Bleacher Report picks top fantasy football rookie to draft for the Jets

Bleacher Report recently picked the top rookies worth drafting into your fantasy football teams this upcoming season. For the New York Jets, it was an easy decision.

It won’t be long until the fantasy football season is here as all across the globe, owners will be anxious to begin creating their draft boards. With the 2018 NFL Draft in the books, a lot of top offensive players, especially quarterbacks, will be worth drafting. For the New York Jets, which rookie will be worth taking a risk drafting on this upcoming season?

Bleacher Report recently picked the top fantasy rookies at each position that is worth targeting in drafts. For the Jets, they went with rookie quarterback Sam Darnold for obvious reasons. Ideally, veteran quarterback Josh McCown will likely win the competition in training camp and start the season for the Jets.

Darnold will likely need a bit more time to develop as he transitions to the pros. The Jets will give him every opportunity to win the starting job but it will be a lot to digest and execute on in a short period of time. It’s not easy to memorize an extensive offensive playbook, take control of the huddle, and pull off plays at the pro level.

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Either way, it’s a matter of when, not if, Darnold will eventually get his number called to lead the Jets offense at some point in 2018. Due to this, it might be worth stashing Darnold on your fantasy football team for later on in the season.

In an article written by Maurice Moton of Bleacher Report, here’s why he said Darnold is worth targeting in regards to his fantasy football value:

Once Darnold steps on the field, he’ll work with a solid trio at wide receiver—Robby Anderson (941 receiving yards in 2017), Jermaine Kearse (810 receiving yards) and Quincy Enunwa. The latter racked up 857 receiving yards during the 2016 campaign before a surgery on a bulging disc in his neck sidelined him last year. Gang Green also claimed pass-catching tight end Clive Walford off waivers in April. Darnold should see the field for a middling AFC team with quality options in the passing game at his disposal.

The Jets have a young and developing wide receiver corps which could surprise and overachieve during the regular season. While it’s one big question mark at the moment, once everyone starts to gel and get their reps in, they have the potential to be something bigger than what analysts are predicting.

Once Darnold gets to eventually start for the Jets, he could very well push the envelope on offense and quickly turn decent players into better ones thanks to everything he brings to the table. Moton believes Darnold will end his fantasy season with 1,967 passing yards, 11 touchdowns, and eight interceptions.

In the grand scheme of things, that is a good ballpark figure for what Darnold could accomplish. There are many factors to consider, but fantasy football owners should think about stashing Darnold as a backup quarterback since once he starts, he could very well be worth it. If Darnold gets under center and ignites the Jets offense beyond words due to his solid skill-set, it would undoubtedly be worth it in the long-run.

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Overall, Darnold, unless he lights it up in training camp and preseason action, is a QB3 fantasy football player at this point in time. He’s worth keeping an eye on throughout the summer to see how he progresses but for now, thanks to how uncertain the quarterback situation is for the Jets, brings a lot of hope that he’ll bring above-average play in the near future.