Sam Darnold’s second straight outstanding game last week mea

are looking up in our season long tracking of Darnold’s progress.A few things to keep in mind. All rankings herein (other than the comparisons among the five 2018 first round rookie quarterbacks) are limited to rookie quarterbacks with at least 250 passing attempts in their rookie seasons. Prior to the 2018 season there have been 72 rookie quarterbacks with 250 or more passing attempts in the post merger era. Rate stats (like completion %) reflect actual current numbers for Darnold. Counting stats (like touchdowns or yards) reflect prorated numbers for Darnold assuming he continues to perform at the same level all season. Let’s get to it. Below are a bunch of quarterback metrics Lac Edwards Jerseys 2019 , listing the all time rookie leaders for each and showing where Sam Darnold fits assuming he plays at the same level all season.YardsAndrew Luck4374Cam Newton4051Jameis Winston4042Carson Wentz3782Peyton Manning3739...21. Sam Darnold2923TouchdownsPeyton Manning26Russell Wilson26 (Tie 1)Andrew Luck23Dak Prescott23 (Tie 3)Jameis Winston 22 (Tie 5)Jim Kelly 22 (Tie 5)...16. Sam Darnold18 (Tie 16)InterceptionsPeyton Manning28Jim Zorn27Terry Bradshaw24Jeff Komlo23Deshone Kizer 22Steve Deberg 22 (Tie 5)...25. Sam Darnold 16 (Tie 25)Passer RatingDak Prescott104.9Robert Griffin III102.4Russell Wilson100Ben Roethlisberger98.1Dan Marino96...22. Sam Darnold77.8 Yards/AttemptBen Roethlisberger8.88Robert Griffin III8.14Dak Prescott7.99Russell Wilson7.93Matt Ryan7.93...19. Sam Darnold6.99Completion PercentageDak Prescott67.8Ben Roethlisberger66.4Robert Griffin III65.7Teddy Bridgewater64.4Russell Wilson 64.1...27. Sam Darnold57.8Touchdown PercentageDan Marino6.8Russell Wilson6.6Jim Plunkett5.8Ben Roethlisberger5.8 (Tie 3)Steve Bartkowski5.1Robert Griffin III 5.1 (Tie 5)Marcus Mariota5.1 (Tie 5)Jake Plummer5.1 (Tie 5)...18. Sam Darnold4.4 Interception PercentageDak Prescott0.9Robert Griffin III1.3Nick Foles1.9Charlie Batch2.0Derek Carr2.0 (Tie 4)...47. Sam Darnold3.9To provide additional context, we’ll see how Sam stacks up against the 42 qualifying rookie quarterbacks of the past 15 years. The game and its rules have changed so much that comparisons of quarterbacks from 50 years ago to quarterbacks of today are of limited value. Quarterbacks of the last 15 years make for a comparison much closer to apples to apples so to speak. Here is how Sam stacks up against rookie quarterbacks of the last 15 years:YardsAndrew Luck4374Cam Newton4051Jameis Winston4042Carson Wentz3782Dak Prescott3667...17. Sam Darnold2923TouchdownsRussell Wilson26 Andrew Luck23Dak Prescott23 (Tie 2)Jameis Winston 22 Cam Newton 21...12. Sam Darnold 18 InterceptionsDeshone Kizer 22Geno Smith 21Matthew Stafford 20 (Tie 3)Mark Sanchez 20 (Tie 3)Andrew Luck 18 (Tie 5)Carson Palmer 18 (Tie 5)Josh Freeman 18 (Tie 5)...11. Sam Darnold 16 ...Passer RatingDak Prescott104.9Robert Griffin III102.4Russell Wilson100Ben Roethlisberger98.1Marcus Mariota91.5...16. Sam Darnold77.8Yards/AttemptBen Roethlisberger8.88Robert Griffin III8.14Dak Prescott7.99Russell Wilson7.93Matt Ryan7.93...11. Sam Darnold6.99Completion PercentageDak Prescott67.8Ben Roethlisberger66.4Robert Griffin III65.7Teddy Bridgewater64.4Russell Wilson 64.1...23. Sam Darnold57.8Touchdown PercentageRussell Wilson6.6Ben Roethlisberger5.8 Robert Griffin III 5.1 (Tie 3)Marcus Mariota5.1 (Tie 3)Dak Prescott 5.0 ...9. Sam Darnold4.4Interception PercentageDak Prescott0.9Robert Griffin III1.3Nick Foles1.9Derek Carr2.0 Mitchell Trubisky2.1...33. Sam Darnold3.9The past few weeks have done wonders for Darnold in comparison to his contemporary peers.While his interceptions are still high and his completion percentage is average, in the rest of the categories Sam is now well above average. With his late season surge Darnold is shaping up to be a better than average rookie quarterback. Next up: how Darnold stacks up against his fellow rookie first round quarterbacks. The counting numbers here are raw numbers, not pro-rated.YardsBaker Mayfield3349Sam Darnold2698Josh Rosen2129Josh Allen1850Lamar Jackson 1022TouchdownsBaker Mayfield24Sam Darnold17Josh Rosen10Josh Allen7Lamar Jackson6InterceptionsSam Darnold15Josh Rosen14Baker Mayfield11Josh Allen11 (tie 3)Lamar Jackson3Passer RatingBaker Mayfield95.1Lamar Jackson84.9Sam Darnold77.8Josh Rosen66.0Josh Allen63.7Yards/AttemptBaker Mayfield7.54Lamar Jackson7.00Sam Darnold6.99Josh Allen6.29Josh Rosen5.93Completion PercentageBaker Mayfield63.9Lamar Jackson58.2Sam Darnold57.8Josh Rosen55.4Josh Allen51.7Touchdown PercentageBaker Mayfield5.2Sam Darnold4.4Lamar Jackson4.1Josh Rosen2.8Josh Allen2.4Interception PercentageLamar Jackson2.1Baker Mayfield2.5Josh Allen3.7Josh Rosen3.9Sam Darnold3.9 (Tie 4)The numbers here show Baker Mayfield to be by far the best of the rookie first round quarterbacks thus far, with Sam Darnold moving up, now number two in several categories. Sam’s late season surge has him on the rise versus his fellow first round quarterbacks.Finally let’s take a look at the numbers from the perspective of where Darnold ranks with respect to league averages compared to the post-merger rookie quarterbacks. We’re only going to be looking at rates here White James Carpenter Jerseys , not counting stats. Including this year’s qualifying rookies there have been 76 post-merger rookie quarterbacks with at least 250 passing attempts in their rookie year. The number listed next to the names corresponds to the percentage of league average for that player in his rookie year. So, for example, if a QB had a 60 passer rating in a year the league average was 80, his passer rating number here would be 60/80, or 75%. In this way we can compare quarterbacks across the eras on a level playing field, noting how they performed compared to the league in their time.Passer RatingDan Marino125Dak Prescott123Ben Roethlisberger122Robert Griffin III121 Russell Wilson118...44. Sam Darnold84Yards/AttemptBen Roethlisberger136Robert Griffin III121Dak Prescott119Matt Ryan119Dennis Shaw118...29. Sam Darnold96Completion PercentageBen Roethlisberger123Dak Prescott120Robert Griffin III117Jim Kelly116Dieter Brock115...52. Sam Darnold79Touchdown PercentageDan Marino127Russell Wilson125Ben Roethlisberger120Jim Plunkett115Jake Plummer111...24. Sam Darnold99 Interception PercentageDan Marino128Dak Prescott127Robert Griffin III124Neil O’Donnell117Charlie Batch117...65. Sam Darnold75Here we see that Sam Darnold has raised his game considerably in the past few weeks. Before Darnold was injured he had been among the worst rookie quarterbacks in many categories; now he is roughly average James Carpenter Jerseys 2019 , with touchdown percentage and yards per attempt rating him above average among his fellow rookies throughout the years.One thing that I have been emphasizing all year is the importance of getting to league average in at least one category. Rookies often struggle in various areas, but those who struggle in every area, with well below league average marks in every major metric, rarely go on to have much success in the NFL. It happens, but it is rare, so ending a rookie season well below league average in all major metrics would have been an ominous portent for Darnold’s future. However White Buster Skrine Jerseys , with his recent outstanding play Sam has raised his touchdown percentage to 99% of league average and his yards per attempt to 95% of league average. With two major metrics now grading out very close to league average, doubts about Sam’s future based on historical precedent now appear to be much less concerning. All in all it has been a mixed bag for Sam’s rookie year compared to rookies since the merger, but the arrow is pointing decidedly up.With the year winding down Darnold has only one game remaining to tweak his numbers. His rising performances the last few weeks have begun to push him up the ranks a bit and spark some optimism in the Jets fan base. It would be nice to see him finish the year with another great game against the Patriots.Wolford, Leggett, Hansen get a chance to state their case: Jets vs. Eagles offensive snap totals Let’s take a look at offensive snap totals from last night’s preseason finale against the Philadelphia Eagles.Rookie quarterback John Wolford got most of the work. I have to admit I was a bit surprised by that. It makes sense that you wouldn’t want to expose your top two quarterbacks to hits. It is just Wolford arrived with the team this week and presumably didn’t know much of the playbook. It was a struggle for the Wake Forest product.Other Jets to get extensive playing time on offense were bubble players Chad Hansen and Jordan Leggett. It isn’t clear that they took advantage of their respective opportunities so now they must wait to find out whether they will be on the 53 man roster for this team in 2018.Full offensive snap totals for the Jets in the 2018 preseason finale are listed below for your viewing pleasure in the graphic below.