Former New York Jets quarterback Joe Namath is a firm believer in Sam Darnold. In a recent appearance on Mike Tirico's NBCSN show “Lunch Talk Live,” Namath spoke highly about the third-year quarterback.

“Sam can play. He's growing, he's going to improve, he's going to get better, but like most things in life, it's a team game. He'll step up. I believe he's going to get better, but he needs the teammates also, and they're improving,” Namath told NBCSN recently. “Douglas has done a great job bringing in some new players.”

This past season, Darnold showed significant progress and development in his game. The 23-year-old set career-highs for completions (273), attempts (441), completion percentage (61.9), touchdown passes (19) and passer rating (84.3). However, the Jets suffered another disappointing season, finishing with a 7-9 record and missing the playoffs for the ninth consecutive season.

Most of the blame shouldn't be put on Darnold, but rather on the Jets offensive line. The Jets offensive line allowed 3.2 sacks per game in 2019, which ranked 29th out of 32 NFL teams. However, as Namath said, general manager Joe Douglas has done a phenomenal job this offseason in fixing that problem. The Jets signed three new potential offensive line starters in George Fant, Connor McGovern, and Greg Van Roten.

Furthermore, despite losing receiver Robby Anderson, Douglas was able to replace him on the Jets with a veteran receiver in Breshad Perriman.

Nevertheless, if Joe Namath, the greatest quarterback in Jets franchise history, believes in Darnold, then he should be able to take a massive leap in 2020. 

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