Bad teams picking at the top also have multiple issues than just QB. Alex Smith immediately comes to mind. He was shell shocked behind that awful o-line for years until they drafted better lineman. And he started winning some games. Now, he’s a starting caliber QB (albeit a low end stater).
I am actually curious. Can anyone remember a time when a situation like this came up and the team decided to hold onto the second quarterback for part of all of the next season looking for get more value and it worked out?
I’ve said it before, the only Wilson I’d be OK with the Jets getting at QB now is Russell. Other than that, they should either pick Sewell or trade down.
Panthers just got him
Rapaport -1
McCown – 0
I can’t believe a team traded a first round pick for Sam Darnold