Usually, we see a huge jump in a quarterback’s development from year one to year two. In Darnold’s case, we didn’t see that drastic jump in production.
He started in 13 games in both his rookie season and his sophomore campaign, throwing just two more touchdowns and two less interceptions in his second season as compared to his first. The most encouraging improvement was his completion percentage, where Darnold saw a four percent increase in his second season.
The Jets shortcomings aren’t all on Darnold, though. But the front office has seemingly fixed most of their major issues offensively.
As for Newton in New England, it’ll take some sort of catastrophe for that situation not to work out favorably. In Newton’s last season where he played in the majority of the games, he completed 67% of his passes, a career high.
The high efficiency offense that the Patriots run should play to Newton’s strengths, and the added athletic wrinkle that Newton can bring to the offense will make their offense very interesting to watch.
As it stands now, Newton is obviously the superior quarterback to Darnold. Unless Darnold exceeds everyone’s expectations this season, that sentiment will still hold true by season’s end.
