“I would be surprised if Sam Darnold is not the starting quarterback for the Jets next season,” ESPN’s Adam Schefter said Thursday evening. “Robert Saleh believes in Darnold. Joe Douglas believes in Darnold.”
The NY Jets have officially hired a new head coach in former San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh. And with that hire, the speculation has shifted to the future of quarterback Sam Darnold.
After the head coach decision, the Jets’ next big decision will come with what they decide to do at the quarterback position. Do they keep Darnold or look to start over in the draft?
Over the coming months, there will be no more exhausting discussion, but one very notable source believes that the hiring of Saleh means that the Jets will ultimately be sticking with Darnold after all.
Soon after the Saleh news broke, ESPN’s Adam Schefter said that he believed this hire indicated that Darnold would return.
The logic behind his opinion comes with the man that Saleh will be bringing in as his new offensive coordinator, former 49ers passing game coordinator Mike LaFleur.
The brother of Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur is a Kyle Shanahan disciple who’s expected to run a very similar offensive scheme to that of Shanahan’s in San Francisco.
That means more play-action, an emphasis on getting players in space, and lots and lots of speed. Think of it as an enhanced West Coast offense modernized for today’s NFL.
But what does this have to do with Darnold?
