NJ.com NEW YORK JETS How did QB perform at minicamp? Darryl Slater | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com The Jets on Saturday held the second practice of their three-day rookie minicamp. Sunday's practice is closed to reporters, but we were able to watch the first two practices. So how did the Jets' new quarterback, Sam Darnold, look in his first NFL action? Let's give you a Darnold rookie minicamp report card here. Remember, these were just two practices ... and Darnold's first two. So let's not make any sweeping judgments yet. But based on what we saw at these two practices, this is what we thought. FOOTWORK GRADE: A ANALYSIS: No issues here for Darnold on Friday and Saturday. He looked fine in both his short and long drop-backs. He appeared comfortable moving around in the pocket. He has quick and reliable feet. Of course, he had a red (non-contact) jersey on, so it's not like he really had to evade pressure in the pocket. ACCURACY SHORT GRADE: B+ ANALYSIS: Just a couple hiccups over two days — mainly in 7-on-7 action, rather than in team periods — but no major problems for Darnold with screen passes and dump-offs. His short-range accuracy issues had more to do with decision making and forcing passes, it appeared. But it's not like he had a ton of these issues. ACCURACY DEEP GRADE: A- ANALYSIS: Excellent. He uncorked a couple beautiful deep balls both days. He did have a near interception at the end of Friday's practice on a deep ball. But for the most part, Darnold showed off a strong and accurate arm with his deep-ball passing. During Saturday's practice, in 7-on-7 action, Darnold dropped a gorgeous sideline deep ball right in for Ryan Green, a tryout running back who caught it on the run. An excellent throw. MOBILITY GRADE: A+ ANALYSIS: This is the main thing that stood out about Darnold over these two days. He is great at throwing on the run, and he does equally well with roll-outs to either side, when asked to pass in those situations. This should be a big asset for new offensive coordinator Jeremy Bates, who looked plenty enthusiastic over these two days about having Darnold around. DECISION MAKING GRADE: B ANALYSIS: A few hiccups (but not a lot) for Darnold. There were five total botched snaps on these two days, but that was more the fault of the tryout centers than it was of Darnold's decision making. He appeared to go through his reads quickly and decisively while dropping back to throw. He forced one throw in 7-on-7 action Saturday that was almost picked off — and the same thing happened again in a team period Saturday. But no glaring mistakes with his decision making over these two days. BALL SECURITY GRADE: B ANALYSIS: Setting the botched snaps aside, since most of them didn't appear to be Darnold's fault, how did he do with turnovers? Well, he didn't have any fumbles in the pocket, as he did a nice job of keeping both hands on the ball — something he has worked hard at. Of course, there wasn't a real pass rush, so it was hard to judge. In terms of interceptions, Darnold had one in 7-on-7 action Friday and another in 7-on-7 action Saturday, though it appeared the wide receiver slipped before that latter pick. LEADERSHIP GRADE: A- ANALYSIS: Darnold wasn't a loudly vocal leader on the practice field Friday and Saturday, but he led by example, as he ran from one drill to the next. And the other players participating in the Jets' rookie minicamp this weekend raved about Darnold's intelligence and approachability. A good start. Long way to go. HANDLING MEDIA GRADE: A- ANALYSIS: For what it's worth (not much), he did fine in this area. USC does a great job of exposing its high-profile athletes to media, so Darnold is used to this stuff. He's not an amateur when it comes to dealing with the media. He handles tough questions just fine and moves on with his day.
Who knows if he has an agenda but at least he tried to explain why he handedh out the scores. Though some make little senses to me. I take all this stuff with a grain of salt. At least it's something, lol
May to July (up until training camp) are the worst months of the year, too bad the Mets are back to being the Mets.
Usually it's something bad. Some freak injury or a Robbie Anderson Event lol, or something along those lines. No news is good news
I counted at least 16 clutch throws which would put him in the 89th percentile of rookie mini camp QB's
Ah, 'A Christmas Story', it doesn't matter how many times I've seen it (literally hundreds), it never gets old. Peter Billingsley (Ralphie) is a director and producer now. He co-produced a documentary of my cousin's along with Peter Berg ('Trophy Kids'). But yeah, Darnold, I thought for sure the article was gonna about him being found in a hotel in Chelsea with a needle in his arm and a dead hooker. Oh, well. :/
As silly as this seems, I'm fine with some highly-positive Jets reporting/news for a change. Maybe the skies are clearing. The Jets ticket reps seem to think so: three emails and three phone calls from three different people since Darnold was drafted.
This is what I thought too. Is this guy a former player or coach, is he relying on opinions of guys who were, or is he simply using his eyes and giving us his own take? Not really sure how much confidence to put in these grades, despite being an entertaining read.
You can bet that if he had struggled in any facet the media wouldve been all over him regardless of the premise. Still quite a bit of the minicamp footage of him throwing ended up being viewable anyway. While remaining impartial & objective i thought even in shorts the ball placement was eye popping. Seen alot of jet QBs throw in shorts dating back to O’Donnell & ive never seen Balls drop into the bucket w Wrs not even a flinch in their stride;and these were joe schmoes trying out! When’s the last time we heard of any OTA that didnt have at least a sprinkle of Contagious drops.Hard to drop it when the ball lands right in your hands right on time. Course this all means nothing but does at least provide perspective on the type of tools this kid has
