2018 NFL Mock Draft: What If Darnold Goes Back to School?
By Erik Lambert
The thing about projections is they don’t have all the information. This 2018 NFL mock draft is going to reflect on one big piece.
Namely what happens if Sam Darnold elects to stay in school. It’s easy to forget that he’ll be a redshirt sophomore this season. The kid just turned 20-years old. Despite his stellar play at the end of last season, it’s reasonable to think he still has some growing to do. The odds could favor him staying at USC for at least one more year to get extra seasoning. Meanwhile it’s rather fascinating what his exit from the board does to the picks.
1. New York Jets
QB. Wyoming. Josh Allen . 1. player. 30. Though it’s unfortunate that Darnold is off the table, it won’t stop the New York Jets from taking a quarterback. The odds against either Bryce Petty or Christian Hackenberg panning out at this point are slim at best. The team is going to need a ton of work to improve and it’s just not likely at this point they’ll survive long enough to see the light at the end of the tunnel. They’ll want to start over at that position. <p>Josh Allen emerges as the likely top option with Darnold out. He might be more physically gifted than his USC counterpart. Not just 6’4″, the Wyoming QB has an absolute rocket launcher for a right arm. He’s been known to throw 50-yard frozen ropes while on the run for touchdowns. He hasn’t yet learned to play with consistency though. Hence why he returned to school. He should be more polished come 2018.</p>