Sam Darnold's Lack of Development for the New York Jets Falls on Adam Gase

New York Jets quarterback Sam Darnold has struggled to start the year and something needs to change.

As Sam Darnold prepares for Sunday at the Indianapolis Colts, there is concern not that the New York Jets quarterback has regressed but simply that he isn’t progressing. It makes the ‘Samchise’ a difficult reality, the idea that Darnold can develop to be the Jets first true franchise quarterback since Joe Namath.

It was a second ho-hum performance from Darnold in as many weeks to start the season, part of an overall disappointing performance from the Jets in a 31-13 loss to the San Francisco 49ers. Darnold was a quiet and underwhelming 21-of-32 for 179 yards and a touchdown, but it was a disappointing performance given the injuries to the 49ers defense that included cornerback Richard Sherman and defensive end Nick Bosa (who left the game in the first half).

To be clear, Darnold hasn’t been bad in either game for the 0-2 Jets. But he simply doesn’t look like a quarterback who, in his third year in the league, has taken a step forward. Especially since this year represented a second offseason in head coach Adam Gase’s offense.

“I think that there are certain things where he’s doing a really good job of executing the offense, making adjustments when needed. I think there are some other things that we’ve gone away from to try to take some of the pressure off of him,” head coach Adam Gase said on Monday in his virtual press conference.

“I feel like he’s progressing the right way, we’ve just got to keep working through some of these things that occur in games. I’m sure it’s probably not fun for him to go through where he’s got a revolving door of wide receivers and trying to figure out who his guys are. I’m sure the injuries to those guys aren’t fun for him to go through. He doesn’t complain about anything, he just tries to figure guys out and tries to develop chemistry with them as fast as possible and tries to find a way to get first downs and stick the ball in the end zone.”

The Jets offense didn’t take shots down the field, something Gase said was by design. But the dink pass is becoming predictable and static, making it difficult for the Jets to move the chains.

They had just 17 first downs on Sunday against the 49ers.

The concern about Darnold is that if the franchise quarterback is in an environment where he can actually develop. Right now, it simply seems that there is no path forward in his development, despite his obvious talents.

Darnold, after all, is supposed to be the future of the Jets and is the centerpiece for this rebuilding team. The offensive line was rebuilt this offseason to protect him and he’s stated a clear comfort level in the offense now that he’s had a second full offseason to absorb Gase’s plan.

But the offense remains stale and stalled, a discouraging trend. On Sunday, they had 277 yards of total offense. The week before in losing at the Buffalo Bills, they managed just 254 yards as a unit.

Part of the concern is the issue at wide receiver. With Breshad Perriman’s injury on Sunday, the Jets are now down their top three wide receivers heading into the season. It doesn’t help Darnold’s development if the wide receivers he’s throwing to are new to the offense or simply sub-standard.

Couple that with an offensive line that is still coming together after adding four new starters this offseason and this season is shaping up to be a difficult one for Darnold to progress.

“I mean it is what it is. You know, we got to get guys healthy, but that’s out of my control, that’s out of our control,” Darnold said.

“For me, I got to make sure that I’m doing my best to, whoever’s in there, making sure they understand their job and what they’re doing on every play. And then for me it’s just, you know, throwing on the ball on time, throwing it accurately and making sure that I continue to move the sticks and put the ball in the end zone.”