Who’s been impressive so far: Sam Darnold or Patrick Mahomes?
Two young QBs. Two big wins. So whose was better?
New York Jets rookie Sam Darnold’s first NFL pass went for a touchdown. A Detroit Lions’ touchdown.
But rather than wallow in his pick-six debut, the hyped first-year quarterback powered through his mistake to dismantle the Lions and dump his first-year misfortunes directly onto the shoulders of Detroit coach Matt Patricia. It was an impressive performance from a budding young passer — but was it the best we saw from 2018’s new starters last weekend?
One day earlier, Patrick Mahomes II proved he was fit to lead the Chiefs by showing off the big arm that enticed Kansas City to trade up and draft him in 2017. The second-year passer lit up the second start of his pro career with four touchdowns in a 38-28 victory over AFC West rival Los Angeles.
The two emerging passers combined for 454 yards and six touchdowns. Their two clubs rang up a total of 86 points and, most importantly, two Week 1 victories. So whose start was better? And which team’s future is brighter thanks to the young first-round pick the Jets and Chiefs are praying can be a franchise quarterback?
The case for: the Jets’ 21-year-old quarterback Sam Darnold
Darnold’s opening day start against the Lions wasn’t as impressive as Mahomes’ was. On paper, at least. He had fewer touchdowns, fewer yards, got sacked more, and had that headline grabbing pick-six to start his career.
But in terms of the better overall performance and the potential it laid out? That goes to Darnold making the Jets look not just good, but downright exciting.
Mahomes was able to take advantage of one of the league’s most stacked offenses to post his four-touchdown day. He’s got Pro Bowl talent to work with at wideout (Tyreek Hill, Sammy Watkins), tight end (Travis Kelce), and running back (Kareem Hunt). The presence of those players will elevate any passer, and it’s a safe bet that cohort will lead Mahomes to a much better season on the statistic ledger than Darnold.
Darnold, on the other hand, blew away the Lions with an offense seemingly sourced from the waiver wire of 12-team fantasy football leagues. Top target Quincy Enunwa returned from a neck injury that stole his 2017 to put together a six-catch, 63-yard night. From there, Darnold spread the ball out to six other targets ranging from Robby Anderson and Terrelle Pryor to Neal Sterling and Eric Tomlinson. And despite the relative anonymity of that group, he rebounded from an awful start with a 16-of-21, two-touchdown performance that fed off his natural gifts as a pinpoint passer.
Darnold got the chance to be a top-five NFL Draft pick because he looked every bit a franchise QB at 6’3 with textbook mechanics. Every concern about his turnover-prone play came to fruition with that first-pass pick-six, but the rookie never fell apart on the field and instead kept his composition through the final snap. His throws were precise, his reads were crisp, and he was smart when it came to dealing with pressure in the pocket. He used his athleticism to extend plays and, with a few exceptions, made the right choice in every difficult situation (though, the way the Lions were playing, there weren’t many of those).
Does he take too many risks? Probably. But the Jets need a risk taker to drag them out of franchise hell. It’s only one game, but Darnold looks like a guy who can do it. — Christian D’Andrea
The case for: the Chiefs’ soon-to-be 23-year-old Patrick Mahomes II
There are a lot of similarities between Mahomes and Darnold on the field. They both play a bit of a reckless style of football with top-tier physical gifts and the ability to hit any throw on the field. In the season debuts, they both maximized their respective offenses en route to explosive scoring outputs and they both won their first starts.
For this exercise, I’m going with Mahomes. When it’s all said and done, there probably won’t be much separating these two quarterbacks, but Mahomes has an extra gear to his game that Darnold doesn’t have.
Mahomes can make throws from just about any angle, stays calm under pressure, and can literally throw a ball 70 yards in the air with pinpoint accuracy.
Mahomes threw four touchdowns and came away with a 127.5 passer rating against the Chargers. Kansas City does have an elite supporting cast surrounding Mahomes with Tyreek Hill, Travis Kelce, Kareem Hunt, and Sammy Watkins. Still, the quarterback has to make plays and avoid mistakes. In the season opener he absolutely did that — more so than Darnold.
The NFL must have agreed; it selected Mahomes as its AFC Offensive Player of the Week.
Mahomes is a calculated, aggressive risk taker on the field that will routinely make explosive plays. Darnold and Mahomes both have bright futures, but here I’m siding with Mahomes. — Charles McDonald