Sam Darnold:
While Darnold has not had the type of production up to this point Jets fans have been hoping for, it is more a reflection of what he has had to deal with since coming to New York. The best weapon he’s had is either Jamison Crowder or Robby Anderson and with a poor offensive line and questionable coaching as well, it is surprising he hasn’t been worse. While many might see Sam Darnold as a bust, his impact on the team last year shows that we can’t write him off just yet. The Jets lost all three games scoring one total touchdown during that span which came in garbage time late against the Eagles. The Jets went 7-6 with Darnold and clearly showed he elevates the abysmal talent around him. Sam’s career struggles up to this point can be mostly chalked up to a bad team and mono.
Ben Roethlisberger:
Ben is coming off elbow surgery which has required him to miss nearly the full season in 2019. This could not have come at a worse time for the Steelers as the other issues in years past seemed to have been fixed. The locker room tension seems to have been mostly aleviated with the departures of most notably Antonio Brown. The Steelers defense also played at a level they haven’t since the early part of Ben’s career. With the additions of Eric Ebron and Chase Claypool, if Ben is healthy, he could have a top 10 quarterback season. A majority of people are doubting this with a majority of major sports news articles listing him outside the top 10 and even top 15 for quarterbacks 2020. Most don’t see the Steelers are a superbowl team, but if Ben looks like the Big Ben of old, they definitely will be.
Jimmy Garoppolo:
Jimmy has gotten far too much blame for losing the superbowl. While overthrowing Emmanuel Sanders in the 4th quarter was inexcusable, it overshadowed the fact he actually played fairly decent up until the final quarter. He was 17/20 through the first three quarters with 183 yards and both a touchdown and interception. He also was 8th in the NFL in quarterback rating and the 49ers without him even with the great Kyle Shanahan has not been good. While Kyle Shanahan and the talent around him definitely helps a lot, he is far more than a product of their system and deserves to be viewed as a franchise quarterback.