Colin Cowherd: The New York Jets won the 2018 Draft

[Patriot Killa]

COLIN COWHERD: Great teams and dynasties generally start and begin with somebody else's mistake. Portland takes Sam Bowie. Chicago drafts MJ. The rest is history. Cleveland Brown's pass on Carson Wentz. Eagles take him, win the Super Bowl. Minnesota Timberwolves took two point guards. Steph Curry was available, they took Johnny Flynn and Ricky Rubio. Golden State's now the reigning NBA dynasty. Cleveland passed on Sam Darnold. New York Jets, when Brady retires in two years you'll have the quarterback who was number one on virtually every other board not named Cleveland. Of my eight contacts that I use regularly in this league, head coaches, GM's, regional, scouting directors, Darnold was number one on every board. He was not a flawless prospect, but he is such a perfect fit for the New York Jets and I'll tell you why.

Go look at the history of the city of New York. Who goes into New York and can handle the media. Derek Jeter, Mark Messier, Eli Manning, Aaron Judge, Mariano Rivera, Phil Simms, Sam Darnold. Humble, head down, talk, but never give you a quote. You go to bed at night knowing you'll never get in trouble. New York has had a lot of players who are great, but A-Rod was often eaten alive. It got into his head. He struggled sometimes in the post-season. New York is tough. It is brutal. And there is a lineage. There is a line here of the people who work for a long time in New York and they're all like Eli, and Jeter, and Mariano, and Messier. They are relatable, though they're millionaires. They're likable, they're beloved, they're trusted and when you go to bed at night you never have to worry about a call at 3:00 AM at a nightclub about Sam Darnold. And Brady's going to retire in two years. And Miami will probably have Tannehill. Buffalo will have Josh Allen, we'll see how that works. No idea who New England will have and you'll have Sam Darnold. By the way, Darnold was not only number one at quarterback on virtually every board, Bradley Chubb was number one on the four people I called yesterday driving down to the Charger's facility. I called four of my people. Who's your top defensive player? They all had Bradley Chubb. The Browns passed on him too. 

I've said this so many times. Anybody listening to my show, you absolutely deserve credit for your success. I think people who succeed, doesn't matter if you're a schoolteacher, a landscaper, a truck driver, a sportscaster, or a quarterback, or a GM. You deserve 70% to 75% of the credit, but be honest with yourself. 25%, 30% of the credit, you've just taken advantage of dumb people making mistakes that you work against. Cleveland had Deshaun Watson, Carson Wentz. Instead, once again, they go for an undersized, not overly athletic, loud off field baggage, big 12 quarterback, over the bigger, stronger, safer, reliable, great character, conference that puts quarterbacks in the NFL Pac-12 regularly, Sam Darnold. 

A source told me this morning and I trust it because this is somebody who I've relied on for years. Cleveland didn't draft Darnold. because they thought it would just be trying to turn around the franchise too big for him. And there was massive disagreement in the Brown's selection room. Some Baker, some Josh Allen. They thought it was too big for him. Okie dokie. Congratulations, Jets. Dynasties and great teams very often start with somebody else's really big mistake.

[jetstream23]

We hit a single with Mark Sanchez.  Not a strike out but clearly not a homerun.  If Darnold is a triple I'll be psyched.  This is essentially a do over of the Sanchez pick.  Mark had a short USC career as a starter, Darnold is a young guy.  I really don't want to see Sam under Center until the second half the season.  Watching for a year (or two) was of immense value to Aaron Rodgers.  

[Grandy]

Just now, jetstream23 said:

This is essentially a do over of the Sanchez pick. 

Darnold is a much better prospect than Sanchez was in every area.

This dude is regarded as the best since Luck.

[jetstream23]

1 minute ago, Grandy said:

Darnold is a much better prospect than Sanchez was in every area.

This dude is regarded as the best since Luck.

Oh, I understand he's 10X the prospect Sanchez was, I'm just saying that the way Sanchez was handled and how the Jets started him immediately as a young guy with very little starting experience may not have been a good idea.  Sanchez was surrounded by a great supporting cast, a killer OLine and good running game.  He was then given Braylon Edwards and Santonio Holmes.  The wheels fell off when the Jets started going defense, defense, defense and let the RT disappear, the FB go away, etc.  I'm just saying, let's take it slow with this 20 year old QB.

[SayNoToDMC]

Kiss of Death. I was feeling good about it also, God Dammit

[Miss Lonelyhearts]

3 minutes ago, jetstream23 said:

Oh, I understand he's 10X the prospect Sanchez was, I'm just saying that the way Sanchez was handled and how the Jets started him immediately as a young guy with very little starting experience may not have been a good idea.  Sanchez was surrounded by a great supporting cast, a killer OLine and good running game.  He was then given Braylon Edwards and Santonio Holmes.  The wheels fell off when the Jets started going defense, defense, defense and let the RT disappear, the FB go away, etc.  I'm just saying, let's take it slow with this 20 year old QB.

This is completely ridiculous. Sanchez is the poster boy for having needed more time in college to develop and even he wasn't any worse off for getting thrown right into the fire than he would have been otherwise.