New York Jets: Colin Cowherd labels QB Sam Darnold as top breakout star

New York Jets quarterback Sam Darnold has a ton of hype heading into 2019. Although Colin Cowherd has taken the hype train to another level.

In 2018, the New York Jets drafted USC stud Sam Darnold with the third overall selection in the NFL Draft, and despite a rocky rookie year, he is primed and ready to break out in a big way in 2019.

With all the new weapons around him, Darnold has reportedly taken on a much bigger leadership role during training camp, and he’s made believers out of not only Jets fans, but the wider NFL media.

On the latest edition of ‘The Herd with Colin Cowherd’, host and popular sports analyst Colin Cowherd named Sam Darnold his No. 1 breakout star in the NFL for 2019:

“I can make the argument that no team has elevated the talent around their young quarterback better than the New York Jets. They went from no running backs to a star in Le’Veon Bell. The Jets didn’t have a slot receiver, they snagged Jamison Crowder from Washington. Not one, not two, but three interior upgrades to their offensive line.

In Sam Darnold’s last three games of the year, he threw five touchdowns, no picks, and had a 102.3 passer rating. Remember he was the youngest quarterback in league history to start NFL games last year. Darnold is older, they have an offensive head coach, a star at running back, and upgrades to the trenches.

Also because the Jets biggest weakness is at cornerback, that means they’re going to be in a lot of shoot-outs. This is a team that’s going to have to score points to win games. Adam Gase is going to take the training wheels off Darnold and he’s going to let him sling it. I think Darnold is going to have a really big jump from year No. 1 to year No. 2.”

.@ColinCowherd lists his 5 breakout players for the 2019 NFL Season:

5. Baker Mayfield4. Dalvin Cook3. James Washington2. Jimmy Garoppolo1. Sam Darnold pic.twitter.com/8QflOB2REM

— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) August 12, 2019

The list also featured Baker Mayfield, Dalvin Cook, James Washington, and 49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo, so this is high praise indeed, and it’s quite refreshing to see the Jets garner some positive media attention.

With all of the tools at his disposal, Darnold is a great choice for No 1.

Given all the talent and the hard work that Sam has put in, this shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone close to the Jets organization, but given how overlooked the talented Jets team is in 2019, it’s a refreshing change of pace for sure.

Ultimately if the Jets want to get where they want to go, Colin Cowherd has to be right about Darnold. For the green and white to make the playoffs and even challenge the New England Patriots in the AFC East, they’ll need Sam Darnold to jump into the top 10 to 15 quarterback conversation.