Sam Darnold still ‘searching’ for true success after unfair Jets, Panthers situations
Mark Sanchez #MarkSanchez
Sam Darnold is just 25 years old, yet you’d think he was an NFL journeyman who’s played for twice as many as the five seasons he’s been in the league.
Darnold, who was drafted third overall by the Jets in 2018, is 2-0 as the Carolina Panthers starter this season entering Sunday’s home game against the Steelers.
After a three-year stint that went wrong as the Jets’ hopeful franchise quarterback, are the Panthers Darnold’s future?
This is impossible to know considering the fact the Panthers fired head coach Matt Rhule after a 1-4 start are being coached by interim Steve Wilks, and Darnold is the third quarterback they’ve started this season.
This isn’t what you would define as organizational stability.
I’ll never forget a call I got from Adam Gase, who coached Darnold with the Jets in 2019 and ’20 before he was fired after the ’20 season. Gase politely implored me not to beat up on Darnold, who on paper had been a three-year failure with the Jets considering how high he was drafted.
Gase knew the team never properly built around Darnold, who never had a consistent offensive line or any skill-position players who kept opposing coaches up at night. Gase knew the Jets failed Darnold.
The Jets traded Darnold to the Panthers after the ’20 season for three draft picks, and Darnold’s situation hasn’t gotten any better. It’s left him searching for the right circumstance and timing.
Former Jets quarterback and first-round draft pick Mark Sanchez, a fellow Southern Californian and USC alum, has been one of Darnold’s confidants. Sanchez badly wants Darnold to experience the organizational success he experienced in his first two seasons with the Jets, going to the AFC Championship games in 2009 and 2010.
“He’s searching,’’ Sanchez told The Post this week. “He wants to know what it looks like when it’s all working in the right direction. He’s never had that and he’s searching for it.’’
Sanchez had it his first two seasons, the beneficiary of a ready-built consistent offensive line, a strong running game and a stout defense. Darnold has never had those things in unison.
“He’s maturing and still trying to figure out what it looks like to be a part of a team that really has it all going in the right direction, where you can make a mistake and not worry, ‘Oh man, did that just cost me my job?’ ’’ Sanchez said. “It’s exhausting to play like that.’’
Watching Darnold’s plight has only reinforced to Sanchez how lucky he was early in his career.
“I don’t care if it’s your first team or you’ve played 20 years, you need help, you need guys around you,’’ Sanchez said. “You need guys. Look at Tom Brady this year. He’s not as comfortable as he’s looked in the pocket. It just doesn’t look right. It’s the Johnnys and Joes over the Xs and Os. The timing of it all is so important.
“Once you start bouncing around to different teams, you’re not their somebody’s first option.’’
Sanchez can relate to that, because once the Jets gave up on him after 2012 (after he’d started 62 games in four seasons), he bounced around — playing for Philadelphia, Dallas and Washington and starting just 11 games in his final four seasons.
“There’s only a handful of guys that are just like ‘Steady Eddie,’ and their teams are like, ‘We’re going to continue building around this guy,’ ’’ Sanchez said. “At the quarterback position, to have a steady situation it’s more uncommon than common.’’
It’s what Darnold is searching for after five seasons in the wilderness.
“You want it for him so he can experience it, because I remember those times more than the tough times,’’ Sanchez said. “I want him to experience it once. Then you can be a fair judge of his career. Because right now, you have people saying, ‘Oh, he sucks.’ Well, he doesn’t suck. I don’t think that’s fair.’’
Sanchez’s advice to Darnold as he continues his search is simple: “There’s plenty of meat left on the bone.’’