As Sam Darnold Struggles, the Trevor Lawrence Questions Comes Into Focus

 Sam Darnold's days in New York appear to be coming to an end. Hard to believe that we are here at this point in Darnold's career, but this is what happens when a young quarterback ends up playing for the Jets and Head Coach Adam Gase. 

Darnold was uninspiring in his return from a shoulder injury on Sunday. He completed only 16 of 27 passes for 197 yards, and threw two interceptions. In a year where Darnold never had a full compliment of receivers, he had all of them on the field Sunday.  He just couldn't get the job done. 

There are a lot of reasons for Darnold's downfall, a lot of it is not his fault. Gase has ruined Darnold's confidence, coaching him into the ground with his ultra conservative play-calls, and an uncanny ability to put him in a position to fail. That is not a Darnold problem necessarily. But it is a Gase problem. 

Just look at Ryan Tannehill. 

Tannehill looked done when he worked under Gase in Miami. Once Tannehill went to the Tennessee Titans and could hand the ball off to the modern day version of Earl Campbell in the form of Derrick Henry, things got real simple for him. Now Tannehill is a Pro Bowler and a franchise quarterback after getting away from Gase. 

On Tuesday, Gase endorsed Darnold as the Jets starting quarterback, echoing that he needs to get in as many snaps as possible. That sounds like -- between the lines -- that the Jets brass is not convinced in Darnold's long term future. 

General Manager Joe Douglas said in the off-season that Darnold would be the face of the Jets for years to come, and even promised Darnold's parents that he would everything he could to help. Well, Douglas -- like Gase -- failed him. It started by not giving Darnold a quality offensive line outside of left tackle Mekhi Becton -- a mountain of a left tackle; the jury is still out on Becton by the way. 

He also failed Darnold by not keeping Robby Anderson; bringing in Bershard Perriman who has been woeful, and allowing Gase to do whatever he wants from getting Le'Veon Bell kicked out of town, and force feeding 37-year old Frank Gore down our collective throats. 

If Darnold continues to struggle -- and let's be honest he will -- the drumbeat for the Jets to hit the reset button and draft Clemson star quarterback Tervor Lawrence is only going to get louder. And it is already. 

Douglas is not going anywhere, so it will be his decision to make when, and if, the Jets get that first overall pick. 

The question is will Gase be here? Chances are likely he won't be. There is no reason to keep Gase here after what should be an 0-16 season. He has been a total disaster as head coach and the Jets need a new face. If the Johnson Brothers and Douglas want to convince a kid like Lawrence that it is 'ok' to come here after what he has seen his peer in Darnold go through, there is no way in H-E-Double Hockey Stick that Gase should be the coach beyond January 2. 

And that leads to the biggest question of all, will Lawrence want to come here?

Lawrence has yet to announce his plans, although many have reported that he plans to graduate Clemson this month, and the Tigers honored the junior during their Senior Day festivities this past weekend - indicating that he will likely come out with a year of eligibility left.  

Lawrence is 32-1 as a starter at Clemson and won a National Championship just two years ago. He lost the National title last year to Joe Burrow and LSU. Burrow of course accepted getting drafted by the equally dreadful Cincinnati Bengals. He is now out for the year after tearing his ACL and MCL a couple weeks ago. 

Does Lawrence really want to play for the Jets considering what a train wreck the franchise has been, especially over the last four seasons? Does he see what Darnold has gone through and think to himself, "No way I'm coming to the Jets." 

 

Lawrence has two options. He could stun everyone and pull a Peyton Manning and stay for his senior season. Or he could pull an Eli Manning and demand a trade on draft day. 

Everyone in the media the past two months from Stephen A. Smith to LeVar Arrington and former Falcons receiver Rodey White have chimed in and stated that Lawrence should do himself a favor and avoid the Jets at all costs. 

If the head coach is Jim Harbaugh, or Eric Bienemy or Matt Campbell would that change Lawrence's mind when it comes to deciding whether to accept a green and white jersey on draft day? Or does he not care who the coach is and just wants to come to New York? 

We won't know for months from now, but the debate has been raging on and will.

 The first domino to fall though is in Darnold's court. He could change the conversation completely if he finds a way to play well in the last five weeks and maybe gets the Jets a 'W' which could conceivably knock the Jets out of the top pick in the draft. 

The second domino of course is Gase. And that ball is in the court of Christopher and Woody Johnson. Stay tuned.