zonajetfan

He has similar qualities to Jameis as well sure, I'm speaking more than just turnover prone and gunslinger mentality as stated in the OP.

Actually Montana was excellent at maneuvering within the pocket and throwing on the run, this is similar to Darnold in the way that he avoids the rush and looks for open receivers downfield.

Agreed, the Jets must surround Darnold with the talent to succeed. I personally believe the receiving corp is better than most people believe, but the TE position is a must for any young QB and protection is paramount. Let us all hope the FO starts to act this way also.

Again, I'm not expecting the same things that Montana accomplished. That is asking far too much, I just see Montana as a comparison for Darnold. The rest is up to the coaching, FO and Darnold himself.

The more and more I hear about this kid, and remember he is still a kid, a name continues to pop into my mind. Now first off, I'm a little older than some here. I just turned 40 and have been watching and involved with football for many years, so my list of possible matches for this youngster stretches farther back than some. Secondly, I'm not of course saying Sam will have the type of career this player had, he just has a similar "always cool" demeanor, work ethic, blue-collar type attitude, competitiveness and especially play style and skill set. That player is Joe Montana. Montana is famous for his Joe cool attitude, the John Candy SB story illustrates that perfectly, but he was just that guy. Calm and confident under pressure, the moment was never too big for him. He played with a quiet confidence, but was never the guy labeled as cocky. From what I've seen Sam play and speak and coaches who know him best, this same aura surrounds Sam. Montana was a "gym rat" type guy, had tremendous work ethic and knew the opponents he was facing inside and out. This is a common trait among the best of the best of course i.e Manning, Brady, Brees. So this trait is a must regardless of anything else. Sam though, does seem to fit the bill for this based on people who know him best and have seen it firsthand. Montana came from the coal-mining, blue-collar area of Pennsylvania. This would seem to be the basis for his strong work ethic, along with his parents and family of course. He didn't have a ton of football experience under his belt when he was drafted, he only played HS football for two years and back then of course Freshmen weren't eligible for varsity teams in college and he played sparingly for the freshman team at Notre Dame. He didn't become the full time starter till his redshirt junior season at Notre Dame. Darnold is the product of two hard working parents. His father is a plumber and his mother a school teacher. Sam also has limited football experience. He only played 2 years in HS at QB. He played the overwhelming percentage of his sophomore season in HS at LB and WR. At USC, he played the better part of 2 years as the starting QB. Again, this is just to illustrate that both these young men were raw and had tons of potential for growth and thrived with limited experience. Now the play style and skill set are the best match for this comparison in my opinion. Montana was sneaky athletic and maneuvered around the rush always looking for the play down the field. He had some gunslinger in him in his prime and especially his early years in the NFL. He had an above average arm, but not the strongest one either. He anticipated his receiver to be open and often "threw them open". Sam has an extremely similar physical makeup to skillset as described above. The size, arm strength, always looking for the play downfield and anticipation throws are easy to see as a natural comparison for Montana. Now the huge caveat to all this is Montana had a savant for a teacher in Bill Walsh. Probably the best of the best for offensive minds, but Montana had greatness inside him already clearly. Walsh got that greatness out of him. Can Bates do the same for Sam? Bates doesn't have to be Bill Walsh for Sam to be great, but if he can connect and they can create that same type of bond and connection, maybe Sam can reach some of the same heights Montana did. Montana also had immense talents surrounding him as we all know. Rice, Craig, Clarke, Taylor. His supporting cast was exceptional, the Jets will have to surround him with great playmakers like all great QB's have. He will turn 21 in a couple months, so they have the time to do this. Having the "it guy" as your QB in the building though, is the hardest part and hopefully for the Jets and all us fans Sam Darnold is it.

Lucky Landing is a fun spot I've found as well haha

I live about 45 minutes south of Detroit and will be attending myself, would love to meet some fellow Jets fans in the process!!

The only thing I would say to refute this is that Sean and Bill are known good friends, I don't think Sean would make this trade without telling Bill of his locker room issues or whatever has lead to these recent trades of a talented player like Cooks.

Oh how easy we forget.....well, SD fans might not have forgotten yet. Agenda is a word seemingly forgotten from our language and yet never has it been more in the forefront of our minds. Class takes a backseat as history tells us.

A broken clock is correct twice a day

Revis is clearly the most talented defensive player to ever wear the Jets uniform. It's really not even that close. He played at a time where all the rules are slanted towards the offensive players and yet he flourished in shutting down the very best receivers. He played the most demanding and hawkeye'd position regarding the officials. The NFL has become a pass heavy league as we all know and Revis was truly the only shutdown corner during that time to be able to do it consistently for several years till his ACL injury. He was a special talent who knew the position and his opponents better than anyone. He wasn't close to the fastest player, yet in his hayday, never was beaten deep. Transcendent talent that comes once in a while, lucky for all of us he played for the Jets during his best years.