00:00We are game for jets fans. Maybe not. Maybe, maybe this is kind of straightforward. The Sam
00:05Darnold of it all. Give me an idea of how you feel watching and Sam go on this run and playing
00:13in a super bowl. Yeah. I mean, I think every jet fan is pretty much universally aligned and rooting
00:19for Sam Darnold on Sunday. I mean, look, it's the new England Patriots. It's always anyone,
00:24but new England, if you're a jet fan and look, despite Sam, obviously not working out with the
00:29jets and he didn't play well, I think we look back on his time and we realize the organization
00:33failed Sam Darnold more than Sam Darnold failed the New York jets. His two head coaches were Todd
00:39Bowles and Adam Gase. They never surrounded them with an offensive line. They never gave them
00:43proper weapons. I mean, they let his best wide receiver, Robbie Anderson, walk in free agency
00:47before his final year. And Robbie Anderson is a good player at that time, but he was not an elite
00:52number one wide receiver. And that was Sam's best option. So I think I speak for most jet fans that
00:58we're really happy for Sam. He's had success. It's people just act like he just left the jets
01:02and then became this. He needed to go to Carolina. It didn't work out there. He needed to go to
01:06obviously Kyle Shanahan and the Niners and learn from him as a backup for a year behind Purdy.
01:11And then he goes to Minnesota and he has this unbelievable year and people were still questioning
01:15him after that final game where they lost in the playoffs. So to see his rise, see him play like
01:19the player, many of us jet fans were hoping he'd do for us. It's a little bittersweet, but I think jet fans
01:24are universally aligned and rooting for him. The question I have Jake is what this, what lesson
01:31we try and learn from this all, because now any quarterback who struggles will just go, ah, what
01:36about Sam Darnold? Right? And the same way they were kind of doing with Baker, but this will now
01:40take it at another level. I'm, do you feel, Hey, if we had the right pieces, Darnold could have hit
01:46the ground running night one or Darnold was always going to be a project and this was his timeline.
01:53He had to leave in order to be successful. Yeah. I mean, look, I think it could have worked with
01:59the jets that they had the right infrastructure for him. I think the lesson is it's not just the
02:03quarterback. You need the right head coach. You need the right offensive line. You need the right
02:07playmakers. It's, it's all together. There's very few guys just come into the league and are able to
02:12have instant success in that position. And even some of the guys that have had success, right?
02:15Like a CJ Stroud, for example, was the league figured him out now the last couple of years
02:20where he hasn't been the same player. He was as a rookie. So success is not always lateral.
02:24And I think in the case of Sam, he was failed by the organization more than the other way around.
02:29And hopefully, you know, the jets learn from that experience and they put their next quarterback
02:34that they invest a top pick in round one and a much better spot. I can't say, you know,
02:39the jets are currently set up for that given their coaching situation. But again, I think a lot of
02:44teams, not even just the jets can learn from what Sam Darnold has done these last two years
02:47in Minnesota and now in Seattle. Jake, what do you see from Darnold's performance?
02:53What improvements has he made from the time that he's with the jets to what we saw last year with
02:58Minnesota and now Seattle? I think he's got a lot more confidence. I think Sam, at the end of his
03:04time with the jets, he was almost a broken player. He was gun shy. He was afraid to make the big mistake
03:10because last year with the jets, he threw nine touchdowns at just 11 interceptions, right?
03:14I mean, he wasn't playing like a guy who was loose and confident taking chances downfield.
03:17He still turns the ball over at times. That's kind of his, the way he plays. He's more of a
03:22gunslinger type of player, but I think he's more decisive with the ball. I think he's really
03:25understood how to read a defense, how to process better. He just looks like a guy that is playing
03:30confidently. And at times with the jets, you saw it. And then that last year, I think really broke
03:35him, but he's been a completely different player these last few seasons.
03:38Yeah. It's been remarkable. I can, I ask you this though, because I have noticed this is
03:43obviously, you know, here local like jets fans, they never really gave up on Sam. And I never
03:49really got it to be honest, Jake. I don't, I didn't, people always wanted to root from him.
03:55And you said, you mentioned like, even in Minnesota, 14 wins, you know, 30 plus touchdowns.
04:01I still was like, no way. What though? Why did jets fans not give up on this guy?
04:08Well, I think you saw the talent, right? I mean, there were moments where Sam Darnold looked like
04:14he was going to be one of the best quarterbacks in the league. His last four games, his rookie year,
04:18he led the NFL in passer rating. You know, he had a, he had a great game against the prime Aaron
04:22Rogers where the two of them were duking it out when Rogers was still with the Packers. Of course,
04:26at that point, I mean, there were moments as rookie year where you saw it. So I think that was a big
04:30reason. And after his rookie year, they go from Todd Bowles to Adam Gase, who none of us wanted as jet
04:36fans. We watched them fail in Miami and he comes to the jets. They start one in seven. Like we all
04:42knew it was the wrong hire from the beginning. So I think jet fans always had, you know, a loyalty to
04:48Sam because we felt like he was set up to fail. And that's the biggest reason why I think jet fans
04:53have stuck by him. And a big thing since he's left the jets too, he's never bashed them since he's
04:59left. He's had every opportunity to take shots at them. Like so many other former jets have,
05:02and he's never done that. He's always taken the high road, talked about how he had a great
05:05experience despite the lack of winning. He's just a great kid. You root for people like that.
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