Despite not snapping a single football to Sam Darnold, former Jets center Nick Mangold loves what the young gunslinger brings to the table.
Mangold was on NFL Network’s Good Morning Football on Wednesday and discussed the Jets’ upcoming 2020 season. In that segment, Mangold had some kind words to say of Darnold’s leadership skills.
“I love Darnold’s mentality, the way he goes about things, the way he talks, the way he commands a huddle,” Mangold said.
As a former center, Mangold can tell pretty quickly when a quarterback has an offense’s ear. Some NFL quarterbacks just don’t command a huddle that well and that’s an important aspect to being a good one in the NFL. If that’s not the case, then there’s a certain respect level that is lost between the quarterback and the rest of the offense.
It hasn’t been smooth sailing for Darnold in his young career, but it appears that he has already earned that respect not only because of his talent level, but for the way he handles himself around his teammates.
Darnold had an up and down sophomore campaign in 2019. In 13 games, Darnold has a 61.7 percent completion percentage to go along with 3,024 yards, 19 touchdowns and 13 interceptions.
Clearly, Mangold thinks as long as Darnold continues along this path that he’ll be an above average quarterback in the NFL.
